I strongly stand
by my plan
to end
this war.
Barack Obama is making it clear that he has in no way moved toward an endorsement of John McCain's policies.
Anyone who refers to Obama as an appeaser, or weak, or a flip-flopper, is just buying into spin. Rather than cowering in the face of dishonest misrepresentation of his views, he continues to drive his point home -- that the war in Iraq was a mistake from the start, that it is time to bring the troops home, and that one of the greatest consequences of the folly of the past seven years has been the squandering of the opportunity for America to lead, in a way that only America can, to a brighter future, with the support of the civilized world behind us.
Imagine, for a moment, what we could have done in those days, and months, and years after 9/11.
We could have deployed the full force of American power to hunt down and destroy Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda, the Taliban, and all of the terrorists responsible for 9/11, while supporting real security in Afghanistan.
We could have secured loose nuclear materials around the world, and updated a 20th century non-proliferation framework to meet the challenges of the 21st.
We could have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in alternative sources of energy to grow our economy, save our planet, and end the tyranny of oil.
We could have strengthened old alliances, formed new partnerships, and renewed international institutions to advance peace and prosperity.
We could have called on a new generation to step into the strong currents of history, and to serve their country as troops and teachers, Peace Corps volunteers and police officers.
We could have secured our homeland--investing in sophisticated new protection for our ports, our trains and our power plants.We could have rebuilt our roads and bridges, laid down new rail and broadband and electricity systems, and made college affordable for every American to strengthen our ability to compete.
We could have done that.
Senator Obama continues:
What's missing in our debate about Iraq - what has been missing since before the war began - is a discussion of the strategic consequences of Iraq and its dominance of our foreign policy. This war distracts us from every threat that we face and so many opportunities we could seize. This war diminishes our security, our standing in the world, our military, our economy, and the resources that we need to confront the challenges of the 21st century. By any measure, our single-minded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe.
Of course, the parties that have been most distracted and that seem incapable of focusing on the real issues, instead of cheering on the mistakes and distractions, are our media, the guardians of our discourse.
And so now the question is, when will the media stop adopting McCain's talking points?
Video link to come when available.
