Reply #10: I read what Obama actually said. I'll quote below, even. It's uh, different. [View All]

Rose: Realistically, how many American troops do you think we will see—American troops—in Iraq when the next president takes office in January of 2008?

Obama: Well, obviously, it depends on what Congress does in the next several weeks. I know that based on conversations I've had with my Republican colleagues that we may not have enough votes to set up a firm timetable for withdrawal. There are other approaches, though, that are being explored. For example, some of my colleagues and myself have been talking about if we can get 60 votes in the Senate for legislation that would restrict the use of our troops to the regular schedules and the regular tours that the army itself had established, then that would essentially place a ceiling on how many troops could be there. But realistically speaking, unless we get movement from our Republican colleagues, we're still going to have numerous brigades in Iraq when the next president takes office. And obviously, the biggest cost is borne by the troops who have performed valiantly. But I also think it defers and delays further the kinds of bold statement we need to make to the Iraqi leaders that they've got to get their act together. And we are putting off the inevitable, which is that it's going to have to be a political accommodation that actually stabilizes the situation.


http://www.slate.com/id/2173857/

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My comment: He's saying that there's nothing that Democrats can do to get 60 votes unless the Republicans start moving, because, uh, the Democrats don't have 60 senators. And that this is unfortunate and a shame.

So somehow Kos and others like the original poster are up in arms because Obama won't make Republicans vote for a funded withdrawal and so on.

No, he's not a supporter of the Anabasis solution. You know, where the 10,000 Greeks fight their way out of Persia (which at the time included Iraq) back to the Ionian coast, devoid of any friendly support. I don't want that for the US Army. It's not fun.