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ProSense

(116,464 posts)
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 02:18 PM Nov 2013

Obama: 'Our work is more urgent than ever, because this chapter of war is coming to an end'

Obama: 'Our work is more urgent than ever, because this chapter of war is coming to an end'

by Laura Clawson

Speaking at Arlington National Cemetery on this Veterans Day, President Barack Obama honored Richard Overton, the oldest World War II veteran known to be living. But he also emphasized the future as much as the past, saying:

Our work is more urgent than ever, because this chapter of war is coming to an end. Soon, one of the first Marines to arrive in Afghanistan 12 years ago—Brigadier General Daniel Yoo—will lead his Camp Pendleton Marines as they become one of the last major groups of Marines to deploy in this war. And over the coming months, more of our troops will come home.This winter, our troop levels in Afghanistan will be down to 34,000. And by this time next year, the transition to Afghan-led security will be nearly complete. The longest war in American history will end.

That means, he stressed, not simply honoring the veterans created by the Iraq and Afghanistan wars with rhetoric, but "improving veterans’ health care, including mental health care so you can stay strong"; "helping our newest veterans and their families pursue their education under the Post-9/11 GI Bill"; and "demanding that the rights and dignity of every veteran are upheld, including by pushing for the Disabilities Treaty so that our disabled veterans enjoy the same opportunities to travel and work and study around the world as everybody else." Obama also stressed the work being done by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden on creating jobs and reducing unemployment for veterans.

Obama's speech was determinedly nonpartisan, but it's worth noting that the goals he laid out—health care, jobs, education—are a Democratic, not Republican, agenda.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/11/1254785/-Obama-Our-work-is-more-urgent-than-ever-because-this-chapter-of-war-is-coming-to-an-end

Transcript:

President Obama's remarks on Veterans Day, Arlington National Cemetery
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/11/1254781/-President-Obama-s-remarks-on-Veterans-Day-Arlington-National-Cemetery

58 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Obama: 'Our work is more urgent than ever, because this chapter of war is coming to an end' (Original Post) ProSense Nov 2013 OP
Kick! n/t ProSense Nov 2013 #1
Kick & recommended. William769 Nov 2013 #2
We lost. (Again). Get out. Get over it. Tierra_y_Libertad Nov 2013 #3
What does "we lost" have to do with the OP? ProSense Nov 2013 #4
Here's why. Tierra_y_Libertad Nov 2013 #5
? n/t ProSense Nov 2013 #6
He's still deploying troops to a lost war. Tierra_y_Libertad Nov 2013 #7
Troops were deployed to draw down in Iraq. ProSense Nov 2013 #9
And, troops are still in Iraq. And, he's still deploying troops to Afghanistan. Tierra_y_Libertad Nov 2013 #10
What the hell are you talking about? n/t ProSense Nov 2013 #11
What is so difficult about that post to understand? EOTE Nov 2013 #13
Well, someday the war in Iraq will end. ProSense Nov 2013 #15
What point are YOU trying to make. EOTE Nov 2013 #16
The question is: What point are you trying to make? ProSense Nov 2013 #18
Not very good at this, are you? EOTE Nov 2013 #19
LOL! ProSense Nov 2013 #20
The comment seems to primarily be about Afghanistan, but is about the military in general. EOTE Nov 2013 #22
"If the war in Iraq is over, why the fuck are there still so many U.S. troops there?" ProSense Nov 2013 #25
The embassy guards and the units training the Iraqi military NuclearDem Nov 2013 #26
Nonsense. n/t ProSense Nov 2013 #28
Office of Security Cooperation. NuclearDem Nov 2013 #29
That's a 2011 article before the withdrawal. ProSense Nov 2013 #30
It's a 2011 article that specifically addressed the withdrawal and the future of Iraq. NuclearDem Nov 2013 #31
What the hell does weapons sales have to do with anything? n/t ProSense Nov 2013 #32
It's evidence that that OSC you tried to claim as nonsense is alive and well even now. NuclearDem Nov 2013 #33
LOL! No, it's evidence of weapons sales. ProSense Nov 2013 #34
OSC is coordinating it. NuclearDem Nov 2013 #35
"I think we're done here." ProSense Nov 2013 #36
If you're incapable of deciphering plain English, that's on you, not me. nt EOTE Nov 2013 #58
And another thing ProSense Nov 2013 #23
See my first post on this thread. Tierra_y_Libertad Nov 2013 #14
"Now he's trying to cover his ass with platitudes about the troops" ProSense Nov 2013 #17
Still pretty opaque. Skidmore Nov 2013 #8
k&r... spanone Nov 2013 #12
Prepare for the next chapter of war--drones around the world! NuclearDem Nov 2013 #21
I wonder if anything what he is going to tell the family of the last person to die there? former9thward Nov 2013 #24
i would wonder more what george bu$h is going to tell that family. spanone Nov 2013 #27
Whoever is the last to die will not have been ordered there by Bush. former9thward Nov 2013 #37
Yeah, Bush squandered the opportunity to do that. n/t ProSense Nov 2013 #38
But Obama made sure he didn't. former9thward Nov 2013 #39
Since Bush didn't end it, it inevitably falls on Obama to do it. n/t ProSense Nov 2013 #40
He could have on Jan. 20, 2009. former9thward Nov 2013 #41
For two years prior to he said what he was going to do. ProSense Nov 2013 #42
And he was wrong. former9thward Nov 2013 #46
Actually it falls to the next president to do that. NuclearDem Nov 2013 #43
Got another article about weapon sales? n/t ProSense Nov 2013 #44
Nah, wouldn't want to keep you. NuclearDem Nov 2013 #45
LOL! ProSense Nov 2013 #47
Yeah, they'd go really well with your belief that we're totally out of Iraq NuclearDem Nov 2013 #48
OK, ProSense Nov 2013 #50
How about a DOD spokesman? NuclearDem Nov 2013 #54
Speaking of ProSense Nov 2013 #49
It's not speculation that hundreds of US military personnel are still in Iraq under the OSC-I NuclearDem Nov 2013 #51
Link? ProSense Nov 2013 #52
I gave it to you earlier. NuclearDem Nov 2013 #53
The weapons sales article? Seriously? ProSense Nov 2013 #55
Nope, I was thinking the one with both the DOD and WP confirming the existence of OSC-I. NuclearDem Nov 2013 #56
"The existence"? It's a 2011 article speculating...2011!!! ProSense Nov 2013 #57
 

Tierra_y_Libertad

(50,414 posts)
5. Here's why.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 05:27 PM
Nov 2013
Brigadier General Daniel Yoo—will lead his Camp Pendleton Marines as they become one of the last major groups of Marines to deploy in this war.

Next question?

ProSense

(116,464 posts)
9. Troops were deployed to draw down in Iraq.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 05:31 PM
Nov 2013

The troops are coming home. The number isn't growing, it's dropping.

 

Tierra_y_Libertad

(50,414 posts)
10. And, troops are still in Iraq. And, he's still deploying troops to Afghanistan.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 05:33 PM
Nov 2013

And, he's still sending drones to kill people in Pakistan...and elsewhere.

EOTE

(13,409 posts)
13. What is so difficult about that post to understand?
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 05:37 PM
Nov 2013

Is it the drone strikes? The troops still present in Iraq? Or the troops to be deployed in Afghanistan. That all seems like rather simple English to me.

EOTE

(13,409 posts)
16. What point are YOU trying to make.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 05:40 PM
Nov 2013

So, the fact that someday there might no longer be troops in Iraq impresses you? And what of the NEW troops being moved to Afghanistan? And the continuing drone strikes? These things seemed to confuse you before, what is the confusion, exactly?

ProSense

(116,464 posts)
18. The question is: What point are you trying to make?
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 05:42 PM
Nov 2013

"So, the fact that someday there might no longer be troops in Iraq impresses you?"

Still, imagining that U.S. troops are at combat in Iraq?

EOTE

(13,409 posts)
19. Not very good at this, are you?
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 05:46 PM
Nov 2013

You make a post featuring many platitudes about the quagmires we're involved in and someone reasonably suggests we don't have much to get excited about. After all, we still have troops in Iraq and we're actually increasing troop levels in Afghanistan and continuing drone strikes elsewhere. You reply to the post with the reaction of a confused puppydog: Huh? That don't make sense.

There are still PLENTY of U.S. troops in Iraq. Do you think the fact that they're not considered to be combat troops really makes any difference? Are you under the assumption that they're not armed or something? Do you think that Iraq is in any less of a shithole now? Are you under the impression that increasing troop levels in Afghanistan is a GOOD thing? Christ, the derp is strong.

ProSense

(116,464 posts)
20. LOL!
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 05:52 PM
Nov 2013

"There are still PLENTY of U.S. troops in Iraq. Do you think the fact that they're not considered to be combat troops really makes any difference? Are you under the assumption that they're not armed or something? Do you think that Iraq is in any less of a shithole now? Are you under the impression that increasing troop levels in Afghanistan is a GOOD thing? Christ, the derp is strong. "

Seriously, what the hell does any of that have to do with the OP? The U.S. war in Iraq is over. The OP has nothing to do with assessing whether or not Iraq is a "shithole." In fact, it has nothing to do with Iraq.

Still, I guess posting any information or statement from the President about Afghaanistan is going to cause some people to start talking about Iraq. I suppose before this thread is done there will be a few comments about "empire."


EOTE

(13,409 posts)
22. The comment seems to primarily be about Afghanistan, but is about the military in general.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 05:57 PM
Nov 2013

If the war in Iraq is over, why the fuck are there still so many U.S. troops there? Is that what we want? Start unjustified wars of aggression and then leave our troops there indefinitely long after it has well been determined we should have never been there in the first place? Then, adding ADDITIONAL troops to another unjustified war and then acting like that's progress? I used to think you'd just play obtuse simply to cover for your undying devotion to the president wrong or right, but I'm beginning to think you are actually THAT uninformed. Iraq, Afghanistan... quagmires both. Sending additional troops to Afghanistan is totally wrong-headed.

ProSense

(116,464 posts)
25. "If the war in Iraq is over, why the fuck are there still so many U.S. troops there?"
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 06:01 PM
Nov 2013

What the hell are you talking about?

 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
26. The embassy guards and the units training the Iraqi military
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 06:07 PM
Nov 2013

Which is still a lot of people.

Combat operations are over, but we're still very much in Iraq.

 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
29. Office of Security Cooperation.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 06:16 PM
Nov 2013
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-11-21/world/35282731_1_osc-iraq-security-forces-maliki

There will be a U.S. military presence. The Office of Security Cooperation (OSC), operating under the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, will have several hundred military personnel, and at least an equal number or more U.S. contractors, who will work with Iraqi security forces. Ongoing negotiations with Iraq about OSC activities will determine exact staffing numbers.


See how easy that was to find out?
 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
31. It's a 2011 article that specifically addressed the withdrawal and the future of Iraq.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 06:22 PM
Nov 2013

But if 2011 pre-withdrawal isn't good enough, how about 2013, nearly two years after withdrawal?

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130812/DEFREG02/308120012/

Face it, we still have a military presence in Iraq and likely will for years.

 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
33. It's evidence that that OSC you tried to claim as nonsense is alive and well even now.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 06:28 PM
Nov 2013

You know, the thing keeping hundreds of US military personnel in Iraq.

Come on, that wasn't THAT hard to figure out.

 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
35. OSC is coordinating it.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 06:44 PM
Nov 2013

For OSC to function, it must be staffed. OSC is staffed by hundreds of US military personnel.

But there's no US military presence in Iraq!

I think we're done here.

ProSense

(116,464 posts)
36. "I think we're done here."
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 06:48 PM
Nov 2013

Yup, you made a bogus claim about troops, and then provided weapons sales as evidence.

ProSense

(116,464 posts)
23. And another thing
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 05:59 PM
Nov 2013

"Are you under the impression that increasing troop levels in Afghanistan is a GOOD thing? Christ, the derp is strong. "

...speaking of "derp," troop deployment doesn't mean "increasing troop levels." The statement is about bringing the troops home and drawing down troop levels. Deployment is also used to switch out troops for those who have completed a tour.

 

Tierra_y_Libertad

(50,414 posts)
14. See my first post on this thread.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 05:38 PM
Nov 2013

Shall I walk you through it?

He's talking about a lost war that should have never been started, or escalated, and should have ended the first day he took office. Now he's trying to cover his ass with platitudes about the troops and how much we owe them for fighting, killing, and dying in a war fought for PR.

ProSense

(116,464 posts)
17. "Now he's trying to cover his ass with platitudes about the troops"
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 05:40 PM
Nov 2013

So you're pissed that the war is ending per the timetable the President set?

Oh well.



 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
21. Prepare for the next chapter of war--drones around the world!
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 05:57 PM
Nov 2013

Oh wait, totally still doing that with no drawdown for that in sight.

former9thward

(31,802 posts)
24. I wonder if anything what he is going to tell the family of the last person to die there?
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 06:01 PM
Nov 2013

This has been a useless senseless war since the middle of 2002. Blood is on the hands of both CIC who have let it happen.

former9thward

(31,802 posts)
37. Whoever is the last to die will not have been ordered there by Bush.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 07:01 PM
Nov 2013

Obama has never been critical of our role in Afghanistan.

former9thward

(31,802 posts)
41. He could have on Jan. 20, 2009.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 09:13 PM
Nov 2013

And saved thousands of wasted lives. And only god knows how much money.

ProSense

(116,464 posts)
42. For two years prior to he said what he was going to do.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 09:17 PM
Nov 2013

He announced this timeline a couple of years ago. It's good that it's still on track.


former9thward

(31,802 posts)
46. And he was wrong.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 09:49 PM
Nov 2013

Trying to shore up his 'military toughness' creds which politicians seem to need to do in the U.S. He wasted lives in senseless war just so no one could say he cut and run. But guess what? They are going to say it anyway when Afghanistan falls apart.

 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
43. Actually it falls to the next president to do that.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 09:27 PM
Nov 2013

Since the 2014 plan actually leaves troops in Afghanistan well into 2017.

 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
45. Nah, wouldn't want to keep you.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 09:47 PM
Nov 2013

Probably have another speech you need to fall for hook line and sinker.

Though I know you won't read this: http://m.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/official-obama-to-cut-troop-level-in-afghanistan-in-half-by-next-year/2013/02/12/63a044c8-7536-11e2-8f84-3e4b513b1a13_story.html

Although the Obama administration intends to keep some troops in the country in 2015 and beyond, the number is still being debated at the White House and must be approved by the Afghan government. The Pentagon is pushing a plan that would keep about 8,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2015 but significantly shrink the contingent over the following two years, perhaps to fewer than 1,000 by 2017, according to senior U.S. government officials and military officers.


I'll give you some time to figure out why you want to completely disregard this article too. Probably not a fan of Times New Roman.
 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
48. Yeah, they'd go really well with your belief that we're totally out of Iraq
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 09:52 PM
Nov 2013

Or that Obama has any intention of completely ending Afghanistan.

 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
54. How about a DOD spokesman?
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 10:07 PM
Nov 2013
"Our [troop] numbers have been fairly stable at about 200 military personnel since December 2011," Miller said, noting those 200 troops have been assigned to Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq (OSC-I) since 2011.


http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/operations/272049-dod-denies-deployments-of-us-forces-back-to-iraq-

Face it--there are US forces in Iraq. But you're right, I can't produce a picture! Better just believe everything a politician tells us!

ProSense

(116,464 posts)
49. Speaking of
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 09:54 PM
Nov 2013

"hook line and sinker," those 2011 reports are why you're left posting articles about weapons sales. End date: 2014.

Everything else is speculation.

 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
51. It's not speculation that hundreds of US military personnel are still in Iraq under the OSC-I
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 09:58 PM
Nov 2013

The organization that's handling the weapons shipments.

 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
56. Nope, I was thinking the one with both the DOD and WP confirming the existence of OSC-I.
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 10:11 PM
Nov 2013

The one you discredited because 2011!!!!!!

ProSense

(116,464 posts)
57. "The existence"? It's a 2011 article speculating...2011!!!
Mon Nov 11, 2013, 10:16 PM
Nov 2013

Got any recent information confirming there are troops in Iraq?

Not weapons sales, troops.

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