His characterization of our troops and their mission is disgraceful:
“We’ve got to get the job done there and that requires us to have enough troops so that we’re not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there.”
This man is clueless to the point of being dangerous. Others seem to agree:
Gay Patriot
Perhaps I’m splitting hairs, but his use of the present tense here (”which is causing…”) certainly makes it sound like he’s accusing the military of “air-raiding villiages and killing civilians”. Does he have any idea what’s going on over there?
Right from the Left
Huh? “Air-raiding villages’? ‘Killing civilians’? That’s stuff Hussein did to his own people. The United States military is protecting Iraqi civilians from terrorists. American troops are helping Iraqi civilians. And what’s he talking about ‘more troops’? ‘Enough troops’? Obama wanted ALL American troops out of Iraq 104 days ago.
Pundit Review
Barack Obama channels John Kerry.
The Bullwinkle Blog
Strike 3 For Obama? Or is it 4? I’ve lost track. The magic fizzles more with each and every speech.
Update:
Mitt Romney agrees:
“That is a very troubling remark on so many levels,” said Romney spokesman Kevin Madden. “Most importantly, it’s emblematic of Senator Obama’s lack of experience for the job of commander-in-chief. But it’s also an entirely inaccurate condemnation of the efforts of the men and women of the United States military who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
August 14th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
THE FACT CHECK:
A check of the facts shows that Western forces have been killing civilians at a faster rate than the insurgents.
The U.S. and NATO say they don’t have civilian casualty figures, but The Associated Press has been keeping count based on figures from Afghan and international officials. Tracking civilian deaths is a difficult task because they often occur in remote and dangerous areas that are difficult to reach and verify.
As of Aug. 1, the AP count shows that while militants killed 231 civilians in attacks in 2007, Western forces killed 286. Another 20 were killed in crossfire that can’t be attributed to one party.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed his concern about the civilian deaths during a meeting last week with President Bush.
Bush said he understands the agony that Afghans feel over the loss of innocent lives and that he is doing everything he can to protect them. He said the Taliban are using civilians as human shields and have no regard for their lives.
“The president rightly expressed his concerns about civilian casualty,” Bush said of Karzai. “And I assured him that we share those concerns.”
August 14th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
First of all he says, “problems” not pressure. Second of all, how about instead of criticizing his remarks, we look at the facts. If you want to criticize comments made on national TV or in the public forum, take a look at good ole “W” and tell me if he’s the perfect public speaker.
The fact of the matter is that his message is sincere…we need MORE troops to avoid mishaps and military error. This shouldn’t be seen as anything but patriotic.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:59 am
The left are always so quick to divert attention from their own gaffes and onto the gaffes of others (primarily those of conservatives). And they know they can get away with it for the most part because of the primarily left leaning media and their willingness to bury the stories of mistakes made by their left wing political buddies.
Fact is he said it. All of Bush’s gaffes over the years have been duly noted by left winged media types and radical bloggers. Fair is fair…they like that word when it comes to wealth redistribution…now accept the FACT that Obama made a major gaffe here and shut up. He screwed up…and still never apologetic…not for that comment, not for his unwillingness to support the troops with funds, not with his insistance on putting the mission there in harm’s way by demanding a time table for withdraw.
Own up, accept your mistakes, Obama.
As far as the FACT that civilians HAVE been killed, that’s not what Obama was saying…read the quote…look up the YouTube video…he said, “…that requires us to have enough troops so that we’re not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians…”
not JUST air-raiding villages and killing civilians…like that’s ALL our troops are doing over there. What a pathetic jerk.