YouTube - Obama Won't Meet With Troops

Call me crazy, but if I was running for President during a time of war, I would make sure I took the time to listen to those who know best about what really is going on with our troops while at war.

Obama refuses to meet with 12 vets from his state because he is too busy campaigning? So he is trying to become the next Commander in Chief who will have final say what happens to our troops yet cannot find time to meet with the men and women he will be in charge of?

Why does Obama refuse to meet with the men and women who keep this country safe?

If you ask me, I think he is intimidated by real people. That could be why he also refuses to debate McCain in a town hall style debate. He would be to close to everyday people and without a screen to tell him what to say.

Obama is becoming his own worse enemy.
The fact that he has never went to Iraq, however he is willing to travel just as far to sit down with Iranian maniacs??
Jimmy Carter II

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The essence of tyranny is the denial of complexity; where everything is made simple, and in that simplification the truth is lost.

More lies from the right.

Here's Obama going to Iraq, and meeting with US troops:

abc7chicago.com: Obama visits troops in Iraq 1/09/06


So nice that some insist on parroting the same bullshit they read on right-wing blogs without bothering to check the facts.

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Wait I remember this...he DID go to Iraq, however he did not meet with troops or tour outside of Baghdad, he spent most of the time in Jordan and Israel.
I guess it is pretty easy to forget when the visit was only a token one. I do remember seeing a photo where a few soldiers from his home state took a photo with him...that was pretty much it.

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The essence of tyranny is the denial of complexity; where everything is made simple, and in that simplification the truth is lost.

Ohhh, so now it's just a "token" visit.


Kind of like McCain's leisurely stroll through a Baghdad neighborhood?

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McCain has been to Iraq numerous times.
I can't remember, I believe he has been 7-8 times..each spending a few days at a time.
And yes - an official going to a warzone - only staying in the safest environment, far from where things are happening - never going on the ground - and not meeting with military leaders, and not speaking to the troops, sharing meals with them etc. - that is certainly a "token" visit.

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The essence of tyranny is the denial of complexity; where everything is made simple, and in that simplification the truth is lost.

So then 99% of official visits are token visits.


And, how does eating crappy food with troops really provide any real insight to the Iraq situation at the level at which a POTUS needs to be aware of it?

It's no-win. If he goes, he's pandering. If he doesn't, he's uncaring.

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ummm - they are eating with them because THEY ARE THERE WITH THEM...it's not like they can pop into a local Pizza Hut.
And no, I wager most "officials" who have visited Iraq go more than a couple miles away from the airport.

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The essence of tyranny is the denial of complexity; where everything is made simple, and in that simplification the truth is lost.

The answer is obvious. If he met with troops his secret terrorist feelings would well up and cause him to attack them screaming "jiiiihaaaaaad!!!" and the jig would be up.

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A nation of slaves is always prepared to applaud the clemency of their master, who, in the abuse of absolute power, does not proceed to the last extremes of injustice and oppression.
Edward Gibbon

Exactly, unlike John McCain who went out into the field with an M-16, kicked in some doors, and gunned down some suspected terrorists, Obama insists on making these token visits. If you don't want to help, stay away.

Wasn't it someone in McCain's group who said that Baghdad reminds them of the Iowa State Fair.

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“ The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.”

Adam Smith , The Wealth of Nations 1776

"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics"
FDR's second Inaugural Address

What a idiotic statement.

Anyone that has served knows that while not in the field the food in the military is not only great but plentiful.

Every Friday was Surf and Turf. I bet no other army in the world feeds its troops lobster and steak once a week.

As for insight, the soldiers are the insight. Who better to hear the truth from? A general who flies over the combat zone and sits at a desk to read reports or a soldier who is in the shit everyday?

Yet Obama won't take time to talk to the CG must less a combat troop.

strawman argument
If you were interviewing someone to run your $multi-billion company...would you or would you not want them to visit the factory floor?

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The essence of tyranny is the denial of complexity; where everything is made simple, and in that simplification the truth is lost.

The 'troops' aren't exactly an important swing vote segment and why would any candidate want to visit the largest example of a US failure? If POTUS Obama's responsibilities will lie with senior pentagon officers, not line troops. That's as ridiculous as a CEO wasting the time to take a spin through the mail room to see how the mail delivery people are doing and what they're having for lunch.

No. The factory floor is an operational entity of a business and I'd much rather have a potential CEO meeting with the person responsible for the factory floor and reviewing production data with that person.

People like seeing their leaders involved.. bush flying over that thanksgiving with no warning etc..its very good for th trops and it gives a warm and fuzzy to the folks, it may mean squat in the end, but politics dictates they do these fly bys..

Having had a few vips visit us where we were while serving, I'd say the value is;

a) the briefing he gets from on the ground commanders usually, one on one, they get more of a flavor regards whats really going on than most of the pony and dog shows the generals et al trot out, I was questioned carefully by the man and his aide for perhaps 20 minutes, the question was, how is it really going, with a proviso that this was between the 3 of us. Q’s? was it working, what’s your gut tell you, what are the people out there, the pop. telling you or not telling you, do they give a shit, what have you seen as working or not etc.

b) the generals dog and pony show is valuable in that its the dog that doesn't bark.
What did they say and what didn't they say, yea we need more this we need more that, of course the generals are all politically attuned and won't bash their command structure etc. so its left for the vip to parse with what he sees at his level from his senatorial or congressional seat and what he ahs been told or not told.

c) on the ground, yea he’s waiting a safe area, plenty of troops around, but an astute observer can draw some conclusions at to what he see then and what he has seen before in some of the same areas.

My only regret really is Obama will lack some of that ability to parse what’s been and what is now in some cases/areas. I think he should go, I think he should hold one on ones, talk to some NCO’s especially one on one and think about what he has heard and what he hasn’t.

Going with mccain is ridiculous, McCain aides pulled a fast and clever one and wants to make him look like hes being tutored, but no matter what, and he has to go, and when he does the rep 527 will hound him as they will ake it appear he only went because hes now the nominee and ask where the hell he has been for the last 3 years.

I think even a thinking partisan will have to admit, if he goes comes back and says everything sux, he will be open to charges of doing a fly by to just buttress his position, sans any perspective which frankly will be true, if he comes back and says hey, things are looking up from what perspective he does have, hes pro war and some of his own grps. are going to kill him.

Trying to keep partisan politics out of this, is hard, he’s not in an envious position regards this event. He doesn’t have that perspective in that framework despite being a very vocal anti- war advocate, so in some sense he opened himself up to the charge of dilettante. Like it or not, grudgingly the msm has admitted that things have gotten better, whether they have done enough is not the question here but the shear absence of iraq from the front pages tells folks something is going on, and since it bleeds it leads is the msm mantra, if there’s no bleeding then, many will draw their own conclusions.

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"The captain has turned off the `No Dubbing' sign. You are free to speak any language you choose."