In what promises to be the first of many gaffes, Senator Barack Obama says that the more than 3,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq were "wasted" lives. No sir, they were not wasted, they died defending our nation. Watch the short video:
One of the steadfast beliefs of the anti-war left is that Iraq is not part of the greater War on Terror. They break out the canard that Saddam was just hanging all by his lonesome and would never, ever, have done anything that would cause harm to the US. That feeble-minded theory was quashed with relative ease by Richard Miniter and others.
Alas, when hit over the head with facts, our leftist neighbors still can't get it through their skulls. I submit as proof that while we are in Iraq, we have sucked Jihadists from all over the Middle East into the battle, keeping them from planning attacks like 9/11, the Khobar Towers bombing, the African embassy bombings and the attack on the USS Cole that killed 19 US Navy Sailors. Put as simply as possible, we have not been attacked again.
Barack Obama is dynamic, smart and an excellent candidate. He is also very green when it comes to campaigning and will be challenged daily by the Clinton machine.
Update: 2/13/07 1541: Obama has apologized:
"Even as I said it, I realized I had misspoken," Obama said. "It is not at all what I intended to say, and I would absolutely apologize if any (military families) felt that in some ways it had diminished the enormous courage and sacrifice that they'd shown."
Sorry, I don't buy it. A man who makes his words by talking knows excatly what he's saying and Obama said exactly what he, and many on the angry, antiwar left think.
But back to Obama's gaffe. He said what is considered basic fact by Liberals: any life taken during war is "wasted." That, of course, is disgusting to anyone who has served or supports our military. It's a slam at all those whose sons, daughters, wives or husbands have died during the two ongoing conflicts we find ourselves in.
The worst thing that could ever happen to the crop of Democrat candidates is for us to be attacked again. The American public will scream for vengeance--just as they did after 9/11--and the dovish cadre of candidates will have to appease that angry beast. The question I would ask the Senator is this: If the US were to be attacked again and we found out that the terrorists were sponsored by a state such as Iran, would you order an attack on that nation?
The media will not even bring this to your attention because they agree with Senator Obama. Therein lies the problem.
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. Although the lives were not wasted, an argument could be made that they didn't have to be lost. Removing Saddam wasn't the cause of 3100 US troops being killed. It was the unexpected reaction to our invasion that killed them. Far from hailing us as liberators,(Bush/Cheney prediction) the native insurgents and militias greeted us with bullets and IED's.
Agreed that there is massive spin on the war since it is going so poorly, but the spin is from the left and the right both, and is threatening the normal functioning of our government.
Steve Bonomo at 11:35PM on Feb 12th 2007
2. I agree, it is either a matter of symantics, carelessness and/or a poor choice of words on the Senator's part. However, maybe I missed the chapter where we all screamed for vengence...
I do not care for your thoughtless invocation of another attack, either. This is in very poor taste and also insults the memory of those lost, both in Iraq and 2001.
Maybe you should watch your own mouth instead of the "cadres of doves".
Manfred at 1:41AM on Feb 13th 2007
3.
Scott,
I do not know about your contention that jihadists are being diverted from playing scrabble, or whatever...This is an absolutely unproven. Period.
However, I agree.. the Senator's choice of words are deplorable and inexcusable. Maybe this cat is not as "clean" as Joe Biden had said??
It bothers me too, that I cannot defend even one of your "cadre of doves".
Manfred at 2:39AM on Feb 13th 2007
4. I must strongly disagree that "lives were wasted" simply because of the present state of the war we presently fight. Let Barack tell that to his consitutents who lost their sons and daughters. "Ma'am, your son's life was wasted in this war." Great, Barack!
There's a huge difference between saying that lives didn't have to be lost and that lost lives were wasted lives. One argues that people didn't have to die. The other argues that the lives of those who died were wasted.
Sad. I'm sorry to hear that, Barack.
Katerina at 6:38PM on Feb 13th 2007
5. I was very disturbed at Obama's careless comments. Obviously, he's too young and naive to know that "Freedom isn't free!" Sometimes it comes with a great and precious cost of those that are very dear to us.
Deborah Moore at 5:53PM on Feb 14th 2007
6. It is so easy to criticize the man making a stand for what is right regarding Iraq....NO ONE likes to fight a war, but if we are to continue to enjoy our freedoms, we darn well better be WILLING to fight. It is sad that we have so many educated liberals enjoying the freedoms that they are NOT willing to fight for and seem only to find time to criticize those that are. Thank you Mr. President! History will confirm that you are right.
Terry LoKey at 7:18PM on Feb 15th 2007
7. Wasted is right. The only reason people will not say wasted is because that would mean this war was absolutly wrong, period. President Bush and his cronies have lied, cheated and have ruined our character as a country at home and abroad through thier greed and lack of value for human life. It is tragic, demoralizing and humiliating as this war continues. The war was wrong, the president was wrong and we as citizens for supporting this war were wrong. Now it seems that we hide behind our lies when everyone can see through it. Very strange
Earl at 7:41AM on Feb 16th 2007
8. It's semantics, but framing a debate by defining the words used is how debate is altered. In this case, I think an apology was appropriate, so that Obama not be seen as anti-military, as too many on the left are...
No Soldier Dies In Vain
Feb 15, 2007 | Permalink
Senator Obama says he meant no offense by saying soldiers' lives “wasted.”
To say that war is wasteful is to state the obvious. The trillion or more dollars that will eventually be spent on the Iraq War is indeed being poured down a rat-hole. To say nothing of the good that money could have accomplished for education, health care, tax cuts, energy, or science, we could hardly have used it more foolishly. We have wasted, through ludicrous foreign policy, our international standing, our technology, and our resources.
But to say a life has been wasted is to say something else entirely. A "wasted" life implies one spent for nothing, as for example someone of great talent who wastes their life pursuing low and mean pleasures of the moment, spending their potential on things of no value. Truly, our celebrities’ lives are wasted. The lives of soldiers are never wasted.
The founders of our country had the foresight to place ultimate control of military might in the hands of a civilian government, that zealotry and dictatorship would be checked. The United States soldier does not swear an oath of allegiance to any one man, as German soldiers once swore to Hitler, but rather they swear to defend the Constitution. It is from this simple oath that the honor of the soldier, living or dead, rests securely. Whatever the motivations of those who sent him, the soldier offers his life in defense of the core values of his country.
The United States Military, from the Air Force to the Navy Seals, makes one unique demand of those who serve that is unequalled in any other profession: that they be willing to lay down their lives in service of their country. There are many professions in which service to community is paramount and danger plays a large role; police and fire fighters come to mind. But in each case, other than the military, the risk is always a calculated risk. That is, the individual has the luxury to assess the risk and to avoid it, as in a police officer awaiting backup before arresting a dangerous suspect. For soldiers, there is no calculating to be done; they are told to go into the line of fire and they go.
I have served as a fire fighter, risking myself to save others. But never did I feel that the flames had a special hatred for me; I never worried that a burning structure hid the fixed eye of a sniper; not one time did I fear that our truck would be blown to atoms by an IED buried under the street. The calculated risk of dangerous jobs, whether police officer, fire fighter, or underwater welder, cannot compare with a soldier’s risk, because it is not constant. Our soldiers in Iraq live with the fear of death 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for as many years as those in power care to tell them to stay there.
They can be held beyond their tour of duty and they can be recalled after discharge. They can be sent to die at any time, from the time they volunteer, for the rest of their lives. They are on call all day and night, every day and night, for pay that is less than minimum wage, knowing that if they are killed the survivor benefits are so poor that their families may live in poverty.
Whatever his motivations, whatever her intentions, the soldier makes a lopsided bargain with his country: For small pay and modest chances to improve his lot, he will face death that we may know our country is secure. As payback for this ultimate sacrifice we do not have much, but we must give all that we have: Respect for the soldier, honor for the dead, knowledge that they fell doing what they were supposed to do, following orders, ready and willing to die that others may live.
Senator Obama, your wish to chastise the president is well founded. George W. Bush is a dangerous fool, and all of us will pay the price for his follies for decades to come. But with every generation we learn anew what we have known since our founding: that to have the blessings of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for the many, a few must be willing to give up those blessings. Those who die are to be remembered forever for having given us that precious gift, and no such gift is wasteful.
You recanted your statement immediately and you have been forgiven. But do not be swept away by your current fame and seeming invulnerability so much that you forget those whose lives were not spent in the libraries of Harvard but the deserts of Iraq; not the streets of Chicago but the streets of Baghdad; and who now reside not in the Senate but in the grave.
To all our fallen heroes, you are not forgotten, you are not gone from within us, your spirit moves us, your lives were indeed not wasted.
Dr. Tim at 10:02PM on Feb 16th 2007
9. I believe that Sen. Obama's comments were incorrect and uncalled for, but not for the same reasons as many American families whose sons, daughters, or other loved ones that have lost their lives might possess. I feel that the comments were stated incorrectly. I would've loved if the Senator stated that "more than 3,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq were wasted away for nothing." I have to pose this query: What has the war in Iraq accomplished? Nothing, just more blood shed. Yes,Obama's choice of words were careless but Americans should be fed up with the war policies of the current administration. After 9/11, Americans wanted revenge in the worst way, but instead of revenge we should've had a diplomatic forum with Iraq to understand and discover why this heinous act was committed. The Bush Administration acted as grade school children, one person hits one of our family or friends so we hit them back. The same scenarios have been manifested within the inner-city communities with gang and drug activities; you hit us and we hit you back, even harder. And it amounts to absolutely nothing except for more money lining the pockets of greedy people while other people suffer. I only hope that the Senator's comments were due to his urgency to make a change to this corrupt administration and not a ploy to appease his constituency.
Chris Myers at 10:04PM on Feb 25th 2007
10. The sad part is that Barack just made a speaking mistake, when everyone thought he was a perfect speaker. Everyone bumbles. Leave it to the Republicans to blow this issue out of proportion, because they have nothing else to attack Mr. Obama with besides his name (which makes me want to dump chlorine in the gene pool).
Bearwhale at 2:27PM on Feb 26th 2007
11. The lives were WASTED. It's excruciatingly tragic but true. Nothing productive has come out of the war. Let's not paint the roses red. There is nothing being defended. It was supposed to be a "liberating" campaign remember that. Now we have a complete catastrophe. Nobody's been liberated. Just a lot of dead people, lives WASTED on both sides. Iraq is less safe and more unstable now than ever. The United States is also less safe and more hated by the world than ever. Once Al Gore is president things will be a lot different.
mescalito at 12:38PM on Mar 1st 2007
12. I just don’t know how you would accidentally call those lives as wasted. Is that the message you want our prospective commander and chief to send to the military, and more so to the families of military personnel?
obama at 5:05PM on Mar 21st 2007