OBAMA Tries to Purge his Surge Flip-Flop

Once again Senator Barack Obama proves that he is suffering from full of crap disease with regards to the below is a time line of quotations from October 2006 through today. As recently as MAY 2008 he said "We don't need more spin about how the surge is succeeding" Maybe thats why the NY Daily News reports that the Senator has purged his site of his surge quotes...but you can find them here

October 2006: Barack Obama Says We Cannot "Through Putting In More Troops Or Maintaining The Presence That We Have, Expect That Somehow The Situation Is Going To Improve." Obama: "Given the deteriorating situation, it is clear at this point that we cannot, through putting in more troops or maintaining the presence that we have, expect that somehow the situation is going to improve, and we have to do something significant to break the pattern that we've been in right now." (NBC's "Meet The Press," 10/22/06)

January 2007: Barack Obama Says The Surge Would Actually Worsen Sectarian Violence In Iraq. Obama: "I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse." (MSNBC's "Response To The President's Speech On Iraq," 1/10/07)

January 2007: Barack Obama Says He Did Not Know Of Any Middle East Expert Or Military Officer That Believed That The New Strategy Would "Make A Substantial Difference On The Situation On The Ground." Obama: "We cannot impose a military solution on what has effectively become a civil war. And until we acknowledge that reality -- we can send 15,000 more troops, 20,000 more troops, 30,000 more troops, I don't know any expert on the region or any military officer that I've spoken to privately that believes that that is going to make a substantial difference on the situation on the ground." (CBS' "Face The Nation," 1/14/07)

March 2007: Barack Obama Warns The Troop Surge Would Not Make A Long-Term Difference. Obama: "[E]ven those who are supporting -- but here's the thing, Larry -- even those who support the escalation have acknowledged that 20,000, 30,000, even 40,000 more troops placed temporarily in places like Baghdad are not going to make a long-term difference." (CNN's "Larry King Live," 3/19/07)

May 2007: Barack Obama Says He Does Not Believe The Surge Is Working. Obama: "And what I know is that what our troops deserve is not just rhetoric, they deserve a new plan. Governor Romney and Senator McCain clearly believe that the course that we're on in Iraq is working, I do not." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks To The Coalition Of Black Trade Unionists Convention, Chicago, IL, 5/25/07)

July 2007: Barack Obama Says The Surge Had Not Worked In Iraq. Obama: "My assessment is that the surge has not worked and we will not see a different report eight weeks from now." (NBC's "The Today Show," 7/18/07)

September 2007: Barack Obama Claims The Strategy Failed Because It Had Not Brought About Political Reconciliation. Obama: "I've had a bill in since January that would begin bringing our troops home in a responsible, careful way. And it is my belief that if the president continues on this course, we are going to continue to have the same problems that we've had." (Sen. Barack Obama, Univision Democrat Presidential Debate, Miami, FL, 9/9/07)

It is a course that will not succeed. It is a course that is exacting an enormous toll on the American people & our troops. Democratic Debate 9/13/07

November 2007: Barack Obama Says The Surge Has Not Worked, And Had Potentially Worsened The Situation In Iraq. Obama: "Finally, in 2006-2007, we started to see that, even after an election, George Bush continued to want to pursue a course that didn't withdraw troops from Iraq but actually doubled them and initiated a search and at that stage I said very clearly, not only have we not seen improvements, but we're actually worsening, potentially, a situation there." (NBC's "Meet The Press," 11/11/07)

AS THE CONDITIONS ON THE GROUND IMPROVE, BARACK OBAMA'S POSITION REMAINS THE SAME AND HE SPINS PROGRESS INTO FAILURE

January 2008: Barack Obama Downplays Reductions In The Violence In Iraq Due To The Surge. Obama: "Now, I had no doubt -- and I said at the time, when I opposed the surge, that given how wonderfully our troops perform, if we place 30,000 more troops in there, then we would see an improvement in the security situation and we would see a reduction in the violence. But understand, we started in 2006 with intolerable levels of violence and a dysfunctional government. We saw a spike in the violence, the surge reduced that violence, and we now are, two years later, back where we started two years ago. We have gone full circle at enormous cost to the American people." (Sen. Barack Obama, Democrat Presidential Candidate Debate, Manchester, NH, 1/5/08)

March 2008: Barack Obama Said He Would "Immediately Begin To Remove Our Troops From Iraq." Obama: "In order to end this war responsibly, I will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. We can responsibly remove one to two combat brigades each month. If we start with the number of brigades we have in Iraq today, we can remove all of them 16 months." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks On Iraq, Fayetteville, NC, 3/19/08)

April 2008: Barack Obama Said That The Surge Has Reduced Violence, But The Iraqis Have Not Taken Advantage Of The "Breathing Room" That The New Strategy Provided. Obama: "I also think that the surge has reduced violence and provided breathing room -- but that breathing room has not been taken the way we would all like it to be taken." (Sen. Barack Obama, Committee On Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 4/8/08)

May 2008: Obama Communications Director Robert Gibbs Says That Barack Obama Would Go To Iraq To See How We Can Withdraw Troops. Gibbs: "You know, what they're doing over there is separated from their families, giving for their country. It's truly, truly amazing, and I think we would want to go over there and talk to them and see what sort of difficulties they're facing and see how it is that we can begin to carefully remove them and carefully bring them back to their families and bring them back to the United States." (MSNBC's "Morning Joe," 5/29/08)

May 2008: Obama Aides Make Clear That Possible Iraq Trip To Make "Clear That He Intends To Assess How Best To Withdraw U.S. Forces." "Obama aides said yesterday that the senator from Illinois is now considering a trip to Iraq as part of a long-deferred foreign tour. But they made it clear that he intends to assess how best to withdraw U.S. forces, not to reconsider whether they should be withdrawn." (Jonathan Weisman, "Campaign Jousting Returns To Iraq War," The Washington Post, 5/30/08)

May 2008: Barack Obama Said We Didn't Need More "Spin" About The Surge's Success. Obama: "We don't need more spin about how the surge is succeeding in doing what it was supposed to do which is to get the Iraqi's to stand up and take responsibility for their own future, so we can start sending our troops homes." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At Town Hall, Rapid City, SD, 5/31/08)

June 2008: Gibbs Downplays Progress In Iraq Saying "Everybody" Thought More Troops Would Lead To A Better Security Situation. Gibbs: "[W]ell, there's no doubt that the security situation has improved, much as everybody admitted it would if we put more troops on the ground." (MSNBC's "Morning Joe," 6/6/08)

July 2008: Obama Senior Foreign Policy Adviser Susan Rice Says Barack Obama "Said When The Surge Was Announced" That Security Would Improve. Rice: "[W]hat the surge has accomplished so far is improved security, which is important, and, indeed, as Barack Obama said when the surge was announced, anytime you put the finest men and women in uniform on the ground in greater numbers, you're going to have a positive security benefit, and, indeed, we have." (MSNBC's "News Live," 7/1/08)