Community | October 10, 2010 | 34 comments

Republican Burr, Obama Line Up Closely on War

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shanklinmike
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news%2Fpolitics&id=7715401

When it comes to matters of war, Republican Sen. Richard Burr finds himself more closely aligned with the White House than his Democratic rival does.

The North Carolina lawmaker said President Barack Obama has "called the drawdown shots in Iraq perfectly" and made the right calls up to this point in Afghanistan. Burr, the leading Republican on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said he wants to ensure the administration follows through on commitments in Afghanistan and maintains support for leaders in Iraq.

Burr's support for the president's war policies strikes a sharp contrast with his criticism of other Obama endeavors, such as the health care overhaul and the stimulus package. Meanwhile, Democratic challenger Elaine Marshall opposes Obama's military offensive in Afghanistan aimed at dismantling the Taliban. She doubts it will succeed and questions the wisdom of spending billions more in a country that has faced decades of conflict. "That is all deficit spending owed to China," she said. "That's a very, very unhappy situation in my mind. That's a part of where we are and how we got there."

Obama sent 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, where many are engaged in heavy combat in the nation's volatile southern region. Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently said that there is increasing evidence the strategy is working but that officials won't predict success too soon.

While a similar surge strategy was credited with quelling violence in Iraq, Marshall said the dynamics are different in Afghanistan. She said the Iraq push was successful because the U.S. had reliable partners. Afghanis, on the other hand, are conflicted about whom to trust.

"If we are there on a temporary basis, no matter how long that is, they know in the back of their mind that they're going to live there and live with what's left behind," she said. "At least whatever's left behind in Iraq appears to be a lot more stable and less violent than potentially what will be left behind in Afghanistan."

Libertarian candidate Michael Beitler echoed those thoughts, saying it's time to get out of Afghanistan. He said victory in Afghanistan likely would mean the Taliban had been pushed into another country, not eliminated.

What differentiated Beitler, however, was his contention that there has not been enough long-term progress in Iraq to justify the deaths of more than 4,000 U.S. military service members killed in the conflict that ousted Saddam Hussein.

"That was just a complete failure," Beitler said. "I don't think we've accomplished anything there."

Marshall took a wait-and-see approach. There are fewer than 50,000 American troops in Iraq now that Obama has declared an official end to U.S. combat operations there. The remaining troops primarily train and help Iraqi security forces in hunting down suspected militants, though they continue to battle insurgents in self-defense or at the Iraqi government's request. Marshall won't call the war in Iraq a success unless Iraq proves it can prevent terrorists from thriving there.

"That page of history has yet to be written," she said.

Burr had a different view, declaring, "Iraq was worth it. Period." Burr contended that ending Saddam's oppression of his own people was his leading concern, not the weapons of mass destruction so frequently discussed in the run-up to the war. "If you look back at my statements when we went in (to Iraq), I was not as focused on terrorism or weapons of mass destruction," Burr said. "I was focused almost predominantly on the genocide that existed in the country."

However, Burr's statements from the time indicate his concern for Americans, not Iraqis. A statement issued in March 2003 after President George W. Bush gave Saddam 48 hours to disarm did not mention genocide. Instead, it focused on Saddam's "pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and his growing ties to the forces of international terror."

"Over the course of our history, our nation has often gone to war on behalf of others. We must now be prepared to go to war on behalf of our own nation," Burr said in that statement.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news%2Fpolitics&id=7715401
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34 comments // Republican Burr, Obama Line Up Closely on War

  • ed2point0
    • +4
      ed2point0  

    • What do you expect, once a warmonger always a warmonger. Democrats are no better because they pretend to be anti-war and they end up stabbing their anti-war supporters right in the back. It's the same way Republicans promise to be fiscally conservative and always end up betraying the very supporters who voted for them. The real problem is that people blindly vote for one party over the other expecting a different result from the other party that screwed up, until we realize that both parties screwed up royally. How can we demand change if we keep voting for the very politicians that are perpetuating the status quo?

    • 1 year ago
  • navider
    • -2
      navider  

    • There never has been and there will never be a succesful libetarian governnment because the entire idea has a baseless foundation.

      You want basicly no government and want corporations to contol the society? !?

      You do realise that humans are a social order, hell even a wolf pack has social order. Being part of a community and a social order is how we evolve and have for hundreds of thousands of years.

      The idea of It's me against the world will ALWAYS end in failure.

      This is why the libertarian ideals have never flourished,........ because of it's baseless foundation ...............Do you guys seriously think that through the history of humanity the libertarian ideals never have never been considered?!?

      Do you think that you are smarter than the greatest thinkers that our world has produced? .......................I think NOT.

      Or is it that human history has looked at these views and have found them to be unrealistic to say the least.

      The basis of the libertarian idea is based on corporate anarchy as it's chore value.............

      Where are the rights and the freedom of the people from corporate anarchy?

    • 1 year ago
  • Dagum
    • +1
      Dagum  
    • navider:

      You do realize corporations are a government created entity? Without “corporate personhood,” e.g. a of set laws that artificially gives corporations the same rights as a person, corporations as we know them would not exist.

    • 1 year ago
  • shanklinmike
    • +2
      shanklinmike  
    • Dagum:

      No, they don't get it....

      They don't understand the fact that corporations are not only created by government, but that they already run it in essence.

      They don't understand how government grants tax loopholes, forms of protectionism, corporate advantages, sovereign immunity, barriers to entry.

      No, they don't understand how corporations want to use government to taint laws AWAY from what's fair and the free market, and TOWARDS corporate advantages.

      They just want to believe in oligarch and government magic, that these central planners, based around force, can do all this great stuff with magic penstrokes from the the government parchment paper and pen.

      It's like a religion to them....government religion....

    • 1 year ago
  • libertyforall
    • +2
      libertyforall  
    • navider:

      navider,

      Your ignorance of libertarianism is exactly why there will never be ANOTHER libertarian government. You may want to examine the early history of this country if you don't think we were extremely libertarian at one point.

      That is our fault though. Libertarians and the Libertarian Party have failed at putting our positions out there to counter all the propaganda.

      You don't seem to understand the difference between corporatism and capitalism. Libertarians completely reject the idea of corporatism.

    • 1 year ago
  • shanklinmike
    • +1
      shanklinmike  
    • libertyforall:

      Just saying, there has never truly been a free society, just those closer to it.

      We still had blacks in slavery, we still had forms of corporatism, even back then....

      Just saying, I don't personally believe we have ever reached a libertarian, free society, but we were much closer than any other country has come since....which is exactly why our country has so much wealth for the oligarchs and politicians to waste away in the first place.

    • 1 year ago
  • libertyforall
    • 0
      libertyforall  
    • shanklinmike:

      I agree we have never been a libertarian country nor will there ever be a libertarian country. My point was we have been extremely libertarian at one point in our history.

      A true libertarian country is a utopian ideal that will never happen in reality. Just like a true anything will never be reached.

    • 1 year ago
  • navider
    • 0
      navider  
    • ThatCrazyLibertarian:

      Neither animals or humans can survive without a social society such a a herd, a community or a government.

      If you isolate yourself you will inevitably loose and this is the basis of the libertarian ideal.

    • 1 year ago
  • shanklinmike
    • +2
      shanklinmike  
    • navider:

      HAHAHA, this guy obviously has never researched Libertarianism.... just bought the lies and BS.

      Libertarians don't want to isolate themselves (well some might and those few who do have that right) but that is not what libertarians are about, that is not what makes someone a libertarian.

      What makes someone a libertarian is their rejection of slavery and violence. Everything the world does is done by humans already, we just want to take the coercive, violent aspect out of it.

      They make the false assumption that government equals community. But government is anti-community, because instead of looking for peaceful solutions to problems, it jumps to threats of violence. "Do as I say or I will throw you in a cage to rot".

      Libertarians are against state slavery, and pro-peaceful interactions.

      This has NOTHING to do with isolating yourself, in fact, I CHOOSE to be a part of society daily, to go out in the public and make the world a better place.

      This person is just clueless...and violent.

      What do you call someone who uses threats of violence for their political agenda?!?

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IRbwpc2XV4

    • 1 year ago
  • Stoneyroad
    • -4
      Stoneyroad  

    • Shanklin the senate CAMPAIGN MANAGER for Micheal Beitler posts yet anothr BS story that turns into a political ad halfway through.

      How is a CAMPAIGN MANAGER / CONSULTING FIRM (president & owner) posting political propaganda any different than someone posting ads for sneakers & exercise equipment?

      They are both using current for commercial space. They are both promting something that they are paid to promote. Yet shoe salesmen are flagged, And PAID POLITCAL AGENTS can post their bosses Campaign Talking Points daily.

      At least the sneaker ads don't pretend to be news for the 1st few paragraphs.

    • 1 year ago
  • shanklinmike
    • +3
      shanklinmike  
    • Stoneyroad:

      Because I volunteer for his campaign, unpaid, I am political propaganda trying to sell something? I am simply posting the truth, the people can vote it up or down....

      What commercials are we spreading from DTF Consulting? That is completely different.

      Once again, you need to do more research before jumping to false conclusions.

    • 1 year ago
  • Stoneyroad
    • 0
      Stoneyroad  
    • shanklinmike:

      Don't downplay yourself to a common campaign volunteer.
      When not on current you brag about being THE campaign manager of a senate hopeful. And I didn't say your COSULTING FIRM was producing commercials.
      I said YOU as a CAMPAIGN MANAGER & Owner of a CONSULTING FIRM were using Current as COMMERCIAL SPACE.
      That is a fact we can all see in your MIKE BEITLER posts.
      I did make the assumption that you were being paid to do so.
      I will also assume that you let your clients know you are a pro at using sites like this as a billboard for their canidates & issues.

    • 1 year ago
  • gurper707
    • +2
      gurper707  
    • Stoneyroad:

      I haven't heard him endorsing candidates at all on any of the posts ive read him in. What a peice of %*$# you are. You can't argue with his points so you just give up and search his posts for something, ANYTHING..
      YOU JUST GAVE UP

    • 1 year ago
  • gurper707
  • zHellas
    • 0
      zHellas  
    • gurper707:

      I actually did see two posts promoting 2 candidates. One being Michael Beitner, the other I'm not sure about(but I did make a reply to the post).

      EDIT: Here we go:

      #
      Mike_Beitler

      *
      +3
      Mike_Beitler
      *

      Burr and Obama have the same goal: Bigger Government.

    • 1 year ago
  • zHellas
  • shanklinmike
    • +2
      shanklinmike  
    • gurper707:

      You're right, they don't know how to defend their government threats of violence on peaceful people. They are afraid because they can't argue the FACT that government is force and taxation is theft. It's all true, and they know it, but it gets in the way with their mind game of government magic.

    • 1 year ago
  • kennymotown
    • -4
      kennymotown  

    • So what the fuck is it? Are you with the policy or against it? You guys are monday morning QB's and would make terrible leaders. Go to fucking Somalia where Libertarian policy rules.

    • 1 year ago
  • ThatCrazyLibertarian
  • kennymotown
  • ThatCrazyLibertarian
  • kennymotown
  • Ryan_Appleby
    • +2
      Ryan_Appleby  

    • Two fiscal liberals battle it out for our senate seat. How about a rational option. How about a fiscal conservative like Dr. Beitler!

    • 1 year ago
  • shanklinmike
  • zHellas
  • shanklinmike
    • +2
      shanklinmike  
    • zHellas:

      Who ever said everyone's stupid? Just because someone uses slavery and someone else calls it out, does not mean the word stupid was involved....

      I just want people to stop using government and slavery on everyone....stop arresting peaceful people when they don't infringe on others!

    • 1 year ago
  • ThatCrazyLibertarian
  • shanklinmike
  • shanklinmike
  • Amanda_Owens
  • Mike_Beitler
  • shanklinmike
  • ThatCrazyLibertarian
  • shanklinmike
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