The mood was different back then. 9/11 was recent. The country wanted to hit back so hard, the vast majority of Republicans believed the Dick Cheney lie that Saddam was behind 9/11.
Even since entering the Senate, Hillary has been under pressure to boost her defense credentials. She might have an idea or two on health care, but can she be imagined in the role of Commander In Chief? That is an unfair gender question, but it was/is there. She countered by going hawkish in more ways than one. She might have taken one step too far.
The Iraq War is no longer popular: it might have singlehandedly cost Bush the Congress. Hillary has never taken a stand against that war. Her stand during the election was that Rumsfeld should be fired. Message: the war was right, just its execution got messed up.
Obama, on the other hand, is the original anti-war candidate. He opposed the war back in the days. That is how he became a Deaniac. Dean was anti-war.
Obama and Hillary are my two favorite people in the US Senate. They are both super talented. Both represent the better possibilities despite the constraints of race and gender. Both are left of center pols taking easy strides to the center to win elections. Both are or are going to be strong on money and organization. Both are going to come up with many good ideas.
But Hillary can't wish away her tracks on Iraq. Iraq is also going to loom large for 2008 like it did for 2006. And that is where Obama is going to have to hit hard. There must be too much footage of Hillary speaking for the war option, too much footage of Hillary supporting Bush even after the deliberately faulty intelligence was all over the papers. Therein lies Hillary's weakness.
Obama was not only anti-war ("dumb war") but he has been careful not to take the Murtha position of immediate withdrawal. He wants the troops out, sure, but before that he wants a political solution to the problem. How about engaging the adversaries in dialogue? The fallback countries for the insurgents in Iraq have been Iran and Syria.
Many say a larger regional conference is also the right thing to do for the Israel-Palestine thing.
So Obama comes to you with a solution. The guy has a plan. It happens not to be cut and run. It happens to be solve and get the hell outa there.
Perhaps the Iraq War will be over before Obama gets into the White House, but that is not the point. This is a judgment issue.
Democratic Vision For The 21st Century
The Matrix
Three Pillars, Draft 2
Obama Will Announce In January
Eliot Spitzer For Running Mate
A Woman For Running Mate, Perhaps A Governor
Barack Obama: Time For A Generation Shift
New Orleans: 2008 Democratic Convention
Next Stop: White House
On November 7: In Harlem: For Obama
The Audacity Of Gravitas: Restore Intelligence To The White House
Barack Is A Deaniac
Barack Obama: This Is A New Century
Barack Obama: New Approaches To Old Problems
Switching To Obama
Google Video: Martin Luther King
Google Video: Malcolm X
Obama In Africa
Hakeem Jeffries Debate 2
Hakeem Jeffries Debate
Leecia Eve: It’s Time to Reclaim Our Voter Power
Hakeem Jeffries: Principled Compromise
Barack The Glass Walls, Ceilings, Smash 'Em
Obama Votes Nay
Obama, Ethics Reform, And White Dems
blac
Obama Was In Town And I Missed It
Who Is Leecia Eve?
"First Nancy Pelosi, Then Hillary"
Google Video: Bill Clinton
Hillary 2008: Enough White Men
YouTube: Bill Clinton
Hillary In The White House, Bill At The UN In 2010
Advice To Hillary
Hillary's Formula For 2006
Hillary 2008
2008 Countdown: Hillary-Obama
Karl Rove, Hands Off Hillary
Hillary In Person
The Israeli Wall Is Wrong, Hillary
Hillary Speaks Up For NYC
Dean-Hillary-Obama Ticket
No To Neocons, No To Islamists
Iraq Movie, Liberally, But Not Drinking
October 5 The World Can't Wait Rally
Movie: Iraq For Sale
Iraq: Dumb War
Middle East: The Final Map
Nation Building, Israeli Style?
Lamont Victory
Lamont: The Iraq War Ferment In The Democratic Party
Right Wingers In Power In Israel And America
Lieberman, Lamont
The Israeli Offensive
Critiquing A Critique Of The Iraq War Critiques
Can't Take Back Congress Without Strong On Defense
Long War
Iraq Intel: The Spy Who Failed Me
The Larger WMD Question And Iran
Complicated Iraq
Primitive Liberals Need To Stop Attacking Hillary
The "I" Word: Monica And Saddam
The Saudi Royal Family Has Got To Go
In The News
Bush-Maliki Talks Are Postponed New York Times
Bush, Maliki Meeting Set for Thursday in Jordan Voice of America
Fiji army returns to barracks amid coup fears Washington Post
Bihar allies differ on Muslim quota Calcutta Telegraph
India's BSNL pairs with Intel on WiMax EETimes.com
Spitzer says targets Brooklyn mortgage fraud ring Reuters
Bachchan gets interim relief in tobacco case Daily News & Analysis
Rick Warren defends Barack Obama invitation OCRegister
Church Is Urged to Disinvite Obama Washington Post Antiabortion groups are assailing one of the nation's most influential evangelicals, the Rev. Rick Warren, for inviting Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to speak at a conference on HIV/AIDS at his Southern California megachurch this weekend. ..... Phyllis Schlafly of the Eagle Forum, Judie Brown of the American Life League and Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association. ..... the HIV/AIDS pandemic cannot be fought by Evangelicals alone. It will take the cooperation of all -- government, business, NGOs and the church .... A spokesman for Obama said he has no intention of withdrawing from the conference ..... "While we will never see eye-to-eye on all issues, surely we can come together with one voice to honor the entirety of Christ's teachings by working to eradicate the scourge of AIDS, poverty and other challenges we all can agree must be met," a statement from the senator said.
Famed Pastor Defends Invitation to Obama Forbes
Obama meets with Ludacris Chicago Sun-Times
Senator, rapper Ludacris meet to talk about young people WQAD
Rapper Ludacris visits Northwestern to talk about HIV-AIDSABC7Chicago.com
Iraqi leader under fire from US, Shiite supporters CNN
Fiji tense after overnight show of force The Australian
Zune has shot at iPod market share, survey says Reuters
US moving up to 2,700 troops into Baghdad CNN International
Now, Paris and Britney party in matching Tees! Zee News
Activists urge boycott of the `N-word' Los Angeles Times
UN to send monitors to Nepal to support peace deal Reuters AlertNet
Charges to be dropped against 2 top Nepal Maoists in Bengal jail Indian Express
Depute ex-Gurkha soldiers in Nepal: Prachanda Zee News
Nepal Peace Pact an Example to the World OhmyNews International "Dramatic" could be the word to describe the way that Nepali politics have turned in recent times. The entire credit goes to the massive people's uprising in April this year ........ the decade-long insurgency now abruptly comes to an end on the mere basis of popular demand, negotiation, and mutual trust, rather than through forceful or violent tactics, unlike in other parts of the world where rebels and the authorities have several times failed to achieve a lasting and reciprocally granted peace accord. ..... The war crimes committed during the conflict should be addressed properly, and the perpetrators, be it from the rebels or the government security forces, should be brought to justice. ..... other conflict-ridden countries, those bearing similar instances of insurgency and political upheaval, could also learn and follow this outstanding achievement in Nepal, an achievement that was brought about by the people for the people.
Democracy Lacking in Muslim World It is hard to find a purely democratic country in the Muslim world, one that is governed by the people directly or through elected representatives. ...... Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman are ruled by kings or emirs. Last year, the first local elections were held in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi people showed that they were hungry for unconditional democracy: 700 candidates competed for only seven seats in Riyadh, the capital. Women, however, were not allowed to vote. ....... After the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime and the withdrawal of Syrian solders from Lebanon, Iraq and Lebanon moved to establish democracy. In Iraq, Shia Muslims are busy establishing a religious democracy. ...... Iran is a religious democracy where, except for the spiritual leader, every person, member of parliament, member of local government, speaker and president has to be elected. All of the mechanisms of the state, however, are ruled by a guardian council, which is led by the spiritual leader, who is known as the ayatollah. No one can stand in an election without his permission. .......... Egypt and Libya are ruled in the style of "the one-man show." ...... Sudan and Algeria, known as dictator-based democracies. Democracy in Morocco, Tunisia and Tanzania is not doing well, but is stronger than in other states. ....... Egypt, Libya, Algeria and Morocco have banned religious parties. ...... Turkey's democracy is doing well, but religious parties are not allowed. .... Indonesia, democracy is unstable. .... In Malaysia, democracy is also limited. Pakistan is ruled by its president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who took power from an elected government through a bloodless coup. .... Family-based democracy remains in Pakistan and Bangladesh, where major parties are organized by family members. .... Brunei is controlled by a sultan. Dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom rules the Maldives. Although elected leaders rule in Bangladesh, there is little room for an opposition party. Afghanistan is a warlord or tribal leader democracy. ..... the "mayor of Kabul." ..... a "puppet democracy." ..... The six central Asian Muslim countries -- Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan -- are ruled in the style of empire. ..... Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh, which have abundant natural resources, are mired in poverty.
More efforts surfacing to draft Obama as presidential candidate CNN fellow Illinois Senator Dick Durbin sent a letter to political supporters encouraging them to sign a "Run, Barack, Run" petition.
WiMAX Gaining Momentum, But Unlikely to Threaten 3G in Asia ... Government Technology
Wimax in Asia Euro2day
Iraq Panel to Recommend Pullback of Combat Troops New York Times
Clinton versus Obama: Is there any difference? MSNBC Right now the two most prominent names in speculation about the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination are Illinois senator and best-selling author Barack Obama, and New York senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton. ..... a “Draft Obama” web site was launched on Wednesday. ..... would an Obama-Clinton contest largely be determined by intangibles: image, charisma, and personality? ...... Rauh met Sen. Clinton in her state back in 1992 when Bill Clinton was running for president. “She was a bright and dynamic woman, very engaging ...... “Every Democrat I talk to — and even independents — say they really have read a lot about Obama. People are pretty excited about him,” said Fitzgibbons, who works in Spencer, Iowa ...... Iraq as a dividing line. .... “Obama campaigned against the Iraq War when he ran for the Senate, while Sen. Clinton pushed the war”
Obama reaching out to key state leaders United Press International
China bishop ordained without Vatican OK Houston Chronicle
China ordains non-Vatican bishopCNN
China Quietly Executes Sect Leaders CBS News
China to OK Goldman's Shuanghui buy soon: report MarketWatch
China, Chile to start FTA talks on service trade/investment next ... Forbes
Shah Rukh Khan to replace Amitabh Bachchan as 'KBC' host Apun Ka Choice
Wall Street Likes Ford Cuts Forbes
GM Pledges to Make Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle Washington Post
Oil Is Little Changed Near 2-Month High on Colder US Weather Bloomberg
Senate GOP Leader Adapts to an Unexpected Role New York Times
Panel Reaches Deal on US Iraq Policy Forbes Defense officials, meantime, said the Pentagon is developing plans to send four more battalions to Iraq early next year, including some to Baghdad. ..... Bush said Tuesday he would not withdraw American forces "until the mission is complete." ..... The study group is expected to recommend regional talks involving Syria and Iran. The administration has been reluctant to engage those two countries, which it says have abetted the violence in Iraq. ..... There are currently about 139,000 U.S. troops in Iraq; some 20,000 are in and around Baghdad, the capital.
Joint Chiefs chair says civil war discussion is pointless WHO-TV
Google Is Shutting Down Answer Service New York Times
NC county gets Google restraining order BusinessWeek
Google CEO says Internet is key to campaign win Reuters the Internet, especially video file-sharing sites .... changed the political landscape by enabling anyone to disseminate information widely and instantly. Google chief sees Arab net users doubling Trade Arabia 'Today, this region of 290 million people has only 26 million Internet users. These are expected to grow to 50 million by 2009 making the Arab world a sizeable market,' said Dr Schmidt....... challenged by a severe lack of content in the native language, we expect this to change in the near future, bringing the Internet closer to the general non-English speaking population ..... need for advanced IT capabilities to 'leap frog' into the modern era
Google gunning for Microsoft Blogging Stocks If Google's calendaring, email, spreadsheets, word processing, and possibly presentation software can integrate into a seamless infrastructure, the battle lines will be so obvious
Pope Turns to Church Rift New York Times
Nuke talks end without deals Shanghai Daily
Report: North Korea Refuses to Unilaterally Abandon Nuke Program FOX News
Get out of nuclear business, US tells North Korea Reuters
Castro's no-show increases doubt about future Washington Post
India Set for Record Wheat Harvest as Farmers Boost Planting Bloomberg
Threat of Fiji coup has faded Daily Telegraph
Powerful Typhoon Batters the Philippines Forbes
Snoop Dogg busted after 'Tonight Show' appearance Los Angeles Times
NBA: New Jersey 106, Boston 103 Washington Times
Pataki and Spitzer Back Health Care Consolidation Plan New York Times
AMERICA'S PREMIER SOCCER PUBLICATION 90 Minutes Soccer Magazine
