War Advice for Obama Pouring In

Everyone is getting their last words in before Obama's address to the nation on Tuesday. Amid the chatter about Afghanistan, Jack Reed is one of the saner voices:

I'm for the war tax, discussed on This Week by Bernie Sanders and Lindsay Graham. If we're going to have a war, we, the taxpayer, ought to directly pay for it. That way, in the future, we might think twice about allowing our government to invade countries on false premises. If we're paying for wars through a surtax, it might shift our spending habits (perception of war). Ultimately, we pay for it anyway.
This week:

OBEY: If we have to pay for the health care bill, we should pay for the war as well.

JON KARL, ABC NEWS: How?

OBEY: By having a new war surtax. The problem in this country with this issue is that the only people who have been asked to sacrifice are military families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Does he have a point there, Senator Graham? If we're going to fight a war, shouldn't the American people pay for it?

GRAHAM: Well, I'd like to see an endeavor to see if we can cut current spending and find some dollars that we're spending today to pay for the war, and prioritize American spending. Where does our national security rate in terms of spending? Are there things that we can do in the stimulus package? Can we trim up the health care bill and other big-ticket items to pay for a war that we can't afford to lose?

So I welcome a debate about how to control government spending and pay for the war. I do want to let Bernie and anyone else listening know that from my point of view, the president is correct in assessing that Afghanistan is a war that must be won because the national security implications of what happens in Afghanistan will follow this country for decades, so I intend to support the president.

STEPHANOPOULOS: I want to -- I want to ask Senator Sanders to comment on this, but first, let me press you on that. You're against -- let me first get Senator Graham on one point there. So you are against the tax, but you are for cutting spending to pay for this, not increasing the deficit? Senator Graham?

GRAHAM: I think it would be a good exercise for the Congress to look at ways to trim up the spending, which has been out of control since the administration came into power, and prior towards this war, the way it should be. Our national security future depends on getting it right in Afghanistan, and there is no better use of taxpayer dollars than to defend America, in my view.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Sanders?

SANDERS: Well, let's see. We spent perhaps $2 or $3 trillion in the war in Iraq that Bush got us into that we never should have been in, which we didn't pay. We sent that bill to our kids and our grandchildren. And what Senator Graham is now saying is, as I understand it, is hey, we can cut back on education so middle-class families can't afford to send their kids to college. We don't have to rebuild our infrastructure. We don't have to invest in sustainable energy, so we stop importing $350 billion a year of foreign oil. We don't have to do all that stuff. Let's just spend more money in Afghanistan, while Europe and the people of China and the people of Russia watch us do that work. I think that is a very poor set of national priorities.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So, Senator Sanders, if I hear you correctly, if you're against -- if you have a big problem with sending more troops, does that also mean that you're against this surtax that Congressman Obey is talking about in order to pay for the troops?

SANDERS: Look, we have a presence in Afghanistan now. No one is talking about bringing the troops home tomorrow. What we need is more international cooperation. We need an Afghan government that resonates with its people, that is not corrupt. But if you're going to have a presence there, you just can't pass the bill on, as we did in Iraq, to our kids and our grandchildren. I think that's wrong. I think that's immoral. Read the whole transcript.

At the roundtable, Matthew Dowd suggests that it took Obama this long to make a decision, whereas it woul've taken Bush 2 days to make the same decision. I love how these people try to blame Obama.
That's a foolish thing to assert because Obama isn't just making a decision, he's getting buy-in and accountability from all parties. Strategizing on the front end--as opposed to just escalating troops--will pay off.
If Dowd were correct in his theory that Bush's gut is better, then war in Iraq would've been a good decision. But it was not, which is why we still have to consider war in Afghanistan. Dowd, who was a strategist for Bush-Cheney, has a nice pair of blinders on.

Colin Powell Skeptical of More Troops in Afghanistan

Whatever decision Obama makes on Afghanistan, at the very least, he has considered and weighed all the options. It appears that most of the hefty advisers, including Joe Biden, are against more troops. But Hillary Clinton is for more troops, according to the NYT:

The competing advice and concerns fuel a pivotal struggle to shape the president’s thinking about a war that he inherited but may come to define his tenure. Among the most important outside voices has been that of former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, a retired four-star Army general, who visited Mr. Obama in the Oval Office this month and expressed skepticism that more troops would guarantee success. According to people briefed on the discussion, Mr. Powell reminded the president of his longstanding view that military missions should be clearly defined.

Mr. Powell is one of the three people outside the administration, along with Senator John F. Kerry and Senator Jack Reed, considered by White House aides to be most influential in this current debate. All have expressed varying degrees of doubt about the wisdom of sending more forces to Afghanistan. Read more at the NYT

Other Obama advisers against more troops:

In the West Wing, beyond Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has advocated an alternative strategy to the troop buildup, other presidential advisers sound dubious about more troops, including Rahm Emanuel, the chief of staff, and Gen. James L. Jones, the national security adviser, according to people who have spoken with them. At the same time, Mr. Obama is also hearing from more hawkish figures, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Richard Holbrooke, the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. NYT

Lugar: One of Obama's Republican Pals

Republicans spend so much time smearing Obama for people who have nothing to do with his campaign. Here's an example of someone who Obama really palls around with.

MSNBC: Dick Lugar may not be a household name, but he's well known within international security circles. And he's famous to world leaders who are trying to protect their countries from nuclear attack.

In 1991, Lugar teamed up with Sam Nunn, then a Democratic senator, to create a program aimed at securing and dismantling the nuclear, chemical and biological weapons inside the former Soviet Union.

And it was a success. The Nunn-Lugar Act facilitated the destruction of more than 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles and the deactivation of some 7,000 nuclear warheads.

Obama would later find a way to link his name to this legislation — connecting himself to its authors’ global security efforts.

Fighting loose nukes together
As a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2004, Obama frequently spoke of the need to keep “loose nukes” out the hands of terrorists and rogue nations. He often cited the accomplishments of the Nunn-Lugar Act. And that caught the Indiana senator’s attention.

The day after Obama was elected to the Senate, Lugar wrote him a letter. At the time, he was the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and advised Obama to ask the Democratic leadership for a spot on panel.

Obama's other pals: Austan Goolsbee. Chuck Hagel and Jack Reed. Here's a whole slew of Obama's advisers. Here are Obama's top economic advisers.
Meanwhile, McCain's advisers are peeps like this.

Bayh and Biden Both To Speak on VP Night

Guessing who's going to be Obama's vice president is getting tougher but it sure is fun. With Senators Evan Bayh and Joe Biden speaking on the night of the vice president to be, one or the other or neither could be vice president! 

If we use a little deductive reasoning, the few people not scheduled to speak so far could also be Obama's veep: Sam Nunn, Jack Reed and Tim Kaine. 

CNN: The two senators widely believed to be at the top of Barack Obama's shortlist for VP have been given prime-time speaking slots at the Democratic convention Wednesday night — the very same night the vice presidential candidate is slated to speak.

According to the Democratic National Convention Committee, both Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and Delaware Sen. Joe Biden will deliver speeches on national security during the marquee night — the same evening former President Bill Clinton is also scheduled to speak.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar will also speak Wednesday evening, according to the convention committee.

Hagel Nunn Reed Obama Vice President?

Hagel, Obama, Reed

Update: Obama veep won't he Chuck Hagel.

The theme of the speech on the night Obama's vice president is to speak is national security. 

 
Okay, now it's looking like Obama is going for a national security heavy hitter. At this point, it's a good move. 

In early August, Chuck Todd, on Meet The Press, suggested that Chuck Hagel might be a keynote speaker. Looks like he could keynote the night Obama's vice president speaks.

Looking for clues on Barack Obama's pick for a running mate? Consider the Democratic convention's theme for the night the vice presidential candidate speaks: national security.

Political tea leaf readers would argue that bodes well for Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden, D-Del.; Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, who accompanied Obama on his trip to Iraq and Afghanistan; and Sam Nunn, former Georgia senator and one-time Armed Services Committee chairman.

What Hagel said in June. 

More interesting tidbits on Hagel.
Speakers and themes at the convention:

The theme for the Aug. 25 opening night will be "One Nation," with a speech by Michelle Obama. The Aug. 26 theme is "Renewing America's Promise" with a speech by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama's chief rival for the presidential nomination.

On Aug. 27, the theme is "Securing America's Future" with an acceptance speech by Obama's still-unannounced vice presidential candidate.

The theme for Aug. 28, the night Obama formally accepts the nomination at the Denver Broncos' football stadium, is "Change You Can Believe In."

Hagel and Reed Tout Obama

It's judgement not military experience, they say.

CNN: Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska) and Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) spoke to media this morning in Washington after appearing on CBS’ "Face the Nation." The two accompanied Obama to the Middle East last week.

“Each candidate has strengths and weaknesses, and experience does matter,” Hagel said. “But what matters more in my opinion is character and judgment. And judgment meaning who is it that you bring around, who is it that you listen to? Can you make the right decisions for the right reasons on behalf of your country and the world?”

Both Hagel and Reed spent years in the military. Reed attended West Point and retired as an Army captain, and Hagel earned two Purple Hearts fighting in the Vietnam War. Reed recounted the experience of traveling to military posts with Obama.

“There was something that was really dynamic,” he said. “We were trying to leave the headquarters of the 101st and we couldn't get down to the car because soldiers were flocking out of their duty positions to get autographs, to say hello, to take a picture, and it was just genuine, spontaneous and very, very enthusiastic throughout the entire trip.”

Hagel and Reed on the Trip Video

This video speaks for itself.

Hagel Says Quit Arguing About the Surge

Indeed. All this politicking around, for what? To prove that McCain or Obama is the better choice? Meanwhile, what's accomplished while people are dying? Sen. Chuck Hagel is back from his trip to Iraq with Obama.

Time: Hagel mentioned both candidates, but his comments seemed directed at Republican John McCain. McCain, while Obama traveled the Middle East, attacked Obama for opposing the military escalation last year that increased security in Iraq.
"Quit talking about, 'Did the surge work or not work,' or, 'Did you vote for this or support this,'" Hagel said Thursday on a conference call with reporters.
"Get out of that. We're done with that. How are we going to project forward?" the Nebraska senator said. "What are we going to do for the next four years to protect the interest of America and our allies and restructure a new order in the world. ... That's what America needs to hear from these two candidates. And that's where I am."
Hagel, too, opposed the troop increase strategy, though he acknowledged Thursday it brought about positive changes. "When you flood the zone with superior American military firepower, and you put 30,000 of the world's best troops in a country, there's going to be a result there," Hagel said.
....

Whether the surge worked, though, can't be measured, Hagel said, arguing the small gains came at a high price. He said President Bush's decision last year to dispatch an additional 30,000 troops to Iraq has cost more than 1,000 American lives and billions of dollars.
Though Hagel is a Republican, his name has been floated as a potential vice presidential running mate for Obama. Like McCain, he is a Vietnam war veteran, but Hagel is a fierce critic of the war in Iraq. He has said he would consider running with Obama on the Democratic ticket but that he doesn't expect to be asked. He is not running for reelection.
Hagel joined Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island in traveling with Obama to the Middle East. Reed said the trip was productive. "It wasn't just a photo op and social chit chat," Reed said in a telephone interview.

Obama/Hagel!
Obama/Edwards!
I can't decide.

Obama Reed Hagel in Basra Video

Obama shakes hands with everybody.

Obama In Iraq

Update: Obama to meet with Gen. David Petraeus. It's now early eve in Iraq. Obama has kept quiet in Iraq so far. Nice move. McCain and Lieberman and the rest have enough to chew on. What's funny, is Obama's hardline critics are having a tough time coming up with things to criticize him about. Here's William Kristol saying virtually nothing. 

Out of Afghanistan, on to Iraq, where it's noon already (check out my Obama time in the sidebar). I'm getting tired of the line that the media has settled on: "seeking to boost his foreign policy credentials."

The U.S. embassy said Obama, who is visiting Iraq as part of a U.S. congressional delegation, would meet senior Iraqi officials and U.S. military commanders.

Seeking to boost his foreign policy credentials, Obama will travel to other countries in the Middle East and also visit major powers in Europe this week.

Obama courted controversy on July 3 when he said he might "refine" his views on withdrawing combat troops from Iraq within 16 months but later said his stance had been unchanged for more than a year and that he intended "to end this war."

McCain says a U.S. troop buildup last year helped boost stability in Iraq and has criticized Democrats' vows for a quick withdrawal as "reckless."

But with violence down dramatically, Baghdad has become increasingly assertive about its own security capabilities.

Indeed, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and President George W. Bush agreed late last week to set a "time horizon" for reducing American forces in Iraq.

It was the closest the Bush administration has come to acknowledging the need for a timeframe for U.S. troop cuts. Bush has long opposed deadlines for troop withdrawals.

Maliki earlier this month suggested setting a timetable for U.S. troops to leave Iraq, although he had given no dates.

More on Karzai: Obama would be a strong partner:

Bloomberg: Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai came away from a meeting today with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama expecting he would have a ``strong partner'' in the White House no matter who wins the U.S. election, his spokesman said.

Obama and U.S. Senators Chuck Hagel and Jack Reed spent an hour and 45 minutes with Karzai and his top aides in the presidential palace in Kabul, including a lunch of Afghan rice, lamb and chicken, spokesman Humayun Hamidzada told reporters.

The Illinois senator, 46, is on a six-day tour that also will include stops in Iraq, Israel and Western Europe. Obama said in a CBS News interview in Afghanistan that that nation ``has to be our central focus, the central front of our battle against terrorism.''

``Losing is not an option when it comes to Afghanistan,'' Obama said in the interview. ``One of the biggest mistakes we've made strategically after 9/11 was to fail to finish the job here,'' he said, referring to the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, which harbored the al-Qaeda terrorist network that launched the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Obama's Criticism of Afghanistan Has Merit

That's according to Hamid Karzai's spokesman:

WaPo: The meeting with Karzai took place a few hours after Obama, Reed and Hagel met with U.S. troops at Camp Eggers, a heavily fortified U.S. base in the center of the Afghan capital.

Karzai and Obama came face to face over a traditional Afghan meal of rice, chicken and mutton at the presidential palace a little more than a week after Obama pointedly criticized Karzai's leadership in the face of deteriorating security conditions. In an interview with CNN, Obama said Karzai had "not gotten out of the bunker" to help the country develop.

Karzai's spokesman declined to say directly whether the two touched on the senator's recent remarks, but he said Obama's comment was not without merits.

"We didn't see that as a criticism per se because there is a degree of realism in that statement and that is the fact that while we are making significant progress in rebuilding our country, we are also facing a significant threat of terrorism that is imposed upon us and the Afghan people," Hamidzada said. "So the fact that we are spending a lot of our resources and energy fighting terrorism that is exported from the south is a reality."

The high-level meeting Sunday came as Afghan officials reported that eight Afghan police were killed and six wounded in a "friendly fire" incident involving NATO forces and Afghan police at an Afghan checkpoint in the western province of Farah. Provincial police chief Khalilulah Rahmani said the incident occurred around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday when Afghan police mistakenly fired on a NATO convoy in the district of Anar Dara. The eight police officers were killed after NATO forces called in an air strike during the firefight.

There seems to be a lot of natural alignment happening with Obama and foreign leaders.

Obama Breakfasts in Kabul with Troops

Well, it is 9:45 a.m. Kabul time and Obama is eating with the troops.

AP: Traveling with Obama were Sens. Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, and Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island. Both are military veterans and have been mentioned as potential Obama vice presidential running mates, although Reed has said he is not interested in the job and Hagel would be an unlikely cross-party choice.

Obama and others in the delegation received a briefing Saturday inside the U.S. base in Jalalabad from the Afghan provincial governor of Nangarhar, Gul Agha Sherzai, a no-nonsense, bullish former warlord.

"Obama promised us that if he becomes a president in the future, he will support and help Afghanistan not only in its security sector but also in reconstruction, development and economic sector," Sherzai told The Associated Press.

The area where the meeting took place is not far from where Osama bin Laden escaped U.S. troops in 2001 after his al-Qaida network led the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

More photos

Reed and Hagel Join Obama in Iraq

Senators Jack Reed and Chuck Hagel will accompany Obama in Iraq. Either of these guys would be great vice presidents. I like Jack Reed. Very straightforward guy.

CNN: Sen. Barack Obama is heading to Iraq later this month with two Senate colleagues, Republican Chuck Hagel and Democrat Jack Reed, according to two sources familiar with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee's plans.

The sources said the official Congressional delegation trip, known as a CODEL, will occur around the time Obama heads overseas for a previously-announced campaign trip to France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, and Jordan to help beef up his foreign policy credentials. Officials are keeping the precise dates of Obama's trip under wraps, however, for obvious security reasons.

The inclusion of Hagel on the official portion of the trip is guaranteed to further fuel speculation that Obama might pick a Republican as a running mate on a presidential ticket aimed at winning over independents. Hagel, who privately discusses foreign policy matters with both Obama and Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain, has publicly left the door open to a possible bipartisan ticket.

New Name for Obama Vice President

Sen. Jack Reed.

One intriguing possibility, if Obama doesn't target a single state or try to amplify the change message: Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island. That state's four reliably Democratic electoral votes aren't in doubt and Reed is unknown nationally, but he could help Obama in several ways.

He's a Catholic with working-class roots (his father was a school janitor), and could enhance the ticket's appeal to those swing voters. He has expertise on issues at the center of the campaign debate, economics and the housing crisis.

More important, he would offset Obama's lack of national security experience. Reed, 58, has a reputation as a serious thinker and is a respected voice on defense matters. He's a West Point graduate and Army Ranger, with views that are right in line with Obama's. He voted against the 2002 Iraq war resolution and became an early critic of the way the war was fought while working to increase the size of the Army.

However, just like all of the potential vice presidential candidates, he says he's not interested.Reed is certainly aligned with Obama on the war in Iraq.