Obama at Le Juene

Obama at Le Juene -- Military Occupation or Soft Power in Iraq and Afghanistan?
A Socialist Party Statement written by Billy Wharton, Editor of The Socialist

New York, NY: The war and occupation of Iraq has been a brutal affair. Casualties estimated to range as high as one million Iraqis, atrocities associated with Abu Ghraib prison and the introduction of violence to the everyday lives of millions of Iraqis all highlight the abject failure of US military ambitions. While a road away from these politics of pre-emptive strikes and military occupation is welcome, the Socialist Party USA calls for more immediate actions. We demand the immediate and unconditional removal of all US military forces from both Iraq and Afghanistan.

US President Barack Obama argued correctly today that the military occupation of Iraq, "cannot be sustained indefinitely" and that America could no longer see the war "in isolation" from what he identified as other national priorities such as solving the economic crisis. Yet, as the saying goes, the devil is often in the details. Obama’s plan calls for the removal of US combat brigades by August 31, 2010 but, he also intends to leave 35-50,000 US trainers, counterinsurgency troops and military advisers in the country until the end of 2011...

Read the full statement here.