Video: Obama says lives of troops killed in Iraq were “wasted”
Allahpundit

Now we know for sure he’s not the messiah. The messiah doesn’t make mistakes.

Of course he thinks their lives were wasted. Everyone on the anti-war side does; that’s one of the reasons they want to end the war. But they can’t say that because it dishonors the dead so they’re forced into rhetorical pretzels like the one Pelosi tied herself into a few weeks ago with Diane Sawyer. Army Lawyer summed up her position at the time thusly: “They didn’t die for nothing, they died for something stupid.”

Submitted for your disapproval, then: Obama on the campaign trail yesterday in Iowa… [video link]

See also: Video: Obama’s wife plays race card on ‘60 Minutes’

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Not ready for prime time
Scott Johnson

On his first day of campaigning as an official candidate for president, Barack Obama committed what would in days of old have been recognized as a major international blunder. Times have changed, of course. If you are old enough to recall the proposition that politics stops at the water's edge, you are probably incapable of suspending rational thought to join in the excitement over a not-readly-for-prime-player joining the field of Democratic candidates for the presidential nomination.

Australia, you may recall, is one of America's steadfast allies in the war in which we are engaged. Australian Prime Minister John Howard criticized Obama's call for immediate American withdrawal from Iraq. When Obama was asked to respond, he declined simply to express respectful disagreement with a loyal American ally. Instead he insulted Australia's contribution to the war effort, belittling the 1,600 Australian troops in Iraq. He said that if Australia was so dedicated, maybe it should raise its contribution to 20,000.

Obama not only insulted our ally, he formulated the insult in the inelegant fashion of an intellectual thug. ...

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Obama Goes After Hillary
Ed Morrissey

The Democrats can forget about the 2008 primary being a love-in. The same weekend that Barack Obama threw his hat into the ring, he also aimed a few brickbats at the front-runner over her vote on the war in Iraq. Obama wants to make a clear delineation between himself and Hillary Clinton as the obvious standardbearer for the Left:

Senators Obama and Clinton banged heads over the Iraq war yesterday, marking their first dustup since the start of the presidential campaign.

Just a day after officially announcing his candidacy in Illinois, Mr. Obama took aim at Mrs. Clinton's vote to authorize the war, saying, "I think the war was a tragic mistake and it never should have been authorized." ...

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Michelle Malkin has more on Obama's latest gaffe here.

*** Update and bump. Original timestamp 2007.02.12.11:02

Clueless Factor
Jules Crittenden

Vid of Obama: “3,000 lives of Americans … wasted,” a phrase I suspect is going to haunt him.  When I first saw the Hot Air link at Memeorandum, I could have sworn it said “Osama.”  But it didn’t.

Then, he borrowed an apology from Kerry: ...

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Obama tries to remove foot from mouth... 
Michelle Malkin

And he fails miserably (via NYTimes):

Senator Barack Obama of Illinois said Monday that he had misspoken when he suggested that the lives of more than 3,000 American soldiers killed in Iraq had been “wasted.”

As he arrived in New Hampshire, Mr. Obama said he would “absolutely apologize” to military families if they were offended by a remark he made in Iowa while criticizing the Bush administration’s Iraq policy.

“What I would say — and meant to say — is that their service hasn’t been honored,” Mr. Obama told reporters in Nashua, N.H., “because our civilian strategy has not honored their courage and bravery, and we have put them in a situation in which it is hard for them to succeed.”

He still does not comprehend the concept of troops volunteering, willingly and freely, to go to Iraq to defend American security. Someone send Obama Outside the Wire and introduce him to the Marines of the Silver Platoon before he infantilizes the military again.

And Obama's accusing others of not honoring the soldiers' courage and bravery?

Um, who called their service and their lives "wasted?"

More disingenuousness:

A New Hampshire reporter asked Mr. Obama whether he regretted the remark, made at a rally on Sunday that “we ended up launching a war that should have never been authorized and should have never been waged, and to which we now have spent $400 billion and have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted.”

“Even as I said it,” Mr. Obama said Monday, “I realized I had misspoken.”

Oh, yeah? Replay the tape: [video link] ...

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Video: Obama Says Lives of Troops That Have Died in Iraq
Were "Wasted"; Update and Bumped: Obama Backpedals
Greg Tinti

Allah's calling this a mistake, but I'm not so sure.

Since every other Democrat running in '08 thinks the same thing but doesn't have the balls to say it, perhaps Obama's signalling that he's gearing up for the left's version of the Straight Talk Express, if you will. It certainly would set him apart from Hillary and, to some extent, Edwards as well. Obviously, I'm not a lefty but I imagine that hearing someone make a statement that's a clear corollary to the position that the war was a mistake and is a complete failure is a breath of fresh air after years of watching the political posturing of Washington's Democrats.

And the fact that this is what the rest of the anti-war Democrats think but aren't willing to say pretty much insulates Obama from criticism since the finger pointers will look like vicious hypocrites.

Verdict: Obama will not be doing The John Kerry Shuffle because of this.

Update: Well, looks like I was wrong; this wasn't intentional after all. ...

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Barack Obama Says Lives of US Troops killed in Iraq were Wasted 
Kim Priestap

As a family member of a fallen soldier in Iraq, I can't imagine a presidential candidate saying anything more callous, more offensive, or more ignorant of the ultimate sacrifice that our brave troops have made for us and our country. ...

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Apology Botched 
Jules Crittenden

You know, I’m seeing everywhere news reports that insist Obama fell over himself to apologize, twice, for describing as “wasted” the lives of U.S. soldiers killed in combat to free an oppressed people and make the world a safer place.

But I have yet to see a news report that includes an actual apology.  He expresses “regret” that he had “misspoken” and experienced a “slip of the tongue.”  He “would absolutely apologize” if  “any of them”* are offended.

Here’s a Chicago Sun-Times columnist.  No apology.

Here’s the AP story.  No apology.

Here’s ABC: No apology.

All of those reports say there was an apology.  Some say he apologized right away. One says he claims he apologized right away. But none quote it.  Like John Kerry, he’s botched it, and regrets that he misspoke. Here’s the only report I could find that points out he hasn’t actually apologized: ...

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See next: Not ready for prime time -- Update