ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist&reg;.com: Iraq's Exit Strategy</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style1 { font-size: x-large; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr height="24"> <td width="624" height="24" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong>HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#149; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#149; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#149; <a href="teflon.html">THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#149; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com">REACTIONS</a> &#149; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2"></td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <font size="5" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"><b>Obama-McCain Face-Off</b></font><p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>(310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright September 27, 2008<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="style1">C</span></b>oming out swinging, Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.) and GOP nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) took off the gloves, blooding each other in their first debate at the University of Mississippi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Billed on foreign affairs, the first encounter started with questions about the White House s proposed $700 billion Wall Street bailout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>President George W. Bush spoke to the nation Sept. 24, warning of  financial panic and chaos should the Congress not act quickly on his plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Speaking the day before, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke also warned of recession should the bailout get stuck in neutral.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Neither Bush nor Bernanke offered much independent corroboration for their doom-and-gloom scenario.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain and Obama differed sharply over the path out of the current economic mess McCain advocated more tax cuts while Obama urged ending the Iraq War.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>McCain was supposed to shine in a foreign policy and national security debate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Yet when all was said and done, the 47-year-old first-term senator from Illinois held his own, something unexpected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain looked flustered at times responding to Obama s unyeilding attacks on U.S. strategy in Iraq.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain tried his best but couldn t convince too many people about his continued plans for Iraq.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Barack reminded the audience that the U.S. has been fighting the Iraq War for nearly seven years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain blasted Barack for not accepting that the  surge worked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Barack acknowledged the drop in violence but pointed out that there s no political solution in sight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain hurt his own argument about progress in Iraq by stating that Gen. David Petraeus sees the gains as fragile and reversible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain eventually resorted to pounding his chest about his good judgment and experience.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Voters were left with the $64,000 question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>What to do on Nov. 4?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain painted a bleak picture of the U.S. at war, making more ominous comments about Russia and Iran.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>For a nation weary of the Iraq war and battered by the economy, McCain offered little reassurance. Whether admitted to or not, Barack&#39;s change-theme resonated with voters, giving him the edge in the debate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Two independent polls from CNN and CBS both gave Obama a clear edge, bad news for McCain when you consider foreign policy was his strength.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Voters face a decisive choice between Obama ending the Iraq War and McCain promising to keep it going until he s ready to declare victory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Judging by his comments about Gen. Petraeus calling the current situation  fragile and reversible, the Iraq war has no end in sight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama promised to end the war within 16 months of taking office.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>McCain blasted Barack s spending plans which he said called for $800 billion in new programs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Most of Barack s spending involves financing national health care, a costly but needed expense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Barack admitted that because of the current economic meltdown some of his programs might be delayed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> No matter what, we re going to have to cut spending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>We ve let government get completely out of control, McCain said, curiously omitting the bloated defense budget.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Under Bush, the defense budget skyrocketed, funding wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain seemed content to finger earmarks, those costly statewide pet projects, promising to save taxpayers $18 billion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Obama countered that McCain s tax proposals would cost the treasury $300 billion, giving the wealthy all the breaks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>McCain appeared rattled explaining how he intended to slash spending without touching the defense budget.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>With the recession hurting taxpayers, with unemployment rising, with average Americans looking for relief, expected cuts in social programs don t look too good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> We ve got to examine every agency of government, said McCain, blaming runaway spending non-defense programs. Standing side-by-side, the contrast to the crusty McCain could not have been more glaring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Obama withstood McCain s withering attack, at one point flatly proclaiming Barack lacked the experience and judgment to be president.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> There are some advantages to experience and knowledge and judgment, said McCain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> And I honestly don t believe Sen. Obama has the knowledge or experience to be commander-in-chief, attacking the cool-and-collected Obama at every opportunity.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Obama stood toe-to-toe with McCain on national security and foreign policy..<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When McCain resorted to name-calling, telling voters Barack was not qualified to be president, he hurt his cause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Recent post-debate polls show Obama gaining a one percent bounce, signaling the most significant shift in voter sentiiment since voters found his performance acceptable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Unlike Obama, McCain needed to assert himself as superior in foreign policy, making his opponent look amateurish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When Barack rose to the occasion, it left little doubt that he was ready to be commander-in-chief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain s responses about Iran and Russia, hinting that a get-tough policy would prevail in his administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Too much attention to potential war-making and too little attention to domestic matters gives voters reason to pause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Barack showed grace-under-pressure while McCain looked mean and lashed out..</p> <p><b><u>About the Author</u></b><br> </p> <p><b>John M. Curtis </b>writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He&#x2019;s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.<br> </p> <p></p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2">&nbsp;</td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong>Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com">Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">&copy;1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>