David Obey: 'Al Qaeda Out of Targets'; Old Media Apparently Out of Ink and Bandwidth

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Just when you thought those holding on to the claim that the Iraq War is a failure had reached the intellectual bottom of the barrel, we get this from David Obey, as reported by Mike Soraghan at The Hill:

Terrorists are ‘running out of people to kill,’ says Obey

If violence is decreasing in Iraq, it may be because insurgents “are running out of people to kill,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) said Monday.

“There are fewer targets of opportunity,” Obey said in a speech to the National Press Club.

Obey was responding to a question about reports touted by Republicans that security is improving in Iraq and that President Bush’s “surge” strategy is working. He stressed that military success has not led to political reconciliation.

Unfortunately for Mr. Obey, there is this little tool known as Google Earth that enables us to check out the veracity of his statement.

This must be what David Obey thinks all of Iraq is like these days (pic is of a desert area east of Baghdad):

Story Continues Below Ad ↓
IraqDesertEofBaghdad

This is part of what the rest of us would refer to as "reality" (first pic is part of Baghdad; second pic is from the river in the first pic):

IraqPartOfBaghdad1007
BaghdadView1007

Given that tall buildings were Al Qaeda targets on September 11, 2001, I'd say that at least a few Al Qaeda targets remain.

The Wisconsin congressman's remarks should properly be seen as a slap at the US military. Clearly, in David Obey's world, our soldiers have been unable to prevent most of the "targets of opportunity" from being taken out, and most of the "people to kill" from being killed.

As you might expect, Obey's inanity, uttered Monday at the, ahem, National Press Club, is being ignored by Old Media:

GoogNewsObeyTargetKill1007

One hopes that David Obey's House seat isn't as safe as he must think it is.

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.

—Tom Blumer is president of a training and development company in Mason, Ohio, and is a contributing editor to NewsBusters


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Truly Foolish

Mr. Obey is fortunate that an agreeable media will bury his foolish comments.  If there were a reward for ill thought out comments, Mr. Obey would be a contender. 

It makes me think that Congress would do better with longer adjournments and a 2 day work week.

No more targets!!

Why didn't I think of that? Here I've been laboring under the false idea that we were making progress against the enemy.

What a fool I've been. I'm glad we have people like Obey to set us all straight.

There's a whole planet

There's a whole planet full of so-called infidel targets

they were hitting them quite a bit when bill was in office

i wonder what happened? are terrorist jobs moving to india? is there anything we can do to help obey and his terrorist friends find work...? 

Partner with Islam and the NB respect police:)

Why doesn't my Obey staple

Why doesn't my Obey staple an American Flag and a Star of David to his pants and hop on the next plane to Iraq. I think that the terrorists just might find one more target for him.

Yeah - that's the same reason they haven't attacked us again

what an idiot

 This just goes back to

 This just goes back to the point that democrats want to see our country destroyed because they hate republicans that much.   And this goes for democrats across the board.  I would like to hear any liberals argument against my statement.

This boarders on criminal behavior of Rep. Obey.  I suggest that AQ has many targets in which to destroy.  If the left in this country had any brains they might figure out that the one target AQ would most like to destroy is THEM!  The Hollywood left in the first case,  the rest of the Godless left next. 

Well they've had enough warning.  

Rex - just to be sure -

Rex - just to be sure - your statement is that Democrats want to see the country destroyed? This is your position? And you don't feel like a right-wing version of the 9/11 truthers? Really?

Just checking.

"He was, and is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous
pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself
and fling the curses on his neighbors."
-Emily Bronte

check away partner...they've

check away partner...they've (democrats) shown nothing in the last 7 years to convince me otherwise..I don't guess they ever will.

They don't want to

They don't want to "destroy" it, just change it from one that was founded on Judeo/Christian laws and principles to their version of the USSA.

v

HE IS AN IDIOT...

David Obey is an idiot, & I will question his absolute "we can never solve anything by kicking one's butt" montra till I die, but I see how he's working this. He's been in the House for almost 40 years, he helped legislate defeat in Vietnam, & this is the last bite at the apple for this old hippy. He played his part in making his generation the worst in mordern American history. The only victory he cares about is every 2 years when he's up for election, victory on the battlefield...he'll fight that to the death.

He's just another example of why we should set up term limits, he'll die before he quits, my neighbors 10 minutes away in Wisconsin should be ashamed of this fossil. Hey cheeseheads, some new blood might be in order over there.

 

"Some of us are wise, some of us are otherwise"  Mark Levin

If anyone is is running out

If anyone is is running out of targets it's the Coalition. 

These Libs are practically cheerleading for the terrorists, and yet anyone who considers that a bit on the treasonous side is a nut?

It would be different if what DisObey was saying was true, but like everything else that comes from the Left, it's wrong!

Deadliest year in Iraq.

Yesterday I heard ABC radio (in between segments of Rush) touting 2 more military deaths in Iraq, making this the "deadliest year yet" for the US Military in Iraq. Must be like 1944 was the deadliest year yet for WWII. You know, the year we were kicking fascist butts into oblivion.

  MSM in Iraq: we can find a cloud in every silver lining.

Running out of targets?

I can think of plenty more targets for the terrorists...

How many journalists could fit into a C130 anyway?


Islamic Religious Services Will Be Held at the Firing Range At 0800 Daily.

SSS, it's very curious that

SSS, it's very curious that in a 3-sentence post (including signature line), you basically advocate genocidal action against two distinct groups with whom you have some sort of ideological beef. Neither one is even narrowed down to something like "Islamic Terrorists" or "Treasonous Journalists", though I suppose your implication is that those qualifiers would be redundant.

This is the sort of thing that I see from the right that makes no more sense than ridiculous assertions about Bush being a Nazi or that 9/11 was an inside job; fitting everything one finds threatening into a tidy little conspiracy theory and descending into a histrionic fit about it (or in your case, saying "Kill 'em All").

"He was, and is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous
pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself
and fling the curses on his neighbors."
-Emily Bronte

Once again, it's all about

Once again, it's all about Groupism.

Jason, like so many

Jason, like so many leftists you are trying to hijack the language. Journalists are not a race, therefore the elimination of a bunch of them could not possibly be considered "genocide".

Second point: the so-called "news"media of this country has from the very beginning of the war on terror published propaganda for the jihadists, have revealed national security secrets to the benefit of the jihadists, and have cheered on the exploits of the jihadists. By doing so they have given aid and comfort to the enemy in a time of war. They have committed treason. They should be shot. Period.

"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan

MikeB... I could not

MikeB...

I could not agree more with your every word.

Journalists should be shot?

Journalists should be shot?

You can read boa!

You can read boa!

only the ones who commit

only the ones who commit treason

GoHunter08

Bingo botg and oa knows

Bingo botg and boa knows it...

Kind of slow so he has time to parce and play. 

This is all very very

This is all very very disturbing.

If it will help the semanticists, I'll change "genocide" to "selective mass slaughter"...better?

And even if you buy into the paranoid fantasy that the majority of MsM journalists are treasonous, it's still difficult to ignore that the signature line advocates the killing of Islamic practitioners; no qualifier there.

"He was, and is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous
pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself
and fling the curses on his neighbors."
-Emily Bronte

Jace

that would depend on who is holding the services.  Now i ask you which side advocates death to the infidels?

GoHunter08

Wow, no one's called me

Wow, no one's called me "Jace" since my senior-year-of-college girlfriend.

Are you really claiming that all practioners of Islam are terrorists or terrorist sympathizers who wish death upon us?

It's so amusing and sad to see people who ostensibly believe in pluralism and freedom debase themselves like this, lowering themselves to the very thing they hate. Some Islamists hate us, so you hate them all? Lovely.

"He was, and is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous
pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself
and fling the curses on his neighbors."
-Emily Bronte

jace

no i was merely pointing out that the tag line you take offense to can be understood in another way.  Much like the young woman or old hag picture you probally have seen.

For you to globalise my post as being about 'all practitioners of islam' takes a major leap and really exposes your bias.  Why would you want to hear that?

GoHunter08

Okay JC... Let's just use

Okay JC...

Let's just use that water-boarding thingy on the treasonous ba$t#rds okay?

Gulp...Gulp....

Yeah, torture is something

Yeah, torture is something to joke about. Nice, really.

"He was, and is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous
pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself
and fling the curses on his neighbors."
-Emily Bronte

Whose joking? Treason

Whose joking?

Treason should not be any laughing matter either.

Personally, I don't see

Personally, I don't see water up the nose as being very torturous. Bamboo under the finger nails, electric shock, glass shards, salt in an open wound... that's torture.

Same goes for lack of sleep and loud music. Don't see that as being real torture. IMHO!

rx... I don't find

rx...

I don't find water-boarding torturous either...

Good ol' McCain, Lindsey and Warner along with others making this a huge deal in the Senate made me furious...still does.

and another thing J

If it will help the semanticists, I'll change "genocide" to "selective mass slaughter"...better?

since my post was very clear:

Only the ones who commit treason

Are you insinuating by your claiming it to be 'mass slaughter' that a massive number of journalists have commited treason?

GoHunter08

bot... I was wondering

bot...

I was wondering the same thing.

I'm still operating on

I'm still operating on SSS's original post.

"He was, and is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous
pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself
and fling the curses on his neighbors."
-Emily Bronte

Jason.... I thought we

Jason....

I thought we all were.

Majority of LibMedia

Majority of LibMedia "journalists" are treasonous? I don't think I said that, but look at the record. The New York Times publishing information on how NSA was obtaining information on operations the jihadists were planning with the result that the jihadists changed their communications techniques thereby denying information to our government which was trying to protect us. That's treason. The New York Times publishing information on how the US was tracking jihadist finances with the cooperation of overseas banking institutions with the result that we lost the cooperation. That is treason. And, then, don't forget the lies about the Korans being flushed in Guantanamo. With only a little effort you can list further such incidents by many different organs of the LibMedia. Only a leftist or a jihadist sympathiser would deny that the main players in print and broadcast media are guilty of treason.

As for the signature line, it can be read a different way. Groups like the Taliban and other extreme Islamic fundamentalists are more than eager to kill infidels. They consider it a service to their god to kill infidels. Therefore, if they decide to start killing infidels via firing squad, their religious services would be held at the firing range, yes? Methinks thou dost protest too much.

"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan

So why doesn't anyone pursue

So why doesn't anyone pursue treason charges?

Treasonists, bal...

not journalists, treasonists...

already got ya there

already got ya there RX

btw I was looking at 1.89 acres with oak trees in Pauma Valley at the foot of Mt Palomar about 2 years ago right close to where you go tubing down the river on the La Jolla Indian reservation

GoHunter08

that's twice my reply wound up in a different spot...

The poor La Jolla Indians got clobbered. They don't have any casinos and the other tribes are being pretty slow in helping out with relief. The county has also been a little slow with aid for them and they live in areas where it is nearly impossible to get insurance and lots of them live in older "manufactured" homes... It's gonna be a while before things get back to "normal". The fire is STILL burning on and around the mountain...

Jason C

IT'S CALLED SATIRE! Jesus...

You liberals get your panties in a twist when I say I wouldn't mind a few of these 'journalists' to get a tatse of reality, but when the terrorists (Just so happen to be Islamic, don't blame me) kill hundreds if not thousands of people year after year, the silence is deafening.

Until Islam can prove otherwise, it is no longer a credible RELIGION in my eyes and therefore needs to be treated as the terrorist organization it has shown itself to be TIME AFTER TIME.

Islamic Religious Services Will Be Held at the Firing Range At 0800 Daily.

Until Islam can prove

Until Islam can prove otherwise, it is no longer a credible RELIGION in my eyes and therefore needs to be treated as the terrorist organization it has shown itself to be TIME AFTER TIME.

 So Islam is a terrorist organization, despite the "remarkable progress" in Iraq, as evidenced by Muslims helping Christians put up a cross on top of a church, the soon-to-be-iconic picture of which the media so callously ignores.  And according to your tagline, you think they should be shot.  I'm wondering if you know what satire actually is. 

"He was, and is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself and fling the curses on his neighbors." -Emily Bronte

By 'curious' I mean

By 'curious' I mean 'alarming'.

"He was, and is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous
pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself
and fling the curses on his neighbors."
-Emily Bronte

"By curious"

"By Curious"

Are you sure you spelled that correctly? 

Leon says "By the way, I'm not afraid of fat people, I'm repulsed"

Truth Monger Says - "Both are religions [Christianity & Islam], yes - with the same percentage of terrorists."

About 42,000lbs. worth...

Let's see, depending on the weight of your average "journalist" (I'm beginning a self-imposed ban on that word)-

42,000 / 145lbs. = 288

42,000 / 175lbs. = 240

42,000 / 200lbs. = 210

Now, if it were a C130J-30, the max payload is 44,000 which means another ton of "storywritingpersons".

Tom. Imagine that..

Tom. Imagine.. considering this:

Obey was responding to a question about reports touted by Republicans that security is improving in Iraq and that President Bush’s “surge” strategy is working. He stressed that military success has not led to political reconciliation.

..that the surge had not resulted in greatly reduced violence (which by the way, the surge did in fact reduce the number of targets, for us), but had led to political reconciliation.

Surely this would be the news from Obey:

Obey was responding to a question about reports touted by Republicans that political reconciliation  has occurred, although security did not improve in Iraq, that other components of President Bush’s “surge” strategy is working. He stressed that political reconciliation alone, without military success against the terrorists is truely a failure.

Bonus: See how easy the game between the press and the Democrats is to play.

Next, he'll claim that the

Next, he'll claim that the terrorists were tired from jihad and all on vacation...

"liberals"

It always amazes me that so-called "liberals" can be so cavalier when talking about this war. Obey is typical of the left, who dercry atrocities when they occur, yet can make statements like this to deliver their points. "Liberals" are constantly preaching about insensitivity and offensiveness, but are often the worst offenders. As an educator, I have found that, in private, "liberals" are just as much, if not more, bigoted, homophobic, sexist, racist, etc. Of course, the MSM will never call this man on his pathetic comments; they will ignore them as usual. But catch a white man using the "N" word and all Hell breaks loose in the media. What circle is it in which Dante has the hypocrites ?

NEVER, NEVER trust a "liberal"

 

 "liberals" are just as

 "liberals" are just as much, if not more, bigoted, homophobic, sexist, racist, etc.

But doesn't being liberal absolve them from their sins?

I find that liberals are

I find that liberals are more likely to openly discuss the thorny, nuanced problems regarding homophobia, racism, sexism, etc. I've found that conservatives tend to be more uncomfortable with these kinds of discourses. I don't think this makes one or the other more or less discriminatory, but frankly discussing the subtleties of these issues could easily be misinterpreted as actual bigotry.

"He was, and is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous
pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself
and fling the curses on his neighbors."
-Emily Bronte

keep fishing, Jason - someone will bite

LOL - jason, I notice you keep throwing lines out hoping someone will swing back....

Sorry, but we don't feed the trolls.....

No RINOs in '08 - Mike Huckabee is the best choice 

Except you, apparently!

Except you, apparently! LOL!!

Neither of my posts on this thread were remotely inflammatory. Both were pretty well-balanced and nonpartisan, in fact. In the first I was simply pointing out a disturbing trend, and in the second I was very reasonably trying to engage the poster in discussion. Sorry to have offended you.

"He was, and is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous
pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself
and fling the curses on his neighbors."
-Emily Bronte

Jason

Your off topic....the very defination of a troll.

Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!

Huh? I responded

Huh? I responded specifically to iveseenitall's comment.

"He was, and is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous
pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself
and fling the curses on his neighbors."
-Emily Bronte

Your view of "non-partisan"

Your view of "non-partisan" is a bit skewed.

See below. "He was, and

See below.

"He was, and is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous
pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself
and fling the curses on his neighbors."
-Emily Bronte

RtS; his view is the same as my sis, PBS IS! middle of the road.

The real view, don't you know!

 

Entitlement over infrastructure every SINGLE time.

 

"Troll" has become "anyone

"Troll" has become "anyone who I disagree with."

you say that like it's a

you say that like it's a bad thing:) 

i disagree with me quite a bit...

Partner with Islam and the NB respect police:)

Anytime a Conservative

Anytime a Conservative discusses race, sex, or homosexuality, he/she is branded a bigot, Jason.
Anytime a homosexual, minority, or woman attains a high position as a Republican, they are "Uncle Toms", sell-outs, etc...

If a minority, homosexual, or female Liberal achieves some amount of success, it is earth-shattering, amazing, and held up as example of the Democratic "big tent", overcoming tremendous odds and obstacles.

So, you may have to excuse me when I openly laugh at your seemingly naive comment.

You're right, there is a

You're right, there is a certain feeling pervading liberal circles that a person of a marginalized group who achieves success with a conservative entity is somehow betraying themselves. I'll agree, and it's a problematic phenomenon. I meant more in terms of just being willing to discuss the complex, surrounding issues of homophobia and racism and such; in my experience (and my reply was to a poster working strictly off his personal experience) conservatives are less comfortable discussing it. In no way did I mean that this means they are racist, sexist, or whatever else.

"He was, and is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous
pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself
and fling the curses on his neighbors."
-Emily Bronte

I think I clearly explained

I think I clearly explained what happens when a Conservative is around when the topic comes up. The perception among Conservatives is pretty near universal.

Homosexuals, minorities, and women's rights are somehow the property of Liberals. The dividing into groups is Marxist in origin, after all, and who is better at promoting supposed grievances than Marxists?
Conservatives are uncomfortable ONLY because of people like you who have perpetuated this lie, and punised those Conservatives whose "freedom of speech" does not agree with yours.

A little over the top Rog?

A little over the top Rog? What did I perpetuate? I'm offering my experience as a single, minute piece of quasi-evidence, just as iveseenitall did. I agree with you that conservatives don't necessarily get a fair shake. Take my debate on gay marriage that's been going for a few days now. I've got one guy whose argument is that gays are equivalent with pederasts and necrophiles. It's tough to argue with someone who takes that as a starting point. but I've also gotten thoughtful (though 'wrong' in my mind) responses that I have to think carefully about in order to refute.

"He was, and is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous
pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself
and fling the curses on his neighbors."
-Emily Bronte

You are a Liberal. Liberals

You are a Liberal. Liberals are responsible for perpetuating the lie. Therefore, one could reasonably extrapolate your culpability.

You seem to be are speaking about at the little picture, while I am referring to the big picture. Perhaps that is where the confusion lies.

Perhaps. But I'm not

Perhaps. But I'm not pinning what I see as conservative disingenuity and moral backwardness on you.

"He was, and is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous
pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself
and fling the curses on his neighbors."
-Emily Bronte

homosex is a simple topic

homosex is a simple topic really - not complex

don't do it ever - simple:) 

Partner with Islam and the NB respect police:)

You are the one who

You are the one who said:

...I find that liberals are more likely to openly discuss the thorny, nuanced problems regarding homophobia, racism, sexism, etc. I've found that conservatives tend to be more uncomfortable with these kinds of discourses...

Your statement MOST CERTAINLY lumps me in with "all conservatives", Jason, whether you meant it to be that way or not. How could a Conservative like me not take offense to your statement? That somehow, Conservatives are ill-equipped to handled "nuanced" issues? Are Conservative somehow not bright or enlightened enough?

That is just my personal

That is just my personal experience. I'm not representing it as empirical and I'm not claiming it's "The Truth".  It's what I've experienced. And I wouldn't think it would seem insulting, since so many of the conservatives on this site pride themselves on maintaining old-fashioned, unambiguous positions concerning sexuality, gender roles, etc.

"He was, and is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous
pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself
and fling the curses on his neighbors."
-Emily Bronte

Wow. Even your apologies

Wow. Even your apologies are back-handed. Perhaps it was too nuanced for my knuckle-dragging sensibilities. At least you admit that you have little "personal experience" with the world, if that is your view.

 

 

Who said it was an

Who said it was an apology?

"He was, and is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous
pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself
and fling the curses on his neighbors."
-Emily Bronte

My aunt and uncle just got

My aunt and uncle just got back from England.  One of the pictures they took was of protesters of the Iraq war.  One sign said "2 million dead 4 million fled."  Obey must have seen that same sign on moveon's web site.

What a phoney you are Mr. Obey MoveOn.org.

 

 

hypocrisy

I had to leave for a while. Returning to the discussion, I see it deserves a reponse from me. In my posts above, I was demonstrating to the hypocrisy of "liberalism". In my experience, (considerable interaction with "liberals"), I have found a vast number of them, while publicly espousing outrage at racism, sexism, homophobia,etc. were just the opposite in their private conversation. For example, jokes about "fags" and "bitches" and "niggers" abound within the "liberal" community. They often despise what they view as "low class" people. Moreover, many "liberals" act upon their own prejudices. All the while, their public and professional demeanor is just the opposite. They are hypocrites, but are almost never accused of it in the media ( even when the "slip") or in discussions by the general public.Overwhelmingly, it is conservatives  who are accused of bigotry and prejudice.  What "liberals" won't "discuss" is too often what they truly believe. Their dishonesty is palpable.

NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"