dihey - SOFA agreement… are you kidding me? Iraq is a colony of the USSA. There are no agreements. The US Empire does what it wants when it wants to.

The photo IS fake, here is the explanation:  http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_obama_phone.htm

Anyways, about the phone call - it makes sense that Obama would call Bush, he is continuing on the exact same course of inevitable imperialism, 50,000 “residual” forces will remain in Iraq costing us over 50 billion a year, the Afghan war has been expanded, and the American people are cheering the president over the “change” that is taking place!

He really IS holding that phone upside down!

I traced the photo to http://www.imao.us/ a vacuous right-wing blog that does photoshop a lot…but who knows the story behind this picture…

Cyrena

There is a clause in the SOFA agreement (have you read it?) which allows the US President to withdraw ALL soldiers from Iraq at any time before December 31, 2011. Apparently Mr. Obama intends to wait till then because that is what he wants and not what he is forced to do.

There is another clause in the agreement which allows the Government of Iraq to demand that we withdraw ALL soldiers pronto. We would have to oblige.

I do not understand therefore why Obama would have asked Maliki for permission to withdraw troops “months ago”. He does not need his permission at any time.

By the way, most commentators do not realize that any change in SOFA demanded by us must be submitted to the Iraq Government (and vice versa) at least one year before it can become active. Also the Iraq people must vote by referendum on any change in SOFA. Good luck Obama if you want changes in SOFA.

It is however painfully simple for President Obama to fully ignore SOFA. SOFA is not a treaty ratified by our Senate hence Obama can simply and correctly state that he is not beholden to an non-ratified agreement. This “escape hatch” was already known at the time when President Bush signed the agreement.

Anyone who believes that SOFA is a guarantee that ALL US soldiers will be out by December 31, 2011 should see his/her shrink.

Obama’s only justification for withdrawing any “combat brigades” is that he can then logically (boy is he “logical”, too “logical” for my taste) increase the “combat brigades” in Afghanistan. He does not strive for peace at all but for continued US hegemony in the region as he told the Chicago Tribune several years ago.

There is no doubt on my mind that the American public will be fooled again.

Oh My God…Obama as George Bush II?

Paxbob, Unfortunately Bush says he regrets nothing and I do not feel this immoral empty soul ever will. If he ever had a conscience, it was gone before he could ever walk. As a youth he tortured animals, often a precursor of well known serial killers known today. He is no different, he just did it on a grander scale.

As for talking Bush off the ledge, let’s hope it is over the edge rather than back inside the egress he escaped from. The priviledged lifestyle of housing a Bushite in the brig would not be true justice for the crimes they have committed. It might be better to have a quick result rather than a long drawn out one, unless he is introduced, on first hand experience to Bush himself and his group, to all the forms of torture he and his cronies dreamed up and inflicted onto others on a hourly basis for the rest of their natural lives. Then and only then will justice be served for their war crimes.

And yes, it might take some time getting used to a President who is cultured, educated and knows the basics of etiquette after the last 8 years of lack anything resembling common decency or courtesy from the former administration.

By cyrena, February 28 at 5:01 am #

“IT WAS A COURTESY CALL!!!”
===============================
I beg to disagree Cyrena! A misplaced “courtesy” is a serious lack of sound judgment!

At least in the past, we agreed that criminal, lying Bush was the most serious disaster this country has experienced in its modern history. So he is not owed any “courtesy” by any one, and more so by the one who won the election because he was supposed to be the antithesis of what evil Bush was.

I do have the right to interpret Obama’s call to Bush as a way of legitimizing and validating his evil policies in Iraq and further, in some way, continuing some aspects of these disastrous policies.

That is too funny, Outraged! And credited to “enscriber.com”? That’s a blog!

Has our dear TruthDig gotten photo-fooled?

If you believe the supermarket tabloids, the former Decider is depressed and suicidal. Maybe our new president—you know, the one with an actual functioning brain—was simply performing an act of charity, trying to talk the Decider off the ledge. We all should pray for Bush’s health, so that he will be around for the war crimes trial and live many long years (behind bars, we can hope) to contemplate and perhaps even regret all the lives lost in his optional war.

Okay….is this picture “photoshopped” or something….

This is wacked.  The picture shows Obama using a 1975 “Princess” phone (courtesty of MaBell, I assume), UPSIDE-DOWN!

Of course, if he’s ACTUALLY talking to DickBush here, it could almost be “qualifiable”....but, but…but….  someone enlighten me, what the hell is that…?

It’s EXACTLY….Three O’Clock, I mean EXACTLY….check out that second hand…. if it were a digital clock we might even be able to tell if this was pm. or am.

And who is this person who’s sitting on the floor next to a desk while Our President is making this supposedly…. “noteworthy” call? 

Huh…?  This is the shit that “tries men’s souls.”

By jerrypl, February 28 at 1:06 am #

Is President Obama kidding when he consulted with the Little Boy Bush who was not in command of the war in Iraq? Does Obama always have to be politically correct?

~~~

Ah jerrypl, it’s really ALL about the LANGUAGE…(at least that’s what my mentors have been reminding me for years…)

President Obama didn’t call to *consult* with Little Boy Bush, and the article states that in very unambiguous language…

IT WAS A COURTESY CALL!!!

He made the call just before he was to take the stage to tell the troops (and the rest of us) what he was gonna do. Common courtesy and STATESMAN-LIKE protocol dictated that he contact Maliki,not for permission to withdraw our troops, or to even ‘consult’ him on it. He did that months ago, and so Maliki knew this and obviously welcomed it. The call was what we could expect from a classy and statesmanlike president, just to keep him (Maliki)up to speed to the fact that he would be making that announcement. Again, this is common courtesy and respect in diplomatic relations.

The same is true of the call to the dumbass who started it, to let him know that he would be ENDING it, just so he didn’t have to hear about it on TV. 

This is how CLASSY PEOPLE OPERATE!!

You’ve got a first class guy for a President now. Get used to it. Maybe some of it will rub off.

That wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Nah…I think it was: “Let’s just be certain the dumb $#it is still as much of dumb $#it as we all know he is”...and then he was just polite and nice on the phone.

Is President Obama kidding when he consulted with the Little Boy Bush who was not in command of the war in Iraq? Does Obama always have to be politically correct?

http://eye-on-washington.blogspot.com