Obama Apology

From MSNBC:

Sen. Barack Obama said in his first presidential campaign news conference that the lives of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq were “wasted.” He quickly retracted the statement, and later apologized to anybody he offended.

Obama should retract his apology. Not his original statement. He should retract his apology.

From dictionary.com a definition of 'wasted': to consume, spend, or employ uselessly or without adequate return; use to no avail or profit; squander.

America is not more secure because of Iraq. The mission in Afghanistan has gone unfulfilled. US torture policy has become a rallying cry of our enemies, and has alienated our would-be friends. In short, the war in Iraq has done the US no good at all, and has done the US significan harm.

Obama's original statement was correct. Soldiers lives have been wasted.

This is an indictment not of the soldiers- those who have died or those who served with them- but of the commander-in-chief who sent them to Iraq and mismanaged their efforts there.

America has not benefitted, and will not benefit, from this war that was a product of NeoCon fantasy and misinformation.

Lives have been wasted, and this President would waste more with his 'surge.' To state that fact, and to indicate that one would like to be a different sort of President, does not require an apology.