Lieber Marian,

zunächst einmal Dank dafür, daß Sie sich die Zeit für eine ausführliche Antwort genommen haben.

Ich will Punkt für Punkt antworten, allerdings a bisserl mehr allegro con brio als fortissimo.

Da es etwas länger geworden ist, gibt es zwei Teile.

Und gelegentlich wird, der Einfachkeit halber und damit es nicht noch länger wird, meine Antwort so aussehen, daß ich leichte Korrekturen an Ihrem Text vornehme, so daß ich ihm dann zustimmen kann. Durch Streichung und Ersetzen. So, wie man es etwa tun würde, wenn man zusammen an einem Ms arbeitet.

Zitat von Marian Wirth

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Ihre jüngste Invektive Antwort gibt mir Gelegenheit, zusammenzufassen, was mich an Ihrem Anti-Obama smear text stört:

1.) Für mich ist das, was Obama in dem Interview mit Blitzer gesagt hat, kein Herumeiern.

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BLITZER: Let's start with Iraq. You want all U.S. combat forces out of Iraq within 16 months. She says she would start withdrawing combat forces within 60 days but she is not willing to give an end date, a timeline when that withdrawal would be complete.

Are you sure you want to tie your hands to that 16-month date if you're president of the United States? You don't know what's going to happen over the next 16 months.

OBAMA: Of course you don't know. And I will always reserve the right to make adjustments in strategy as we go along. (…)

So, this is a difference between myself and Senator Clinton. I think that you've got to at least set a timetable for withdrawal. (…)

BLITZER: I'm going to get to that, but I just want to leave it open -- nail this down. If the 16-month deadline that you've imposed, if you see that there is a need for some flexibility, you are open to that; is that right?

OBAMA: Wolf, my job will be to keep the American people safe as commander in chief, and I will make decisions on the basis of what's required to keep them safe.

Zitat von Marian Wirth

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In Verhandlungen mit der irakischen Regierung mit der Maßgabe zu gehen, dass der Truppenabzug nach 16 Monaten abgeschlossen sein soll, folgt der gleichen Logik, die Befürworter eines Angriffs auf den Iran zu Grunde legen: Wenn wir am Anfang keine klare Linie haben und kein klares Ziel haben, dann werden wir nicht ernst genommen.

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Q. Following that up, what is your schedule for withdrawing forces from Iraq? How fast would these withdrawals be carried out? What time frame?

A. Based on the conversations we’ve had internally as well as external reports, we believe that you can get one to two brigades out a month. At that pace, the forces would be out in approximately 16 months from the time that we began. That would be the time frame that I would be setting up. (…)

Q. If you saw that the Iraqi government, under the duress of American withdrawals, was not making progress or if sectarian violence was beginning to increase in Iraq, would you call a halt to withdrawals or proceed anyway?

A. I think that it is important to understand that there are no good options in Iraq. (...) But what I don’t want to do is to make our withdrawal contingent on the Iraqi government doing the right thing because that empowers them to make strategic decisions that should be made by the president of the United States.”