Barack Obama Reiterates his Stance on Iraq / Obama retirará tropas inmediatamente de Irak

Barack Obama today spoke again on his position on Iraq, that he plans to take out one to two brigades per month and that translates into sixteen months, as he's said all along. The video is nice and short, and so I've done a transcription for English L2 learners, for automatic translation and whatnot.

Through the election Ron Paul has been my first choice, then Bill Richardson and then Barack Obama, so that means that I'm looking for an Obama victory in November. I'm also hoping for a strong showing by Bob Barr and an extremely weak showing by McCain, because I'm definitely not a fan of the big government 'conservatism' we've seen over the past eight years, and there needs to be a strong signal sent to the GOP that just saying you're financially conservative doesn't mean anything when you don't veto spending bills and spend billions of dollars per month to dandy about in other nations.

I'm also a very big fan of Obama's lack of drama. Nothing is more irritating than a politician that is often the only one in the room getting excited about something (*cough* Chavez *cough*), and one that thinks that ratcheting up the rhetoric is somehow going to strengthen their position.

Here's the video:



And the transcript:

I have said throughout this campaign that this war was ill-conceived, that it was a strategic blunder, and that it needs to come to an end. I've also said that I would be deliberate and careful in how we got out, that I would bring our troops home at a pace of one to two brigades per month, and that at that pace we would have our combat troops out in sixteen months. That position has not changed, I have not equivocated on that position, I am not searching for maneuvering room with respect to that position. What I said this morning and what I will repeat, becase it's consistent with what I've said over the last two years, is that in putting this plan together, I will always listen to the advice of commanders on the ground, but that ultimately I'm the person who is making the strategic decisions, and it is my view that strategically, for us to perpetuate this war in Iraq the way that John McCain has proposed, and neglect the extraordinary problems that we're seeing in Afghanistan, to continue to spend ten to twelve billion dollars a month, to continue to put enormous burdens on our military and military families is not the best way to make the American people safe. So we are going to go visit Iraq, I want to have conversations with commanders on the ground, Iraqi officials, when I come back, that information will obviously inform how we shape our plans moving forward. For example, does it - what is the current training situation, and how many residual troops might be needed in order to train Iraqis to stand up, both the army and the police. What is the current posture in terms of negotiations between the various Iraqi factions on critical issues like how oil is distributed, how oil revenues are distributed.

But, you know, let me be as clear as I can be, I intend to end this war, my first day in office I will bring the joint chiefs of staff in, and I will give them a new mission. And that is to end this war. Responsibly, deliberately, but decisively. And I have seen no information that contradicts the notion that we can bring our troops out safely at a pace of one to two brigades per month, and again, that pace translates into having our combat troops out in sixteen months' time. So, the last point I would just make is that this is the same position that I had four months ago, it's the same position I had eight months ago, it's the same position I had twelve months ago.

Let's see what it looks like automatically translated into Spanish, and then automatically translated back into English using that. Here it is via Google:

He dicho a lo largo de esta campaña que esta guerra fue mal concebida, que se trataba de un error estratégico, y que necesita para llegar a su fin. También he dicho que quiero ser deliberado y cuidadoso en la forma en que salió, que me gustaría traer a nuestras tropas a casa a un ritmo de uno a dos brigadas por mes, y que a ese ritmo tendríamos nuestras tropas de combate a cabo en dieciséis meses. Esa posición no ha cambiado, no he equivocated en esa posición, no estoy buscando habitación de maniobra con respecto a esa posición. Lo que he dicho esta mañana y lo voy a repetir, becase es coherente con lo que he dicho durante los últimos dos años, es que al poner este plan en conjunto, siempre voy a escuchar el asesoramiento de los comandantes sobre el terreno, pero que en última instancia, Soy la persona que está haciendo las decisiones estratégicas, y es que desde mi punto de vista estratégico, para nosotros, para perpetuar esta guerra en Iraq la forma en que John McCain ha propuesto, el descuido y la extraordinaria problemas que estamos viendo en Afganistán, a seguir para pasar de diez a doce mil millones de dólares al mes, a que sigan ejerciendo una enorme carga sobre nuestros militares y familias de militares no es la mejor manera de hacer que el pueblo estadounidense seguro. Por lo tanto, vamos a ir visitar el Iraq, quiero tener conversaciones con los comandantes sobre el terreno, los funcionarios iraquíes, cuando vuelva, que la información es evidente que informará la manera en que dan forma a nuestro planes de seguir adelante. Por ejemplo, ¿- ¿Cuál es la situación actual de formación, y el número de tropas residuales puedan ser necesarios con el fin de capacitar a los iraquíes a pie, tanto el ejército y la policía. ¿Cuál es la postura actual en términos de las negociaciones entre las diversas facciones iraquíes en cuestiones críticas como la forma de petróleo se distribuye, cómo los ingresos procedentes del petróleo se distribuyen.

Pero, ¿sabe usted, permítaseme ser lo más claro que puedo ser, tengo la intención de poner fin a esta guerra, mi primer día en la oficina voy a traer el conjunto de jefes de personal, y yo les dará una nueva misión. Y es que para poner fin a esta guerra. Responsablemente, deliberadamente, pero con decisión. Y no he visto ninguna información que contradiga la idea de que podemos traer a nuestras tropas a cabo con seguridad a un ritmo de uno a dos brigadas por mes, y una vez más, que se traduce en un ritmo que nuestro tropas de combate a cabo en dieciséis meses. Así, el último punto me gustaría hacer es que esta es la misma posición que tenía hace cuatro meses, es la misma posición que tenía hace ocho meses, es la misma posición que tenía hace doce meses.

And now Barack Obama after two runs through the machine. Looking it over it's actually much better than I thought it would look:

I have said throughout this campaign that this war was ill-conceived, it was a strategic mistake, and you need to come to an end. I also said I want to be deliberate and careful in the way they came out, I'd like to bring our troops home at a rate of one to two brigades per month, and that at this pace we would have our combat troops out in sixteen months. That position has not changed, I did not equivocated in that position, I am not looking for room for manoeuvre regarding that position. What I said this morning and I will repeat, BEC is consistent with what I said during the past two years, is that by putting this plan together, I will always listen to advice from commanders on the ground, but Ultimately, I am the person who is making strategic decisions, and that is from my point of view strategic for us to perpetuate this war in Iraq the way that John McCain has proposed, neglect and extraordinary problems we are seeing in Afghanistan, to continue to go from ten to twelve billion dollars a month, to continue exerting an enormous burden on our military and military families is not the best way to make the American people secure. Therefore, let's go visit Iraq, I want to have talks with field commanders, Iraqi officials, when I come back, that information is clearly inform the way we shape our plans go ahead. For example, is - What is the current state of training, and the number of residual troops may be needed in order to train Iraqis on foot, both the army and police. What is the current position in terms of negotiations among the various Iraqi factions on critical issues such as how oil is distributed, how oil revenues are distributed.

But, you know, let me be as clear as I can be, I intend to end this war, my first day in office I will bring the joint chiefs of staff, and I will give them a new mission. And that is to end this war. Responsibly deliberately but decisively. And I have not seen any information that contradicts the idea that we can bring our troops out safely at a rate of one to two brigades per month, and once again, that translates into a rate that our combat troops out Sixteen months. Thus, the last point I would make is that this is the same position he had four months ago, is the same position I had eight months ago, is the same position he had twelve months ago.