Iowa Public Television

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  Program: Iowa Press #3510
  Broadcast Date: Nov. 9, 2007
  

• Collection: Iowa Press: The Presidential Candidates

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Sen. Barack Obama discusses the Iraq War, and what he would do to restore optimism in the U.S.

This interview took place on November 9, 2007, at Iowa Public Television. www.iptv.org/campaign08/

Yepsen: Senator, I want to back up and take a broader look at some things. The dollar is at a record low against the euro. The Iraq war continues. The stock market is falling. We don't know what to do about Iran, and oil is approaching $100 a barrel. Americans are in a pretty down mood. What would you do as president to restore some optimism in this country?

Obama: Well, I think, step one, we have to bring this war in Iraq to a close. I think it has been an enormous drain, obviously, on the young men and women who are serving, in the wounds and the deaths that have been suffered there. But we're also spending $10- to $12 billion a month. That is putting an enormous strain on our fiscal situation here at home. It prevents us from reinvesting in infrastructure.

And it has really hurt our reputation around the world. So we can get our combat troops out in about sixteen months, at the pace of one to two brigades a month. If we do that, I think we can then set a new tone of leadership around the world, saying we want to work with the world on critical issues like nuclear proliferation, but we're also going to work to improve public health in places like sub-Saharan Africa, build schools in the Middle East.

That whole tone of leadership around the world will not only, I think, help our foreign policy, it will help our economy. One of the reasons that we've got oil at close to $100 a barrel is because of the saber-rattling that the Bush administration has been engaging in with respect to Iran. About a third of that cost is really the spot market saying there may be war. And if we can lower the temperature, lower the rhetoric that can also improve our economy.

And if we have a new program of reinvesting in the American worker and saying to people in America, you count, Washington's thinking about you, we are going to invest in your education, we're going to invest in broadband lines, those kinds of -- that sense of optimism and movement where we're not just passively watching as these things happen to us, but instead we're acting forcefully to meet a future that right now is uncertain, I think that's the kind of leadership we need from Washington.

• Barack Obama
• campaign 2008
• Democrats
• economy
• Iowa
• Iran
• Iraq war
• National Security
• politics

Post Date: June 4, 2008