annotated bib

News source:

Gerstenzang, James. “The Wars Reach on the Obama McCain Battle Field at Home: The Countdown to Crawford.” Los Angeles Times 9 Sept. 2008

 

The count down to Crawford section of the LA times is centered around the last actions the Bush administration takes. It is posted on the La Time website and is set up in a blog formation. The relevance this has to my topic is the articles often relate how the final decisions of the bush administration effect the election. The article written on Sept. ninth concerning the topic of the Iraq war explains how Bush has decided to begin pulling troops out of Iraq. The article explains how inevitably having the troops taken from Iraq distracts from the election and gives McCain an edge. The writer of the article clearly believes the Bush administration decided to take the troops out of Iraq in order to help McCain win the election.

“Obama has been arguing that “Iraq distracted the US from the more pressing business of Afghanistan.”“ this is an important quote for my topic because it shows Osama’s stance on war. It does not show that he does not want troops out he just believe they need to be concentrated in another place. The article also explains that because of Obama’s stance on the war the pending deployment of troops to Afghanistan is not likely to affect the election.

 

“While neither the Iraq war nor the war in Afghanistan appears to be emerging “as a defining issue of contention between the candidates,” the BBC notes, the announcement of troop withdrawals from Iraq helps McCain argue that he was correct in advocating a “surge” of troops when the president opted for that course in January 2007.” this quote essentially is the argument of the article. It is particularly important because it was stated my another news media. It simply reiterates what the article is explaining.

“The more he does to take the Iraq war off the front page — and remember, it was the war, more than anything else, that propelled Obama’s rise through the Democratic presidential field” this quote is also explains the main point of the article. This quote helps to understand why the choices bush is making now are negatively affecting Obama. Since a main strong point of Obama was the Iraq war and his voice against it, having the war taken out of the picture hurts Obama’s campaign.

 

Non news source

Holbrook, Richard. Foreign Affairs. World history direction Galileo. Sept/Oct 2008 p.2- 24 New York

The book basically goes through what the future president will inherit upon coming into office. The writer never mentions a candidates name in a favoring light and seems to try to keep from showing any bias for any political party. In the selection the writer goes through the various events that have set the stage for the responsibilities that the new president will take on. The author also included what he thought is needed in order for the united states to rise from its present situation. The relevance this book has to my research paper is it specifically talks about the Iraq war. The author goes through what has happened with the war. He explains where it has put us and the author explains what he believes the new president will have to do in order to restore order. The author does speak of both McCain and Obama. He talks about the different approaches both candidate take to certain issues but again he does not show favoritism toward either candidate.

“the next president will inherit a more difficult opening-day set of international problems than any of his predecessors have since at least the end of World War II” this quote reveals one of the main points the author discusses in the book. Much of the selection talks about the issues the incoming president will be confronted with. The author continues the selection by presenting the specific issue the future president will face. One of them being the Iraq war.

“McCain’s boldest proposals are neither new nor original:” this quote is important because it couple with the one that will be presented after this one. This quote shows the approach McCain plans on taking while confronting the problems that will come with being president.

“Obama’s policy proposals–whether on climate change, energy, Africa, Cuba, or Iran–are forward-leaning; he proposes adjusting old and static policies to new and evolving realities.” this quote is important because it shows Obama’s approach to dealing with the issues the united states is facing.

Compare and contrast: both the articles are good sources of information. They are similar in they present the candidates policies. Both selections discuss the effects that current events have on the election and how the candidates respond. There are major differences between the works. The article from the newspaper is written with obvious bias for democrats. The newspaper article is also more current than the book so it includes recent developments. The book was written earlier than the article so it uses only the information that was available to it then. Also the writer of the book was trying not to show too much bias for anything. Though it did come out as leaning a bit toward the democratic candidate.

International source

Stiglitz, Joseph. “the three trillion dollar war” times online. 23 Feb. 2008

This article does not directly mention the election, but it does talk of the Iraq war and gives an idea of how England feels about the war. The information presented helps to show the extent of work the upcoming president will have to contend with when in office. The article is not written lightly which shows how much the writer supports the continuation of the war. The article talks extensively of the cost of the war. It also states how the UK is going to have a difficult time continuing to support the war at the pace it is going now.

“In fact, the Pentagon keeps two sets of books. The first is the official casualty list posted on the DOD website. The second, hard-to-find, set of data is available only on a different website and can be obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.” this quote sheds some light on how the writer feels about the way America is dealing with the war. This is important because if this is the feeling people though out the UK have toward the war, it show the amount of support they are going to be willing to lend.

“The estimates in our model may be significantly too low if these patterns continue ”

This statement is stating the concluding point of the article. The UK is having a difficult time supporting the costs of the war and don’t want to continue in the engagement.

Domestic source

Ricks, Thomas. “Military Experts Fretful Over Long term consequences.” the Washington post. 29 April 2007.

This article does not mention the election and how it will affect the war but it does speak about the war in the future. The article mainly compares the Iraq war to the Vietnam war pointing out the differences. One of the main points the article discusses is how the Iraq war will more than likely have harsher and longer lasting effects after the war is done. The speakers in the article seem to be reluctant to continue the war because of the damages it will cause to all parties involves.

“many of them to conclude that the long-term effects of the Iraq war will be worse for the United States.” this quote explains one of the main ideas of the article. The article mainly focuses on the idea that the Iraq war long term effects will be detrimental to both the middle east and the united states.

“Some of those making the argument say they already are beginning to see the outlines of an “Iraq syndrome” that will replace the “Vietnam syndrome” that haunted U.S. foreign policy for decades.” this represent the viewpoints some people have on the Iraq war. Several people with the same ideas presented ideas within the article.

Compare and contrast

The two articles are very different both in context and presentation. Both of the articles are about the war but are discussing very different things. The first article discusses the UK’s costs in the war while the second discusses the long term non monetary costs of the war. But both articles have a negative stance on the war. And both articles can be used to help figure out what the war entails for the future. Its good to look at both articles at the same time because they present very different information but allow for a better understanding of what the duration of the war holds.

Conservative source

Curl, Joseph. “McCain Turns Bush on Iraq Surge.” Washington Times. 21 Aug. 2008

This article focus on McCain’s involvement with the war in Iraq. Specifically the article heavily focuses on the surge. The article goes thought the various trips the senator has taken to Iraq. it explains what he has seen there. The article makes it very clear on how the McCain would handle the war if he were put into office. The article also manages Obama and his approach on the war. But mainly the article was informing of McCain’s continued involvement with the war.

 

“As the senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which has oversight of military operations and considerable authority in shaping the Defense Department’s budget, Mr. McCain offered blunt advice.” this quote is considerably important because it shows McCain is qualified to make the assessments that he does. This quote backs up what the article is about.

 

“I won’t take credit for the surge.” This is important because it shows the character McCain. It is important to the article because the article is looking to show McCain in a good light. This quote achieves that goal.

“Sen. Barrack Obama, a freshman senator from Illinois, joined his party’s elders to oppose the surge, even after military leaders agreed that it was necessary” this quote is important for several reasons. First it shows Obama’s stance on the war. Second it shows the writers bias. With this quote being negative against Obama it show the writer favors Republicans.

Liberal source

Editorial. Obama and Iraq. The Nation. 16 Jul 2008

The article is about Obama’s view on the Iraq war and how he would deal with it if he were in office. The article discusses the stance Obama has taken on the Iraq war and how he has previously taken a voice against the war. In the article it explains how Obama believe the removal of troops from Iraq will not be as difficult as people say. This article is relative to the research paper because that is the main topic of the paper, how the war will be affected by the election. The article makes it very clear that Obama has full intentions of completely ending the war if he is elected.

““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,” Obama emphasized, while reiterating his support for a sixteen-month timeline for the withdrawal of combat troops” this quote is important because it plainly states how Obama feels about the war and shows how he would like to deal with it if elected president

“A US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences.” This quote is important because it shows Obama has been consistent in his feeling toward the war. He held to his original stance.

Compare and contrast

These two articles were the two most relevant to the topic the research paper will be written on. Both articles discuss the candidates their views on the war and how they plan to deal with it if elected president. Both article are written with bias leaning toward the party of the candidate the article was written about. Both articles were well written and clearly state where the candidates stand on the topic of the war and both relate the candidates stances on the war will be pertinent to the election.