Colonel Jay M. Parker, Advisor to Iraq Study Group, Says Why He Supports Obama

The distinguished Colonel Jay M. Parker PhD an advisor to the Iraq Study Group visited Helena, Montana to discuss his reasons for supporting Senator Barack Obama for president. The noon time meeting on May 23, 2008 at the Bagel Company was attended by Montana residents.

Colonel Parker,U.S. Army retired is a Senior Fellow with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Associate Professor at Georgetown University. Colonel Parker is the author of numerous textbooks and has held various advisory posts during and following his military career. His PhD from Columbia University in International Foreign Relation paved an interesting career path including active duty commander and retooling the military post Cold War. He served more than 10-years as a professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

He first met Senator Obama in a meeting of the Council of Foreign Relations. He was impressed by the Senator's understanding of the complexities of creating a policy of nuclear non-proliferation. Senator Obama attended the meeting in his capacity as a member of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.

As a twenty-six year military veteran, Colonel Parker told the audience the importance of including both Republicans and Democrats in the process. His reasons for supporting Barack Obama is the senator's forceful and intelligent opposition to the Iraqi invasion when it was not politically popular to do so. Senator Bamako was in the fight of his life for the Senate seat in Illinois and instead of caving in to political pressures he explained to voters his reasons for opposing the Iraqi invasion. He won the seat, not by acquiescence, but by steadfastly remaining truthful to the voters.