IS OBAMA SHIFTING HIS IRAQ STANCE?
July 8th, 2008, 9:09 am · Post a Comment · posted by Dan Lehr
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Yes, & that’s actually a good thing.
Click here for a post we wrote all the way back on February 1st, 2008, 28 years ago, & see that we had been critical of both Clinton & Obama’s stances on Iraq. It’s not realistic to promise that we’ll be out in 16 months, & that promise smacks of pure political pandering.
Obama has drawn fire from McCain’s camp for apparent “flip-flopping,” but in actuality his announcement that he will adapt his plan to “facts on the ground” based on advice from military commanders on the ground is merely a step towards reality. & there is no doubt in our minds that McCain will also pursue a more realistic, less-beholden-to-ideology style of military pragmatism, the lack of which got us into the mess we’re in today. Why are we seeing success in Iraq these past few months? Because we’re adapting to whatever facts are presented to us on the ground. We’re not “refusing to talk to our enemies,” but rather convincing our enemies through deeds, not just words, that we’re the side they should be on. If only we could apply this to our entire current foreign policy.
The Washington Post’s editorial today on the matter is generally how we feel about it:
“In fact, Mr. Obama can’t afford not to update his Iraq policy. Once he has the conversations he’s promising with U.S. commanders, he will have plenty of information that “contradicts the notion” of his rigid plan. Iraq’s improvement means that American forces probably can be reduced next year, but it would be folly to begin a forced march out of the country without regard to the risks of renewed sectarian warfare and escalating intervention in the country by Iran and other of Iraq’s neighbors.”
But what about you? What do you think?
