News from Iraq

There is an article in the New York Post this morning suggesting that Obama, while visiting Iraq, tried to get both members of the Iraq government and high ranking officers of our army to delay the removal of U.S. troops until after the U.S. election.

WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.

According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July.

"He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington," Zebari said in an interview.

Obama insisted that Congress should be involved in negotiations on the status of US troops - and that it was in the interests of both sides not to have an agreement negotiated by the Bush administration in its "state of weakness and political confusion."

"However, as an Iraqi, I prefer to have a security agreement that regulates the activities of foreign troops, rather than keeping the matter open." Zebari says.

Though Obama claims the US presence is "illegal," he suddenly remembered that Americans troops were in Iraq within the legal framework of a UN mandate. His advice was that, rather than reach an accord with the "weakened Bush administration," Iraq should seek an extension of the UN mandate.

While in Iraq, Obama also tried to persuade the US commanders, including Gen. David Petraeus, to suggest a "realistic withdrawal date." They declined.


Obama has made many contradictory statements with regard to Iraq. His latest position is that US combat troops should be out by 2010. Yet his effort to delay an agreement would make that withdrawal deadline impossible to meet.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/09152008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/obama_tried_to_stall_gis_iraq_withdrawal_129150.htm?&page=0

Even with the greatest of allowances, its difficult to come away from this story with a favorable feeling towards Obama. If true, the best that can be said is that in contrary to his stated goal of returning U.S. Forces in Iraq to America as soon as possible, he intends keep them there for some indeterminate purpose, but this narrative would have Obama as more gung-ho then both the American military and the Iraq government. A far more sinister, though it would seem more likely, desire would be to delay any good news from the Iraq until after it can be of no use in the presidential campaign, even at the cost of leaving American soldiers in the Middle East for longer then is needed. One hopes that the senator isn't so callous.

One of those officers who the article states was encouraged to delay withdrawals was General Petraeus, who leaves his post as Commander of Multi-National Forces to head up Central Command. The surge of troops and accompanying change in tactics that occurred on his watch seem likely to be much discussed in the coming years for the breadth of their achievement. He took Iraq from increasing violence and the threat of a dishonored retreat proceeding a drawn out genocide to an apparently increasingly stable country far better placed to continue along on the virtuous circle towards good government and prosperity, all this in less then two years. His farewell letter can be read at the link below:

http://miserabledonuts.blogspot.com/2008/09/gen-petreaus-farewell-letter.html