If Amir Taheri is correct, then Obama has contradicted the whole foundation of his campaign by urging a delay in the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq. I hope this can be clarified soon.
I went to the article. Obama, I am guessing, would like the pullout to be under his control. He has said in the past that his version of the pullout would not be precipitous although a time table would be used and he would want to do it safely and initiate it as soon as possible.
Amir Taheri wrote an opinion based on conversations that support his perspective. I have not followed Obama's comments enough on Iraq to be able to defend his position against this particular opinion piece. Others wrote in (go back to the website) and some interesting comments were posted.
However, I freely admit that Obama may well think that the continuing war is to his advantage. Even if he realizes that, I hope that he wouldn't and doubt that he would try to prolong the war for that purpose. He has no power there, but he may have tried to levy influence while there.
I just don't know. He wants us out and he wants us out soon. I supported the war and now I too want us out. However, defending this position is another blog posting altogether.
The Obama campaign has essentially confirmed the story, stating "Obama had told the Iraqis that they should not rush through a "Strategic Framework Agreement" governing the future of US forces until after President George W. Bush leaves office."
This appears to contradict the main theme of his primary campaign, i.e., to get the troops out as soon as responsibly possible. So why did he tell the Iraqis not to rush (which is, I might add, conducting foreign policy without any authority to do so.)?
I think he might be telling them not to rush, in hopes that he can get in and make the pull out happen under his watch and please liberal Europe and the mid-east. He may want to go down in history to be the one who finally put an end to this war...the hero...so to speak.
It is also very possible that he actually thinks that he can do a better job of orchestrating the pullout and that he doesn't want to be tied to an agreement established by the Bush White House which would be the case if a pact/agreement of some sort were signed. If I were him, and if I knew that a pullout was imminent, I would certainly want to do it my way. Part of the reality is the length of time required to pull out, it certainly is not going to happen before February of 09 but the agreement under which the next president would be bound could well be struck before that date.
My explanation entirely unconfirmed seems very reasonable to me.
As for Obama dealing with Iraqi leadership before being elected, I don't have any problem with that. McCain was over there rubbing elbows with the same folks. He must have been doing the same thing in his own way. (If he wasn't, then he wasn't working the rare opportunity to its full advantage and I would call that a gaff.)
I am guessing that Obama believes he is going to win and that the responsibility for pulling out will be his, he wants to do it and he wants to do it his way.
6 comments:
I went to the article. Obama, I am guessing, would like the pullout to be under his control. He has said in the past that his version of the pullout would not be precipitous although a time table would be used and he would want to do it safely and initiate it as soon as possible.
Amir Taheri wrote an opinion based on conversations that support his perspective. I have not followed Obama's comments enough on Iraq to be able to defend his position against this particular opinion piece. Others wrote in (go back to the website) and some interesting comments were posted.
However, I freely admit that Obama may well think that the continuing war is to his advantage. Even if he realizes that, I hope that he wouldn't and doubt that he would try to prolong the war for that purpose. He has no power there, but he may have tried to levy influence while there.
I just don't know. He wants us out and he wants us out soon. I supported the war and now I too want us out. However, defending this position is another blog posting altogether.
Who is dworth?
Fabienne, it is Doug
The Obama campaign has essentially confirmed the story, stating "Obama had told the Iraqis that they should not rush through a "Strategic Framework Agreement" governing the future of US forces until after President George W. Bush leaves office."
This appears to contradict the main theme of his primary campaign, i.e., to get the troops out as soon as responsibly possible. So why did he tell the Iraqis not to rush (which is, I might add, conducting foreign policy without any authority to do so.)?
I think he might be telling them not to rush, in hopes that he can get in and make the pull out happen under his watch and please liberal Europe and the mid-east. He may want to go down in history to be the one who finally put an end to this war...the hero...so to speak.
What Teresa says is very possible.
It is also very possible that he actually thinks that he can do a better job of orchestrating the pullout and that he doesn't want to be tied to an agreement established by the Bush White House which would be the case if a pact/agreement of some sort were signed. If I were him, and if I knew that a pullout was imminent, I would certainly want to do it my way. Part of the reality is the length of time required to pull out, it certainly is not going to happen before February of 09 but the agreement under which the next president would be bound could well be struck before that date.
My explanation entirely unconfirmed seems very reasonable to me.
As for Obama dealing with Iraqi leadership before being elected, I don't have any problem with that.
McCain was over there rubbing elbows with the same folks. He must have been doing the same thing in his own way. (If he wasn't, then he wasn't working the rare opportunity to its full advantage and I would call that a gaff.)
I am guessing that Obama believes he is going to win and that the responsibility for pulling out will be his, he wants to do it and he wants to do it his way.
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