Even Iraqis Agree That Obama Has Flunked Foreign Policy Already

This Spiegel exclusive is bigger than the Brandenburg Gate molehill, obviously. Oh boy. You can’t invade a nation to change its regime, then argue that its duly elected prime minister is wrong to dis-invite your armed forces, even (or especially) if he is just a politician who wants support from his voters, can you? So how did Republicans respond? “We’re fucked,” said one of them, realistically.

The true argument here isn’t whether American soldiers should leave Iraq in 16 months. They probably shouldn’t, and won’t. The real and unspoken rift between Obama and McCain is whether the US should honor its commitment to contractors like Blackwater and KBR to keep them immune and on the government tit by maintaining soldiers (and a sphere of influence) in Iraq for decades to come, maybe “a hundred” years, as McCain said, and meant to say, early this year. Iraqi politicians understand Obama’s campaign posture as a “no,” and McCain’s as a “yes.” They’re not stupid.

     posted 21 July 2008 by Michael Scott Moore

  1. This IS huge. And I love how the White House accidentally forwarded the news “Iraqi PM backs Obama troop exit plan” to reporters over the weekend. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

    — Ben    Jul 22, 06:42 pm    #

  2. Does your post title need a correction?

    — Peter Hoh    Jul 23, 06:20 am    #

  3. Sorry. My irony reader seems to have malfunctioned.

    — Peter Hoh    Jul 23, 06:23 am    #

  4. Hah. No worries. Those two posts about Iraqis and soldiers go together.

    — Mike    Jul 23, 10:18 am    #

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