Posted by
Always To The Right on Saturday, November 08, 2008 1:43:32 PM
Voters weren’t the only people counting on Barack Obama to keep his campaign promises. Terrorists in Iraq
want to see whether Obama will abide by his pledge to get American
troops out of their way so that they can get back to the business of
slaughtering Iraqis. That includes al-Qaeda in Iraq
On Iraq, I think both terrorists and Code Pink will have to deal
with some disappointment. With casualties dropping to almost zero,
Iraq is a war that Obama can win easily in the first few months of his
term simply by not making any sudden shifts in strategy or personnel.
AQI and the other insurgencies are all but destroyed; the only real
damage being done by them now is to their own credibility.
The downside to a sudden pullout could be disastrous for Obama. If
he did pull American forces out on a fast timetable, the security gains
may not last with the still-developing Iraqi Army. A collapse in Iraq
following a forced withdrawal by Obama would make him look incompetent
and impetuous, and could force us to return to Iraq and take casualties
we could have avoided by following the current Bush plan instead. He
can’t risk starting his presidency with that kind of disaster.
By the time the general election rolled around, Iraq stopped being a
major issue, and for good reason. We’ve won the war, and we’ve finally
won the peace. Regardless of which candidate got elected, the policy
in the next administration is likely to be the same despite Obama’s
rhetoric during the primaries.