Posted by
Always To The Right on Wednesday, January 14, 2009 4:30:43 PM
How far have the Democrats moved on Iraq? Joe Biden, the incoming
Vice President, has demanded a partition of the country into three
separate federal states, which no one else — especially not the Iraqis
— want. Barack Obama, our next President, demanded a fixed-date
withdrawal from Iraq during the primaries. Both men insisted that the
surge would not bring any stability or decrease in violence to Iraq.
Now? Not so much
Hmmm. What security gains could Biden mean? The gains made by US troops under David Petraeus and the surge? That couldn’t possibly
be what Biden means. After all, Bush’s tenacity in defeating the
terrorists and giving Iraq a chance to stand on its own was doomed to
failure. Harry Reid already surrendered, as Biden should remember.
I’m curious as to whether Biden mentioned his plan to divide up Iraq
into easily-digestible segments for radical terrorists to Nouri
al-Maliki. Biden was already unpopular in Iraq
over this inexplicably obtuse plan, which Sam Brownback also championed
during the Republican primaries. That’s never stopped Biden before
from demanding that his opinions get heard even when ridiculous, but
perhaps he’s learned a lesson — or maybe Obama told him to forget the
partition plan.
All snark aside, Biden’s statements sound somewhat optimistic for
those of us who want to see Iraq succeed over the next several years.
It’s a definite retreat from fixed-timetable withdrawals, although
that’s less of an issue now that Iraq has mostly gotten control of its
own territory. They’ll still need plenty of air and naval assistance
for at least a decade, and the SOFA has enough flexibility for Obama
and Maliki to adjust American military levels to suit the situation.
The Left will have a fit, but Biden’s signaling that Obama intends to
make use of that flexibility, and that’s a good thing for both Iraq and
the US. (via Q&O)