Obama is playing a dangerous political game and he is doing it with our national security. He has always been a poll follower, which is why he took the stance against the Iraq War. It was the easy thing to do politically. He is making promises to the American people that he will bring all US troops home within 16 months of becoming President. He is making this promise because he knows it is what the American people want to hear, not because it is what is best for our country. It is also a plan that was made without a single consultation with the military commanders in Iraq.
If he had talked to these commanders he would probably know that removing 1-2 brigades per month back to the states is not even logistically plausible. I only use my recollection that it took us more time than that to shut down our base in Najaf and move 2 battalions north to another base. But what do I know.
Obama has recently backtracked on his hard stance and said he would bring troops home in consultation with commanders on the ground, but then in true political form maintains that he will keep his promise and bring all troops home in 16 months. That is a true politician. To contradict yourself in the same interview without people even realizing it.
The real truth is that Obama has no intention to consult the commanders in the field to understand the current conditions. He has made no real effort to find out the facts. In fact it has been over 2 1/2 years since Obama has been to Iraq. The one opportunity he had to talk to General Petraeus, he attempted to sharpshoot him at a public hearing and demand a timeline for troop withdrawal. This was at a time when the general was making an initial assessment of the troop surge and giving an update on the Iraq situation.
Before Obama made his only other trip to Iraq, he stated that he was only going there to try to get a timetable set for withdrawal. And it is the same for his upcoming trip. His communications director Robert Gibbs made a slip a couple of months ago and said the reason Obama is going back to Iraq is to see how he could remove all troops from Iraq. Obama is determined to surrender, no matter what the current situation or the commanders on the ground tell him.
Barack Obama’s latest ploy is to try to manipulate Iraqi’s Prime Minister’s statements on troop withdrawal. The reason PM Maliki made these statements are twofold. One, the UN mandate for the use of Coalition troops is about to expire so there needs to be a mutual agreement for use of the US military in Iraq. Two, the security and political situation in Iraq has improved so much that for the first time removing troops without reducing security is a possibility.
Obama’s only reason for turning this great achievement into some type of Bush failure is for political gain and only political gain. It is another political game to manipulate the uninformed public. It is the game of a true politician, not a true leader.
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