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OBAMA'S IRAQ GUESSING GAME
Will Obama Revise His Plan For
Withdrawal From Iraq?
Even His Advisors Are Confused About
Where He Stands
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Yesterday, Obama Campaign Strategist
David Axelrod Said That Obama Will
Adjust His Plan For Withdrawal From Iraq
Based On The Advice Of Military
Commanders:
Axelrod Said Obama Will Listen To The
Advice Of Commanders On The Ground With
Respect To His Plans For Withdrawal From
Iraq.
CNN's John Roberts: "Let me turn to
Iraq. It looks like we're seeing a
little bit of a modification of Senator
Obama's approach to troop withdrawals in
Iraq. Susan Rice, his foreign policy
adviser, recently said, quote, 'He will
redeploy our forces responsibly at a
rate that our commanders say is safe and
sustainable.' David, to the best of my
knowledge, he hasn't talked about
consulting commanders on withdrawal. Is
this an indication that he may not stick
with that original timetable he's been
tal king about of 16 months to get all
the forces out?" David Axelrod: "John,
with all due respect, on this, your
knowledge doesn't extend far enough. The
fact is that, Senator Obama introduced a
plan in the United States Senate in
January of 2007 that called for a phased
withdrawal, with benchmarks for the
Iraqi government to meet, that called
for strategic pauses, based on the
progress on these benchmarks, and advice
on the commanders on the ground and he's
always said that he would listen to the
advice of commanders on the ground, that
that would factor into his thinking.
He's also said we have to be as careful
getting out of Iraq as we were careless
getting in. So he's been very consistent
on this point."
(CNN's "The Situation Room," 7/2/08)
On Tuesday, Obama National Co-Chair Sen.
Claire McCaskill (D-MO) Said Obama Will
Withdraw Troops From Iraq Regardless Of
Whether Or Not It Would Roll Back
Progress That Has Been Made There:
Sen. McCaskill Said "No" Obama Will Not
Change His Position On Iraq Even If That
Means Sacrificing The Progress Being
Made.
MSNBC'S Monica Novotny: "In this week's
New
Yorker, George Packer writes
about Obama's original withdrawal plan
in the context of what we're now seeing
as a relative stabilization in parts of
Iraq. He writes about Obama, 'He
doubtless realizes that his original
plan, if implemented now, could revive
the badly wounded al Qaeda in Iraq,
reenergize the Sunni insurgency,
embolden Moqtada al-Sadr to recoup his
militia's recent losses to the Iraqi
Army, and return the central government
to a state of collapse. The question is
whether Obama will public ly change
course before November.' Will he?" Sen.
McCaskill: "No. He will not."
(MSNBC's "News Live," 7/1/08)
Earlier On Tuesday, Obama Senior Foreign
Policy Advisor Susan Rice Said Obama
"Will Listen To Commanders On The
Ground" And "Will Follow And Heed Their
Advice":
Rice Said Obama Will "Follow And Heed"
The Advice Of Commanders On The Ground
With Respect To His Plans For Withdrawal
From Iraq.
Rice: "He has said that the best
military advice he's received leads us
to believe that we can safely withdraw
our forces at the pace of one to two
combat brigades per month, and depending
on the number of combat brigades he
inherits, our best estimate is that that
could be accomplished in roughly 16
months. That's not a deadline. That's a
timetable, and obviously if Senator
Obama has said on numerous occasions, he
will listen to his commanders on the
ground, he will follow and heed their
advice as he decides how at the
strategic level we must proceed. So he
will do this very carefully and
responsibly as he always said but he
will do it."
(MSNBC's "News Live," 7/1/08)
In May, Obama Communications Director
Robert Gibbs Said That Obama Would Go To
Iraq Only To See How He Can Withdraw Our
Troops:
Gibbs Said That Obama Was Considering A
Trip To Iraq To See How He Could Begin
Removing Troops.
Gibbs: "Well, as [Obama] said yesterday
Mika, it's under discussion about going
overseas and going to Iraq sometime
between now and the campaign. You know,
I don't think we'll be taking that trip
with John McCain because as Senator
Obama said yesterday, the work that the
men and women in our military are doing
over there is just far too important for
them to be props in some sort of
political stunt or photo-op. You know,
what they're doing over there is
separated from their families, giving
for their country. It's truly, truly
amazing, and I think we would want to go
over there and talk to them and see what
sort of difficulties they're facing and
see how it is that we can begin to
carefully remove them and carefully
bring them back to their families and
bring them back to the United States."
(MSNBC's "Morning Joe," 5/29/08)
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