The Blog @ Spolitics

Obama’s Baffling Comment on Iraq Withdrawal Timetable

Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki and other Iraqi officials have recently stated that they are asking for a timetable for withdrawal of American forces as part of the security pact they’re forging with the U.S.  The press is trying to gin this up as a repudiation of Bush’s (and McCain’s) opposition to setting an arbitrary date for withdrawal, but when you look at what was actually said, it’s hardly that.

Ali al-Dabbagh [an Iraqi government spokesman] said any timetable would depend on “conditions and the circumstances that the country would be undergoing.” But he said a pullout within “three, four or five” years was possible.

“It can be 2011 or 2012,” al-Dabbagh said. “We don’t have a specific date in mind, but we need to agree on the principle of setting a deadline.”

They don’t have a specific date in mind and the withdrawal of forces will depend on conditions on the ground.  It sounds every bit consistent with what Bush and now McCain have been advocating — you finish the job and you leave successful.

This is much different than what Democrats were advocating and, in fact, it’s the exact opposite of the plan laid out in Barack Obama’s Iraq War De-escalation Act.  Obama wanted the forces out regardless of Iraq’s circumstances — they were in the middle of a civil war!  In addition, Obama’s plan called for the withdrawal to be suspended if benchmarks were met.  So troops would leave if the situation remained unstable and they would only stay if things improved.  Obama’s plan was a threat to the Iraqi government to force them to take responsibility of their own country, irrespective of whether or not they were strong enough and ready.

Now that Iraq is strong enough and the country is a lot more stable, Iraq is saying they would like reach an understanding with the U.S. for the conditions for withdrawing U.S. forces.  (According to Obama’s plan, the progress would mean they’d be staying).  So how does Obama react to this?

“I think that his statement is consistent with my view about how withdrawals should proceed,” the Illinois senator said.

“I think it’s encouraging … that the prime minister himself now acknowledges that in cooperation with Iraq, it’s time for American forces to start sending out a timeframe for the withdrawal.”

There’s his favorite word again: consistent.  Obama seems to think Maliki “now acknowledges” that he was right all along and the troops should have been pulled out completely in March of 2008 as Obama proposed.  Note: even the Iraqis are suggesting roughly a three-year timeline, not 16 months.  And there was a time before he was for timetables when Obama was against them.  How Obama sees this as consistent with his policies is baffling.  It is insulting the way Obama has been switching positions while telling us he’s being consistent.  It shows disdain for the American public.