Barack Obama’s Plan for Iraq

Posted By: Nick

 
Barack Obama writes his plan for Iraq in today’s NYTimes.  I’m sure this is mostly in response to the criticism he recieved last week when he said he would visit Iraq and reevaluate after his trip.  I think it’s clear he meant he was open to tweeking his plan here and there as required based on the reality of the situation, but never fundamentally mean that his position of ending the war would change.  Of course his poor choice of words left him open to attack, so today he has clearly stated his position so as to avoid any confusion.

Here are some bits I especially like:

Unlike Senator John McCain, I opposed the war in Iraq before it began, and would end it as president. I believed it was a grave mistake to allow ourselves to be distracted from the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban by invading a country that posed no imminent threat and had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. Since then, more than 4,000 Americans have died and we have spent nearly $1 trillion. Our military is overstretched. Nearly every threat we face — from Afghanistan to Al Qaeda to Iran — has grown.

But [the Bush/McCain plan] is not a strategy for success — it is a strategy for staying that runs contrary to the will of the Iraqi people, the American people and the security interests of the United States. That is why, on my first day in office, I would give the military a new mission: ending this war.

As president, I would pursue a new strategy, and begin by providing at least two additional combat brigades to support our effort in Afghanistan. We need more troops, more helicopters, better intelligence-gathering and more nonmilitary assistance to accomplish the mission there. I would not hold our military, our resources and our foreign policy hostage to a misguided desire to maintain permanent bases in Iraq.

I love it.  He’s saying exactly what we should be doing.  Get out of Iraq ASAP, and get more focused on Afghanistan.