It's probably best to give the mainstream media the benefit of the doubt but it appears after a few days, it has completely missed the biggest political story of the year.
Late last week, President Bush and Nouri al Maliki agreed on what was called a "general time horizon" for pulling out American troops in Iraq. When the president first introduced the troop surge, it was done in hopes of clearing space for political reconciliation. This political progress would catalyze our military's departure. In other words, we added troops in the short term to bring troops home faster. Yet even as violence in Iraq subsided, Bush remained non-commital on when we could begin our military draw down.
From a standpoint of domestic politics and the 2008 election, things started to get fuzzy when John McCain, a proponent of the surge, disagreed with its stated intent. McCain's vision of Iraq for the foreseeable future clearly included permanent bases and large amounts of American forces.
Flash forward to last week; as these "general time horizons" were discussed, it appeared that a convergence of opinion was beginning among al Maliki, President Bush and Barack Obama, who has long maintained that he would bring troops home (effectively ending the war) as quickly and responsibly as possible.
But then al Maliki took the next step; in an interview with a German newspaper, he said the following: "Obama's remarks that--if he takes office--in 16 months he would withdraw the forces--we think that this period could increase or decrease a little, but that it could be suitable to end the presence of the forces in Iraq. Who wants to exit in a quicker way has a better assessment of the situation in Iraq."
John McCain is not running for president in 2008 because of a strong Republican brand. He is not running on the coattails of a popular Republican president. He is not running on a health care plan to insure millions of Americans. He is not running because of his expertise on economic issues. He is not running with a compelling plan to curb carbon emissions or raise fuel efficiency standards. He is running on the premise that in troubled times, he is more responsible and more experienced to lead our military and keep us safe.
On the seminal issue of his campaign, John McCain has been undermined by the popularly-elected leader of the country we fought to free. Whether he was correct on the need for the surge is inconsequential; the Iraqi government and Barack Obama are embracing similar visions for the future of our military in a foreign land. Who's left to dance with John McCain?
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