Seymour Hersh's latest on Iran
<a href = "http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/07/080707fa_fact_hersh">Seymour Hersh reports</a> that Congress last year agreed to a request from Bush for a major increase in funding for covert operations in Iran aimed at destabilizing the current regime.
This seems an entirely predictable Republican strategy to:
*pursue actions in Iran on its way out the door which might not necessarily be approved of by the public given the Administration's utter lack of foreign policy credibility and demonstrated incompetence.
*try to create a wedge issue dividing Obama and McCain, with the hope that either Obama bites and comments publicly and with disapproval on the covert action, or if the Administration does bomb in the runup to the election and Obama opposes that action. The hope on the Republican side would be that, even with all that has happened, enough voters will once again rally around the flag to tip the election to McCain.
Among the more obvious questions which suggest themselves:
Should Obama comment publicly on the Hersh report (either pre-emptively, or if asked by the media)? If so, what should he say?
What, if anything, should he say about the possibility of the Administration bombing Iran in these closing weeks of the campaign?
If Obama were to come out forcefully, pre-emptively and in a very public way against bombing Iran absent specified conditions, how would such an approach play and affect his chances in November?
If the Bush Administration does bomb, claims success of course in destroying nuclear infrastructure, what is the Obama campaign's response?
More broadly, what should be the Obama campaign's strategy to pre-empt or defeat such a Bush Administration strategy?
This seems an entirely predictable Republican strategy to:
*pursue actions in Iran on its way out the door which might not necessarily be approved of by the public given the Administration's utter lack of foreign policy credibility and demonstrated incompetence.
*try to create a wedge issue dividing Obama and McCain, with the hope that either Obama bites and comments publicly and with disapproval on the covert action, or if the Administration does bomb in the runup to the election and Obama opposes that action. The hope on the Republican side would be that, even with all that has happened, enough voters will once again rally around the flag to tip the election to McCain.
Among the more obvious questions which suggest themselves:
Should Obama comment publicly on the Hersh report (either pre-emptively, or if asked by the media)? If so, what should he say?
What, if anything, should he say about the possibility of the Administration bombing Iran in these closing weeks of the campaign?
If Obama were to come out forcefully, pre-emptively and in a very public way against bombing Iran absent specified conditions, how would such an approach play and affect his chances in November?
If the Bush Administration does bomb, claims success of course in destroying nuclear infrastructure, what is the Obama campaign's response?
More broadly, what should be the Obama campaign's strategy to pre-empt or defeat such a Bush Administration strategy?
