Being There (Obama and Iraq)
So John McCain has for once in the campaign done something clever. If Obama goes to Iraq at McCain's behest, he looks like the follower rather than the leader. If he doesn't, McCain and the Republicans can pound Obama for "not wanting to face the troops" or some such nonsense. I have to hand it to McCain, it is good theater. It even surprised me given that his only other effective strategy during the campaign so far was to just go ahead and let Giuliani not run against him.
But once again, it leaves us on the left having to defend the more nuanced point of view.
Presidents should go see our troops in war zones. We can all agree on that. The Commander in Chief, even under the tighest security and secrecy, should at least show up. He has sent our people to war, after all. Fine. But Obama isn't president right now and he has already gone once anyway.
McCain will argue that a future President should go and see, and hear from the troops, in order to learn. I say that's BS. There's way more that can be learned about Iraq from here. A two hour briefing from the Pentagon or CIA is going to be far more valuable than a flak-jacket walk through a secured Baghdad open market with ideologically vetted soldiers for company and we all know that.
And yes, these situations are fraught with political traps. Remember 2004 -- there was a phony controversey that John Kerry, visiting the war zone, couldn't get the troops to sit near him in the mess hall.
Still, I do think it's valuable for a president, or future president, to talk to soldiers on the ground. That can be easily accomplished though. Stateside. Just go visit a soldier who just got home on leave. It's easy.
The president needs to articulate a broad strategy for the combat efforts. In Obama's case, he'll need to articulate a broad way out of Bush's mess. That's best orchestrated from here. The people who need, and benefit from, "on the ground" experience are the people who make moment by moment, on the ground, strategic decisions.
Obama should agree to go to Iraq. When he's president. That's a president's responsibility. In the meantime he needs to tell McCain that he's simply too busy analyzing all of the relevant information that's available here to indulge in what will amount to nothing more than a photo op.
But once again, it leaves us on the left having to defend the more nuanced point of view.
Presidents should go see our troops in war zones. We can all agree on that. The Commander in Chief, even under the tighest security and secrecy, should at least show up. He has sent our people to war, after all. Fine. But Obama isn't president right now and he has already gone once anyway.
McCain will argue that a future President should go and see, and hear from the troops, in order to learn. I say that's BS. There's way more that can be learned about Iraq from here. A two hour briefing from the Pentagon or CIA is going to be far more valuable than a flak-jacket walk through a secured Baghdad open market with ideologically vetted soldiers for company and we all know that.
And yes, these situations are fraught with political traps. Remember 2004 -- there was a phony controversey that John Kerry, visiting the war zone, couldn't get the troops to sit near him in the mess hall.
Still, I do think it's valuable for a president, or future president, to talk to soldiers on the ground. That can be easily accomplished though. Stateside. Just go visit a soldier who just got home on leave. It's easy.
The president needs to articulate a broad strategy for the combat efforts. In Obama's case, he'll need to articulate a broad way out of Bush's mess. That's best orchestrated from here. The people who need, and benefit from, "on the ground" experience are the people who make moment by moment, on the ground, strategic decisions.
Obama should agree to go to Iraq. When he's president. That's a president's responsibility. In the meantime he needs to tell McCain that he's simply too busy analyzing all of the relevant information that's available here to indulge in what will amount to nothing more than a photo op.
