It’s amazing to see how many of Barack Obama’s campaign messages are being echoed by his political opponents, too.
The fanatical right immediately jumped all over Obama for his pledge to remove U.S. combat troops from Iraq during the first 16 months of his administration.
Setting a timetable for withdrawal simply emboldens the enemy, according to some of the talking heads on Faux News and far-right talk radio.
I wonder how they’ll react today after learning Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said he supported Obama’s 16-month timetable. Maliki says he wants U.S. troops out of Iraq, too; the White House insists it hasn’t embraced the notion of a withdrawal timetable but has agreed with Maliki on “a general time horizon for meeting aspirational goals” (whatever the hell that means) that pledges to have the U.S. forces leave Iraq at some unspecified date.
Obama also was criticized by the right-wing scream machine when he said the real war on terror should be taking place in Afghanistan, and his call to add an additional 10,000 to 15,000 U.S. troops to the Afghan front.
McCain immediately criticized the suggestion — he said it was up to the United Nations to beef up troop levels. But now McCain’s singing a different tune. He’s echoed the call for more U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Funny, but that’s the same position being taken by U.S. military commanders, too.
It’s unconscionable that we’ve allowed the Taliban to regroup. It’s unconscionable that we’ve allowed the poppy crop to return to pre-2001 levels. And it’s unconscionable that Osama bin Laden and his band of killers remain free.
Remember it was Bush who said at a news conference a couple of years back that he didn’t spend much time thinking about bin Laden.
With Obama speaking out forcefully about our failed war on terrorism in Afghanistan, suddenly the White House is starting to pay attention, too.
Who’s ready to lead now? Who’s ready for that 3 a.m. phone call?
It’s not McCain.
