Obama Visits Iraq
Sneaky.
And I find his stance on Iraq troop withdrawal interesting:
In other words, "We rushed into this thing; we don't have to rush out of it." I agree on this one. No matter when and how we leave Iraq, there will be violence. There are factions in that country that want to destroy any semblance of an American presence and influence, and whether we leave now or in ten months they'll still be around to make their moves. The issue is making sure that when we leave, the Iraqi government can survive the first wave of rebellion (which ironically is similar to the type of governmental transformation Americans used to free ourselves from the British) while at the same time convince the people that the Age of Saddam is no more.
It's not going to be easy. But considering how we destroyed Iraq's infrastructure, we kind of owe it to them to make sure that a new Saddam doesn't just end up taking over the place in two years.
ISTANBUL, April 7 -- President Obama made a surprise visit to Iraq Tuesday
evening, landing on Air Force One in Baghdad at 4:42 a.m. local time after concluding an eight-day overseas tour through Europe.
The unannounced visit to a war zone was a closely guarded secret that was kept from many of the president's staff and the press corps, which had been following him across the globe for the past week.
It is Obama's first visit to Iraq since becoming president and comes after he fundamentally altered the mission there, launching a 16-month drawdown of most combat troops by the summer of 2010.
And I find his stance on Iraq troop withdrawal interesting:
"So some people might say, 'Wait, I thought you were opposed to the war, why don't you just get them all out right away?' " Obama told students at a town hall meeting in Istanbul just before he left for Iraq. "Well, just because I was opposed at the outset it doesn't mean that I don't have now responsibilities to make sure that we do things in a responsible fashion."
In other words, "We rushed into this thing; we don't have to rush out of it." I agree on this one. No matter when and how we leave Iraq, there will be violence. There are factions in that country that want to destroy any semblance of an American presence and influence, and whether we leave now or in ten months they'll still be around to make their moves. The issue is making sure that when we leave, the Iraqi government can survive the first wave of rebellion (which ironically is similar to the type of governmental transformation Americans used to free ourselves from the British) while at the same time convince the people that the Age of Saddam is no more.
It's not going to be easy. But considering how we destroyed Iraq's infrastructure, we kind of owe it to them to make sure that a new Saddam doesn't just end up taking over the place in two years.
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