Why We Worry

I’m going to be bold here and say we’re going to look back at this week as a milestone. It’ll be the week - drumroll please - Obama ended the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Pretty amazing for someone who isn’t even the president yet. But how did Obama do it? Let me explain…

This weekend Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki agreed with Obama’s plan to have US troops out of Iraq by 2010.

First, it’s hard to imagine Maliki presenting a plan like this without the crutch of Obama’s popular candidacy. The Iraqi public wants us gone, but wouldn’t they have accepted a less specific timetable that even Bush and McCain could pretend to like? I think so.

Second, this totally destroys the arguments presented by Bush, McCain and other occupation supporters. They can’t argue that we should stay for the safety of the Iraqi people when both the government and the people want us to leave. They can’t say Maliki and the Iraqi government are full of crap and it’s still too dangerous, because that undermines their story about Iraqi sovereignty and the “Surge” being a success.

Ultimately this victory for war opponents could be illusory if McCain wins the election. Despite McCain’s rhetoric about the success of the “Surge,” he’s still looking for any excuse to continue the occupation, and it’s hard to doubt he’ll find one. But if Obama does win, the path has been cleared for our exit from Iraq.

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