Barack Vs. Iraq

by A.B. Stoddard - 06/19/08 2:09 PM ET

Barack Obama may want to get this Iraq thing nailed down.

After a conversation he had this week with Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Nebari, Obama seemed to have convinced Nebari, as he described it, that “if there would be a Democratic administration, it will not take any irresponsible, reckless, sudden decisions or action to endanger your gains, your achievements, your stability or security. Whatever decision he will reach will be made through close consultation with the Iraq government and U.S. military commanders in the field.”

Nebari said he finds Obama’s withdrawal plan for Iraq “worrying.” But, wrote Washington Post editors who met with Nebari, “he said he was reassured by the candidate’s response, which caused him to think that Mr. Obama might not differ all that much from Mr. McCain.”

How soon until we see those words in an ad?
Obama doesn’t recall the conversation that way, though. When asked by ABC News if Nebari had expressed his concern about the withdrawal plan, Obama said, “No, he did not express that.”

Both sides can argue about whether or not enough has been accomplished by the Iraqi government to justify our continued presence there. But the burning question is, how wise would immediate withdrawal be? And how many of us believe Obama would actually do this, if elected?

Charles Krauthammer actually argued in his column last week that John McCain should run on the Iraq war. Krauthammer maintained the Democratic position in 2006, when he said “we were indeed losing the war,” helped the party win back the Congress. “Two years later, [when] everything is changed, they continue to reflexively repeat their narrative of defeat and retreat (as Joe Lieberman so memorably called it) as if nothing has changed. It is a position so utterly untenable that John McCain must seize the opportunity and, contrary to conventional wisdom, make the Iraq war the central winning plank of his campaign.”

All food for thought for the Obama campaign.

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JUST HOW WILL IRAQ SWAY THE ELECTION? Ask A.B. returns Tuesday, June 24. Please join my weekly video Q & A by sending questions and comments to askab@digital-staging.thehill.com. Thank you.