On Barack and Iraq

by A.B. Stoddard - 05/29/08 7:22 PM ET

It doesn’t seem as if Barack Obama has noticed yet, but John McCain is in the driver’s seat, in control of the general election debate thus far. Due to McCain’s pestering, Obama is dialing back on meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without preconditions and now the war hero and Iraq-surge poster boy himself is baiting Obama to make a long-overdue trip to Iraq. He tells audiences it has been 871 days since Obama’s last visit to the war zone.

Obama is “considering” such a trip, says his campaign. That’s great, but how about just saying yes? Don’t go with McCain, it’s clearly a trap. But why wasn’t this already a plan for someone auditioning for commander in chief? Hillary was racing to Iraq in 2006 while plotting her presidential run.

McCain has dragged Obama into a permanent debate over foreign policy. Obama has two choices: find a way back to the economy or healthcare, or learn how to fight back.

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