Barack Obama in Iraq Channels George W. Bush

by Mark Whittington
www.associatedcontent.com

President Barack Obama traveled to Iraq from Turkey in a "surprise visit" that was speculated would happen, since Obama was "in the neighborhood." To hear Obama talk, one would have thought that George W. Bush had taken over his body.

Barack Obama had spent most of his campaign for the Presidency decrying the war in Iraq and promising a unilateral withdraw should he become elected. However, between then and now the surge strategy, which Obama opposed as a candidate, has all but broughtBarack Obama in Iraq Channels George W. Bush victory to Iraq. President Obama found that a unilateral withdraw from Iraq was not going to work. One of Obama's many night mares has him listening to Sarah Palin or Bobby Jindal or Mitt Romney denouncing him for blowing the war in Iraq, with victory having been in our grasp.

Barack Obama also has strained relations with the US military, whose budget he proposes to slash. The visit to Iraq was a way to mend fences and to reassure our servicemen that he really does appreciate their service. Obama also took the time to present some medals during his brief visit at Camp Victory, the main US base near Baghdad. The troops greeted him with enthusiasm.

"You will be critical in terms of us being able to make sure Iraq is stable, that it is not a safe haven for terrorists, and we can start bringing our folks home," Obama told troops gathered at Camp Victory, a sprawling U.S. base near the airport.

This is a marked change from the Obama of the campaign and a useful example of how a politician must adapt to changing facts. Left unsaid that the strategy that made it possible to leave behind a stable Iraq which will not be a safe haven for terrorists was executed by Obama's processor, George W. Bush, whom Obama rarely misses an opportunity to criticize. Left also unsaid that if Senator Obama had his way, President Obama would be confronting an entirely different Iraq, an Iraq that would resemble South Vietnam in 1975, with the last American helicopters leaving the Green Zone as Baghdad burned.

A more gracious man than Barack Obama would have acknowledged the debt he and the country owes President Bush and would admit that he had been wrong. But Barack Obama may make apologies for the country of which he is President. He has never, publically at least, apologized for himself. Hence the Twilight Zone spectacle of Barack Obama in Iraq celebrating victory and congratulating the troops that helped to bring it about, no thanks to him. Sphere: Related Content