Wednesday, July 16, 2008
What Prime Minister al-Maliki and Barack Obama have in common
The excellent counterinsurgency blog Abu Muqawama dissects what Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Maliki actually said about the withdrawal of American troops and what he meant by it. The short version is that al-Maliki's main base of support wants American troops out quickly notwithstanding the improved security, but that he and other politicians in the government know that both they and Iraq still need the Americans and will continue to for some time. Fair enough. The thing that struck me, though, was how closely al-Maliki's political dilemma mirrors Barack Obama's. Both are practical men with vocal supporters who want American troops out of Iraq yesterday, but both have to appeal to other constituencies who worry that a precipitous American withdrawal would be extremely unwise. It is less clear what the two men themselves actually believe. Al-Maliki backed the Petraeus strategy with bold political and military initiatives of his own, and seems to believe that he needs the United States for a matter of years even if he will not admit it. Obama, however, does not seem to believe that the United States needs Iraq to succeed, but he covets the votes of many more Americans who do think Iraq is important and, in any case, wants to keep his options open in the likely event that he becomes president.
1 Comments:
By 
Roy Lofquist, at
Wed Jul 16, 10:11:00 PM:
I read a lot of foreign press and bloggers. Very rarely do they seem to have a clue about the U.S. I therefore heavily discount U.S. comment about what is happening in other countries.
There is much confusion about what Mr. Al-Maliki actually said. That may be on purpose. Eisenhower was particularly adept at obfuscation.
What is apparent is that Obama is terribly shallow. There is no nuance there or any sign that he is even familiar with the word.
The Democratic party, in its desire to rid itself of the Clinton embarrassment, has bought a pig in a poke. I am sorrowed.
