Monday, July 21, 2008

The Feint


In other words, Maliki is not really trying to push U.S. troops out by
mid-2010, as Senator Obama proposes. In fact he’s being careful to say that a
mid-2010 departure is a “hope”—not a firm demand. (His spokesman href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080721/ap_on_el_pr/obama;_ylt=Anl4ys27GCsx8Rqwa_8CF1ms0NUE">explained
today that “the government did not endorse a fixed date.”) He is playing
politics—Iraqi politics. The fact that it’s having an impact on U.S. politics is
probably an unintended byproduct from Maliki’s viewpoint.

Moreover: "The lone Iraqi division in Basra that had no U.S. advisers crumbled
as soon as the battle started." What Levinson doesn't mention is that in order
to maintain all those embedded advisors in dangerous conditions, the U.S. must
have a substantial "footprint" in Iraq-not only logisticians, air crews, medics,
and others who act in direct support of the advisers but also ground troops to
protect that support structure. 
Recent experience in Iraq should make even Democrats who opposed the war a
little more humble in their assessments.
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