Have Bush and McCain Co-opted Obama’s Foreign Policy?
Do we all remember the outrage over Obama’s insistence that if he had the location of Osama Bin Laden, he would take him out, even if Bin Laden was is on the Pakistan side of the border? Such an action was said to be irresponsible and demonstrate Obama’s naivite regarding foreign policy. Turns out, the Bush Administration has attacked our ally a time or two.
Now, we have word that Bush is setting up a diplomatic mission in Iran, and considering speeding up the drawdown of troops in Iraq. It seems like only yesterday we were hearing about how talking with Iran would be the equivelant of capitulation.
Then this week, we have McCain taking up Obama’s position on troop strength in Afghanistan:
Then just yesterday, we have the ultimate in oddness: McCain’s foreign policy advisor claims it’s not McCain but Obama who is the most like Bush regarding foreign policy.
So what’s going on here? Are Bush and McCain really going to adopt Obama’s foreign policy? And how does that jibe with making Obama out to be a lightweight?
What you are seeing is the result of an unavoidable political reality. The policy difference between the two could not be more clear regarding foreign policy: Obama believes in maintaining diplomatic contact with all countries, friend or foe, Bush and McCain do not. Obama thinks we’ve done everything we can in Iraq militarily, and that our troops should come home and deployed eslewhere, like Afghanistan. McCain and Bush think we should stay until the job is done. The polling shows that Americans are overwhelmingly on Obama’s side of this.
But this doesn’t mean Bush and McCain have flip-flopped. Bush has floated the idea of drawing down troops before every major election, and it’s always set to begin after the vote is cast. It didn’t take long after the last midterm election for the promised withdrawal to become a “Surge”. What McCain and Bush are doing is muddying the issue because they know Bush’s handling of Iraq is wildly unpopular, and that the Republicans can not maintain control of the White House if they openly campaign for continuing the occupation as they are now.
This is why those who support a continued occupation of Iraq support John McCain, and those who want to leave support Obama. Even though Obama is making the same noises about basing any decision on the reality on the ground, people know he’s committed to leaving. Supporters of McCain know that no matter what McCain says, if he’s elected the troops will remain. So proponents of both those positions are willing to fuzzy the issue by making leaving “contingent” on the Generals, or predicting, yet again, that things will be stable enough in Iraq to leave.
But make no mistake about it. If you believe in staying in Iraq, you should vote for John McCain. And if you think it’s time to leave, you should vote for Barrack Obama.
Tags: barrack obama, Diplomacy, George Bush, Iran, John McCain, Osama Bin Laden, Presidential Election