Hussein To Meet With Petraeus After Declaring How To Handle War
Sad Sight: Can you imagine a man like David Petraeus answering to a superior, a Commander In Chief, like Hussein?
BAGHDAD - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s visit to Iraq for talks with commanders of a war he long opposed follows the prime minister’s apparent endorsement of his troop withdrawal plan and a shift by the White House away from refusing to discuss that option.
Obama this week called for withdrawing U.S. troops at the rate of one or two brigades a month, ending combat operations within 16 months of becoming president. He favors leaving behind a residual force to protect U.S. personnel, train Iraqi security forces and counter attacks by al-Qaida.
Obama was visiting as part of a congressional delegation that includes Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Jack Reed, D-R.I.—all longtime critics of U.S. involvement in Iraq—after stops in Kuwait and Afghanistan. He was expected to meet with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander here, and al-Maliki. His aides provided few details, however, citing security concerns.
The trip will be Obama’s second to Iraq, but conditions are quite different from when he visited in January 2006. Obama’s first tour was treated as a footnote, while the country was caught in a growing Sunni insurgency and was moving toward a flood of sectarian violence. But the bloodshed has declined significantly since Bush sent thousands more troops last year to help quell the rising violence.
McCain has been critical of Obama’s position on Iraq, saying the decision to pull out should be determined by progress, not a timetable.
He supports the war, and has been critical of some aspects of its handling. But he was a vocal supporter of the decision to send in more troops.
McCain’s foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, said Obama “is stubbornly adhering to an unconditional withdrawal that places politics above the advice of our military commanders, the success of our troops, and the security of the American people.”
“Barack Obama is wrong to advocate withdrawal at any cost just as he was wrong to oppose the surge that has put victory within reach,” Scheunemann said in a statement.
Earlier Sunday, Obama met and praised U.S. troops as he ate breakfast at a heavily fortified base in the capital.
(AP)
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