Barack Obama

Iraq: The Costs and the Benefits

The clip below, from today’s Senate Hearing regarding the results of the surge in Iraq, shows that Obama understands that the discussion regarding the future of Iraq, and America’s involvement therein needs a change in focus. “The question is one of strategy, not tactics,” he states, and the root cause of the problem is the mission itself, not how it was implemented. So, given that we are in the middle of a mess in Iraq, how do we go about cleaning it up? Well, first we have to agree that the ‘mission’ was flawed and that we indeed are in the middle of a mess. Then we can begin to discuss a new mission and a plan to begin to implement it. But, if you agree with President Bush, that we are “kicking ass” in Iraq, then there is no hope for a discussion. You can access the transcript of this interaction here.

According to an article in the Quad-City Times, Obama is going to deliver a major policy speech on the Iraq conflict in Clinton, Iowa tomorrow. I liked what Barack had to say during the Senate Hearing with General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker today, and I look forward to hearing more specific ideas and plans from him.

The address on Iraq, the official said, will include new policy proposals on troop withdrawals, diplomacy in Iraq and the region and ideas about what to do about the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. He’ll also talk about his ideas for U.S. leadership in the region after the war, the official said.

© 2007 Life is an Ongoing Process.