Timeline is on my Side

Iraqi officials continue to endorse Barack Obama's plans for Iraq:

Iraqi spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in Baghdad on Wednesday that a U.S. pullout could be completed in several years. "It can be 2011 or 2012," he said. "We don't have a specific date in mind, but we need to agree on the principle of setting a deadline."

This, I should say, is why even though Obama's determination to maintain some wiggle room throughout the primaries gave me some concern, it's also not a crazy idea. If the Iraqi government has some strong desire for the last American troops to leave in January 2011 instead of May 2010 I think it's common sense to at least consider accommodating that. Meanwhile, the hawk line here seems to be that the Iraqi government doesn't really want a timeline for American departure, they're just pretending to want one because public opinion is so hostile to our presence that they need to demand one.

That set of facts may be true, but the implicit interpretation of them is crazy. If public opinion to our presence is so hostile that Iraqi political leaders feel compelled to set a timeline for the departure of the US military then we should set a timeline as there's no sense trying to wage counterinsurgency under those conditions.

Comments

Did you check out your buddy Ambinder's musing on Iraq and Obama today? He makes two hysterical assumptions.

First, he baldly asserts that the press is pro-Obama. Yeah, that has really been borne out by the last few weeks of coverage. It is always so amazing when journalists who drive coverage -- Ambinder, Halprin, Joe Scarborough -- will talk about journalistic bias, as if their own journalism does not need to be factored in.

Second, he assumes that, if the surge has led to progress, then that must mean that McCain, who was apparently right about the surge, must also be right about the best response to the success of the surge -- namely, staying in Iraq. It never occurs to him that, even though Obama's withdrawal plan was not written with the success of the surge in mind, it might still be valid.

Posted by pjs | July 10, 2008 11:31 AM

What do the Iraqis know, they are all terrorist.

Posted by John McCain | July 10, 2008 11:37 AM

Actually, the Iraqi public just says it wants the US to withdraw, because if they let on how much they like being occupied all the other Arabs would call them wussy. So Maliki has to go along. But really it's all good.

Posted by SqueakyRat | July 10, 2008 11:49 AM

I was just about to mention Ambinder's ludicrous post (link is here), but the first commenter beat me to it (thank you, BTW). He's either lying, and/or is just caught up in BBQ-sauce-covered dreams of a McCain presidency.

Matt, could you PLEASE have a sit down with Ambinder, or at the very least smack him upside the head?

Posted by JDinBalt | July 10, 2008 11:57 AM

JDinBalt,

It's not BBQ sauce he's covered in.

MY,
He's making your request post look more and more awful as time goes on:

"I know you read Ambinder's blog. Do you think it's balanced? If not, which way does it incline?" I think it's balanced. I have no idea what Marc thinks and, indeed, I sometimes think Marc is so committed to reporting and balance that he doesn't know what he thinks.

I appreciate that your honesty always falls away when it might mean something (e.g. Aspen/Brooks etc), but really a dignified silence would have been better.

Posted by James | July 10, 2008 12:32 PM

"If public opinion to our presence is so hostile that Iraqi political leaders feel compelled to set a timeline for the departure of the US military then we should set a timeline as there's no sense trying to wage counterinsurgency under those conditions. "

On the contrary, these are ideal conditions for counterinsurgency. You are guaranteed not to run out of insurgents to counter!

Posted by Njorl | July 10, 2008 12:37 PM

Since when did our government give a rats ass about Iraqi public opinion? The hell with any timeline!

Posted by Johnny | July 10, 2008 12:50 PM

Clearly, the Iraqis have signed up for defeat and cutting and running. Why do they hate America?

Posted by bobbo | July 10, 2008 1:12 PM

Your lips say no, Iraq, but your eyes say yes.

Posted by DTM | July 10, 2008 1:20 PM

They don't make puppets like they used to.

Posted by Peter K. | July 10, 2008 1:37 PM

The US may not make puppets like the used to, but Iran still does.

Maliki either goes along with Iran and gets the US out - or he's out.

It's just possible that when the Sadrists and the Sunnis sweep to power in 2009 that they may allow the US to take until 2011 or 2012 to withdraw, but I kinda doubt it. A year from the parliamentary elections next year pretty much sounds right.

And if Bush attacks Iran, it will all be moot. The US will be out of Iraq in three months, tops - leaving behind a lot of dead bodies and ALL their equipment. Iraq will be happy for that - they get an all-new, if slightly worn, military inventory.

Or Iran does.

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | July 10, 2008 6:21 PM