Media Reports on Obama's Backtrack on Iraq

As Obama Tries To Pretend That His Words Don't Matter, Media Reports Continue To Hammer His Inconsistent Iraq Policy...
 
"Barack Obama has taken a small but important step toward adjusting his outdated position on Iraq to the military and strategic realities of the war he may inherit. Sadly, he seems to be finding that the strident and rigid posture he struck during the primary campaign -- during which he promised to withdraw all combat forces in 16 months -- is inhibiting what looks like a worthy, necessary attempt to create the room for maneuver he will need to capably manage the war if he becomes president... Over the weekend some of his Democratic supporters argued that he can't afford even such a nuanced shift in position, lest he undermine his antiwar support and lessen the contrast between him and the presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain." (Editorial, Washington Post <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/07/AR2008070702219.html> , 07/08/08)
 
"...Barack Obama went out of his way to create the impression that he was a new kind of political leader - more honest, less cynical and less relentlessly calculating than most... This is why so many of Senator Obama's strongest supporters are uneasy, upset, dismayed and even angry at the candidate who is now emerging in the bright light of summer... Senator Obama is not just tacking gently toward the center. He's lurching right when it suits him, and he's zigging with the kind of reckless abandon that's guaranteed to cause disillusion, if not whiplash... There's even concern that he's doing the Obama two-step on the issue that has been the cornerstone of his campaign: his opposition to the war in Iraq. But the senator denied that any significant change should be inferred from his comment that he would ‘continue to refine' his policy on the war." (Herbert, New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/opinion/08herbert.html?_r=1&oref=slogin> , 07/08/08)
 
"For Barack Obama, June might have been one of the worst months in his campaign and, after committing another flip flop concerning Iraq over the weekend, it appears Mr. Obama stumbled out of June only to fumble on July 4... After running as an anti-war candidate for over a year, constantly condemning Hillary Clinton's vote for the war and reminding Democrats he was one of the first to oppose it, Mr. Obama has soften his message in order to prepare for a general election with John McCain." (Murray, Evening Bulletin <http://www.thebulletin.us/site/index.cfm?newsid=19834387&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=576361&rfi=8>  (PA), 07/07/08)
 
"You know perfectly well when a politician holds a second news conference it means he didn't get it right the first time. When he saw what the press did with those words, ‘refine my position,' he realized he had a problem... I think it would be a disaster for him if he came back from Iraq and said, 'Whoops, I got it all wrong.' I think the Republicans are setting a trap for him, it's a clever trap. If he goes there and looks at the situation, and doesn't change his mind, they'll say, ‘See, he doesn't adjust to new circumstances.' And if he does change his mind we're already seeing when they're doing. So I don't think Obama has very much room at all."  (E.J. Dionne, MSNBC <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/> , 07/07/08)
 
"When a candidate accuses the news media of making too much of one of his statements, you might suspect that he's trying to tamp down a potentially damaging debate.  Obama told reporters over the holiday weekend they were making way too much of his statement that he will ‘refine' his Iraq policy... Two days later, Obama was still complaining about the press coverage." (Curry, MSNBC <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25573237/> , 07/07/08)
 
"Obama says he wants to remove one to two brigades a month, with the goal of removing combat troops within 16 months of taking office. But he also says, he will listen to the generals and ‘take facts on the ground into account'... How will Obama judge a collapse of Iraq? What if the neighborhood-by-neighborhood ethnic cleansing begins again? What if the Sadr militia returns to the streets? What if the Sunni militias we support declare opposition to the Baghdad government? What if the Kurds announce their intention to leave the government? What if Iran doubles down on his proxy effort in Iraq? What if Al Qaeda in Iraq reconstitutes?" (Scherer, Time <http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/07/iraq_obama_and_the_definition.html> , 07/07/08)
 
"[A]n enterprising reporter or two will manage to get in some hard questions. And then we will see how Obama reacts. Will he be like every other politician and refuse to admit error? When he finally comes right out and says we've made progress in Iraq, we need to see this through, and its important not to give away the gains we've made, will he acknowledge that his eighteen-month opposition to the surge was wrong?" (Rubin, Commentary Magazine <http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/14801> , 07/08/08)
 
"Obama's position on an Iraq withdrawal has evolved. When he first announced his presidential campaign, he pointed to his proposal in the U.S. Senate... Over the past year, Obama has repeatedly declared that as president he would bring troops home within 16 months... This past weekend, Obama blamed the media for the frenzy over his comments about refining his Iraq policies." (David Shuster, MSNBC <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/> , 07/07/08)
 
"Obama has long said U.S. forces should come out of the country in 16 months. Last week, however, he said he may ‘refine' that after consultations with military leaders in a coming trip to the region. Obama said that was not a change in his position, and that he has always said his ‘guiding approach continues to be that we've got to make sure that our troops are safe and that Iraq is stable.'... He makes no mention of any qualifications or refinements in the section on Iraq on his campaign's Web site." (March, Tampa Tribune <http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jul/08/na-obama-aims-to-be-man-in-the-middle/> , 07/08/08)