Which option is really best for Iraq?
When it comes to what people are really saying about an Iraq withdrawal timetable, I just don't hear much difference between "most" Democrats and Republicans. With the exception of the three Representatives (C. McKinney of Georgia, R. Wexler of Florida and J. Serrano of New York) who voted thier real convictions about the war in Iraq, what the rest are saying is all too similar to the GOP hardline. Hillary Clinton sounded Bush-like when she said Monday that an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would be "
a big mistake."
Joe Biden added some lawyerly mumbo-jumbo when he said "I still believe we can preserve our fundamental security interests in Iraq as we begin to redeploy our forces... That will require the administration not to stay the course, but to change course, and to do it now." That's a clear position.
Even John Murtha's actual resolution only states that "forces involved are to be redeployed at the earliest practicable date."
A new and disconcerting voice spoke up today in favor of immediate withdrawal, that was Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who urged visiting Iraqi officials on Tuesday to ask U.S.-led forces to leave their country and pledged Tehran's cooperation in restoring security to Iraq.
Uhh, that's comforting. The guy who wants to wipe Israel off the face of the earth wants to take you under his wing.
"The Iraqi people may ask the occupiers to leave Iraq by setting a timetable for them ... In the end, Iraq and its neighbors will remain in this region while the U.S. will only be there temporarily," he said.
Khamenei said accusations that Iran was undermining security in Iraq were baseless and propagated by those who did not want to see improved ties between the two countries.
It's Khamenei's part in this that got me thinking about this differently and I wonder what some of you think out there. Vote in the poll and fire off your comments.