Barack Obama's position on Iraq is adjusting so rapidly, that
his own website cannot even keep up with his campaign's shifts.
This week on MSNBC, Obama foreign policy adviser Susan Rice
described Obama's position this
way:
"He has said that the best military advice he's received leads us
to believe that we can safely withdraw our forces at the pace of
one to two combat brigades per month, and depending on the number
of combat brigades he inherits, our best estimate is that that
could be accomplished in roughly 16 months. That's not a deadline.
That's a timetable, and obviously if Senator Obama has said on
numerous occasions, he will listen to his commanders on the ground,
he will follow and heed their advice as he decides how at the
strategic level we must proceed. So he will do this very carefully
and responsibly as he always said but he will do it."
However, Obama's website makes 16 months sound like a firm
commitment, and never qualifies that commitment by saying it could
change based on the advice of commanders on the ground:
"Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops
from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month,
and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16
months."
Here was David Axelrod describing Obama's position on CNN yesterday:
"The fact is that, Senator Obama introduced a plan
in the United States Senate in January of 2007 that called for a
phased withdrawal, with benchmarks for the Iraqi government to
meet, that called for strategic pauses, based on the progress on
these benchmarks, and advice on the commanders on the ground and
he's always said that he would listen to the advice of commanders
on the ground, that that would factor into his thinking. He's also
said we have to be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were
careless getting in. So he's been very consistent on this
point."
But here's how Obama's website describes that same legislation:
"In January 2007, he introduced legislation in the
Senate to remove all of our combat troops from Iraq by March
2008."
It's official. The Obama campaign has entered John Kerry territory
when it comes to changing positions on Iraq.