McCain Tries To Have It Both Ways: Obama Is Too Rigid And A Flip Flopper On Iraq

The desire within the McCain campaign to paint Barack Obama as inconsistent on Iraq is palpable. But McCain's criticisms are a bit inconsistent themselves.

On Monday, aides to the Arizona Republicans framed their Democratic rival as dangerously rigid in his war policy to the point that he won't allow "facts on the ground" to "get in the way of his journey to a politically convenient position on the war."

"Obama has made clear that he will never change course on Iraq, no matter the facts on the ground," a post written by aide Michael Goldfarb read.

Charges of blind stubbornness, however, came just one day after the McCain campaign decried Obama for "sending so many different signals to so many different people [on Iraq]" that it was "not fair for the American people to make this decision without knowing where Barack Obama stands."

"It wasn't too long ago when Sen. Obama called a second press conference and said he was puzzled by the reaction of the media to his position on Iraq," said Randy Scheunemann, a foreign policy adviser to McCain, during a conference call on Sunday. "Frankly what is puzzling is Sen. Obama's position on Iraq."

So what is it? Is Obama inflexible or deliberately obscure? Has he blindly tied himself to a timeline for troop withdrawal (one-to-two brigades per month over the course of 16 months), or is he too busy "refining" that position?

The McCain camp claims the two aren't mutually exclusive; that Obama "continues to obscure and obfuscate the facts of his Iraq plan" to the point that his position is unrecognizable. "He may be sticking to it, but we will have no idea what it is until he puts it into action."

As evidence they cite the op-ed Obama wrote in Monday's New York Times in which he laid out the need for a residual force to remain in Iraq to carry out counter-insurgency, troop-training, and anti-terrorism missions. How could he end the war, Goldfarb asks, if he wants to leave troops "of undetermined size" for "an unspecified amount of time"?

But independent experts say that the criticisms of Obama's Iraq policy are baseless. Noting the dangers in sticking to war proposals crafted two years in advance, as well as the importance of having certain policy convictions, they argue that Obama has done a solid job threading the needle.

"Those who call him too rigid have been ignoring what he has said the entire time he is running," said Colin Kahl, a senior fellow at the centrist Center for New America Security, "which is that he will be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in. That he will talk to his commanders when making his plan, which includes leaving a residual force... The only way the McCainiacs get traction on this issue is to basically generate a straw man version of Obama's position on Iraq. But all the back and forth obscures the fundamental difference between the two, which is that Obama wants to leave and McCain wants to stay. McCain's adviser suggests Japan and Germany and South Korea as a model, which means tens of thousands of troops In Iraq for decades. And Obama wants to end the war and get out. That is a huge, fundamental difference and it is getting lost in the back and forth."

Comments

[dac253]

This is one helluva year in politics.

It took the primary campaign for me to dislike Bill-n-Hill, and now I find myself really, really disliking JohnMcCain.

When ships sink, it really brings out the best and worst in people. He was a hero and now he looks more like a rat. It's really sad.

[Gene1]

It’s tragic that instead of some of us Americans focusing on what matters for our nation to go forward-economics, education, health, social relations, violence, peace, hate, crimes, scandals (like Sen. McCain with his Keating 5 scandal) we are irresponsibly talking about who is a patriot or non-patriot who wears the flag lap in or not.

9) Sen. Obama you are absolutely not a flip flopper- you’re very right to state that you’ll review your promised process to end the Iraq war. The reckless fellows who took our nation to a needless war can’t appreciate common sense when they see it.

10) Sen. Obama, you don’t have to prove to some of these hypocrites who wear their “Christianity” on their sleeves. Whether you’ve a Christian or not, St. Paul says we all seek our salvation in, “fear and trembling.” Nobody is sure. Like Betrand Russel said, “the problem with Christianity is that it has never been tried.”

[Gene1]

11) Yes Sen. Obama, move to the center of issues. It’s said, “In medio stat virtu,” virtue is always in the centre. We also call that “common sense.” Don’t ever be bothered with the irresponsible jabs of those who call you a “flip flopper.” They’re buffoons who can’t appreciate the sense of balance.

12) How can Sen. McBush talk about tax cuts and yet support two wars where billions of dollars are being wasted weekly? This is incredible.

13) Sen. Obama, you don’t increase peoples’ taxes. Its peoples’ needs/services that determine taxes. There’s no free lunch in America . It’s irresponsible for Sen. McCain’s team to call you a liberal. How will he fund his wars? Surely he’ll open up another front in Iran . How will he pay for it, Cindy’s millions?

14) Sen. Obama, don’t ever pulse to listen to this foolish thing about your thin foreign policy record. Thick resumes, like John McCain’s, have devastated this nation. Imagine two wars at the same time. Keating 5 scandal, lobbyists taking over the capital, poor international image, off the charts national debt, poor infractures, dangerous bridges, ineptitude in containing natural disasters. These are not thick resumes you want Sen. Obama. You look good the way you are.

15) Sen. Phil Gramm, John McCain’s advisor, calls Americans a nation of whiners. The media cut Sen. McCain some slack. Think about Sen. Obama’s team saying such a thing!

[AnnieinOR]

d e m e n t i a - can't stay on point.

[Fotios]

McCain can claim he was right because he's held every position possible when it comes to Iraq, except for admitting that it was one of the biggest mistakes in the history of American Foreign Policy.

[gevan]

At least McCain(t) didn't charge Obama with being a "maverick".

[beboy]

Sen. Obama is proposing sending10000 more troops to Afghanistan. Some "peace" candidate!

[Purobi]

When did he describe himself as the peace candidate? You need to read Gail Collins in NYT.

[Grunty1]

Mc'Cain is being very stubborn about changing his opinion daily.
And changing his opinions to the discredited and proven failures of the GOP.

[oaddi]

Of course McCan't is being stubborn **HE IS OUT OF TOUCH** MENTALLY, PHYSICALLY AND FINANCIALLY. He doesn't have a fitler so I could not use emotionally.

LOL

[Relax08]

The only candidate who is too rigid and all over the map is McCain.
When he awakes from his moments of dementia, McCain is liable to say
anything- that is if he knows where he is and he can hear Lieberman whispering
in his ear.

Obama is going to pull the troops out as fast and as soon as he can- that's the most anyone
can say. He will not use a false goal of "victory" as the measure of how that removal should
occur.

McCain, Bush and the Neo-Con's have insured that Iraq- when we do leave- will be Anti-American, closer to Iran and Syria, than any other Middle Eastern country and fully armed with American weapons and trained in all aspects of modern war. Unfortunately Iraq will also be vehemently Anti-Israeli and most likely some form of military dictatorship. We will leave over 4,000 American dead and perhaps a 100,000 American Wounded who we get to take care of, and of course more than a Trillion dollars of our money- not to mention we will be left with a depleted military and the need to virtually start over in Afghanistan. And given how we have not secured our weapons while in Iraq, it's likely the new Iraq will be the best armed nation in the Middle east.

Thank's John for all that wonderfuly Washingtonian experience you have been wielding for the last 25 years. What a joke.

[loper2008]

Seriously ... I used to think McCain was somewhat smart, but NOT anymore.

[caywen]

Are we going to replace our mentally challenged president with a sanity-challenged president?

[DCtrain]

McCain isn't sly or smart. The oldest trick in the books... throw everything at the other guy and see what sticks.

[ConcernedCtzn]

And McBush is what we're going to end up with because of the single-issue democratic voters.

[lennix]

mccain and the rich whats the oil

[loax]

Loose your bearings again McBush. For the definition of flip floppers, look in the mirror. How convenient you never remember how you voted...hm­mm........­.........