Per Politifact of CQ Politics (Angie Drobnic Holan), Obama’s policy position on Iraq has been consistent and robust. There has been no flip-flop on the Iraq policy. Here is part of the analyses –
“We reviewed Obama’s statements on Iraq from the campaign to try to uncover whether he was back-tracking on earlier promises. Iraq was one of the most pressing issues of the Democratic primary, discussed and dissected during more than 20 debates.
We found that Obama has made a few points about Iraq over and over again: that he opposed the war “from the start”; that U.S. troops should leave Iraq quickly and in an orderly fashion (“as careful getting out as we were careless getting in”); and that the U.S. should not have permanent bases inside Iraq.
How quickly should troops leave? His campaign Web site says the following: “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. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda.”
…..Weighing all these statements together, we find the McCain campaign is off-base in saying Obama has changed position. Obama repeatedly said facts on the ground could affect the tactical moves of an overall withdrawal. Obama’s position was not an iron-clad withdrawal timeline in the first place. We find the McCain campaign’s statement that Obama has reversed position to be False.”
Tags: Barack Obama, Flip-flop, Iraq, John McCain, Troops withdrawal
