In his New York Times op-ed, Barack Obama argues that a timetable for withdrawal is a key to success in Iraq. “Only by redeploying our troops can we press the Iraqis to reach comprehensive political accommodation and achieve a successful transition to Iraqis’ taking responsibility for the security and stability of their country,” writes Obama. “They call any timetable for the removal of American troops ‘surrender,’ even though we would be turning Iraq over to a sovereign Iraqi government.” So if Obama supports a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, why doesn’t he support a timetable for Afghanistan? Obama argued in an April 14, 2008 speech that Iraq does not deserve the support of U.S. combat troops for longer than seven years, which is how long U.S. forces will have been in Iraq at the end of Obama’s 16-month withdrawal. “If we cannot get the Iraqi government to start functioning effectively in seven years, we will not be able to do it in 14 years or 21 years or 28 years or 35 years,” he said. This October marks the seventh anniversary of the war against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Why is Obama willing to keep combat troops in Afghanistan for more than seven years, and how much longer is he willing to keep up the fight? Obama argues that there are stark differences between Iraq and Afghanistan: “Ending the war [in Iraq] is essential to meeting our broader strategic goals, starting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the Taliban is resurgent and Al Qaeda has a safe haven. Iraq is not the central front in the war on terrorism, and it never has been.” If Obama is only willing to fight al Qaeda and insurgents in Iraq for seven years, how much longer is he willing to fight al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan? Obama has hammered John McCain for his willingness to commit to a long-term presence in Iraq, so how long is too long a deployment to Afghanistan. And why, if Obama still thinks he was right to oppose the surge in Iraq, is he now arguing that at least two additional brigades should be deployed to Afghanistan? Why don’t his arguments about timetables, and for that matter the surge
