An interesting poll on the Democrats plans for Iraq:
What Democrats Think Clinton, Edwards and Obama will do in Iraq
1. Make no cutbacks in U.S. troops in Iraq 2. Leave a substantial number of troops in Iraq, but have them concentrate on training Iraqis and targeting Al Qaeda leaders in Iraq. 3. Start withdrawing troops within the next three months, with all troops out within nine months from now. 4. Begin an immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops in Iraq
Candidate Option #1 Option #2 Option #3 Option #4 Clinton 6% 10% 48% 28% Edwards 3% 15% 44% 15% Obama 5% 10% 44% 27%
I’m not too clear on what Edwards has said, because overall I don’t find him a very compelling candidate. But as the original article notes, the correct answer for Obama and Clinton is clearly #2. It seems fairly obvious that most Democratic voters aren’t actually in favor of this option, and what’s more than Clinton and Obama are both trying (and succeeding) to mislead voters into believing they’re in favor of a much more significant withdrawl than they actually advocate
What I still can’t understand is what the heck they’re thinking a half-way withdrawal is going to accomplish. We’ll wind up with 60 thousand mostly non-combat troops sitting around in bases as the country falls apart around them. The only plausible explanation seems to be a desire to carry on indefinitely with permanent bases in Iraq, a phrase I’m sure would be political poison for the first to utter it. Pretty awful if this is the best we can get from any of the ‘top-tier’ candidates
