Did Obama Meddle in Foreign Affairs and Betray our Troops?

Was Obama trying to pull a Pelosi and run a shadow government? What does this say about his judgment? Is it just Chicago-style politics, as usual? If this is true, then no wonder he refused to visit our wounded troops. How could he look them in the eyes without feeling shame at his betrayal.

Obama Opposed Iraq Withdrawal?

Recently, President Bush announced that because of the success of the surge in Iraq, thousands of U.S. troops will be leaving the country by February. One would think the Left would be cheering the withdrawal of U.S. forces. But there is a potentially explosive charge in a New York Post column today.

According to Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq’s foreign minister, during his summer world tour through the Middle East and Europe, Barack Obama tried to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay the withdraw of U.S. troops from Iraq. If the report is true – and I emphasize “IF” – it is outrageous and a stunning development.

Here is Foreign Minister Zebari’s statement, “He [Obama] asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the U.S. elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington.” Obama reportedly said that it would be in the best interests of all parties not to have the Bush administration negotiate an agreement in its “state of weakness and political confusion.”

Barack Obama was supposedly in Iraq on a “fact-finding mission.” Yet, instead of getting briefings and actually learning about the situation on the ground, we read today that Iraq’s foreign minister is saying Obama was making demands on the Iraqi government, reportedly trying to sabotage the administration’s efforts to bring our troops home early.

Why would Obama, a champion of immediate withdraw, want to keep U.S. troops in Iraq? Well, if they come early that would be evidence of the success of the surge, which Obama opposed. Thus, the early return of our troops would be evidence of Obama’s bad judgment. So, it would be in his political interests to delay any withdraw until he can take credit for it.

So far this is being reported only in an op-ed column in one paper, and I seriously doubt the “mainstream” media will investigate it. But such a statement from a high-ranking Iraqi official should not be ignored. It would be incredibly arrogant and outrageous for any American politician to try to insert himself into the foreign policy of the United States, potentially undercutting our commander-in-chief, for political gain.

The American people are looking for a leader who will put the country first. John McCain did that when he fought for the surge, while other politicians were declaring the war lost and demanding our surrender. It would be the height of hypocrisy for any politician who demanded our immediate withdrawal from Iraq now to advocate staying longer than necessary because the surge has succeeded “beyond our wildest dreams,” even if that success might, sadly, be politically embarrassing for some.

Gary Bauer
Campaign for Working Families