McCain, Obama and Clinton silent on Iraq exit --US presidents-to-be in denial

Le Monde dipolmatique -- http://mondediplo.com/2008/05/05iraq

As soon as it was clear that the presidential primaries would be the news story of the year in the US, Iraq was dropped by the media. The occupation and the campaign for the presidential nominations were de-linked almost from the start. So we don’t know what the potential candidates would do in Iraq. But pulling troops out doesn’t seem to be an option for any of them.

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Obama, who, on his past record, is believed to have the best policy on military withdrawal from Iraq, does not seem to intend to end the occupation. Susan Rice, a senior foreign affairs adviser to the Obama campaign, reiterated what we have heard from Bush administration officials over the past five years: that the number of US troops Obama would keep in Iraq “depends on the circumstances on the ground”.

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Today he not only refrains from calling for total withdrawal – he does not address the removal of the “enduring” US military bases in Iraq and the embassy scheduled to open there this month. This is the size of the Vatican, has superthick walls, electrical and water plants, gymnasium and the largest swimming pool in the country. It cost $740m, has room for at least 1,000 “government employees”, a school for their children, bunkers, two helipads, yoga studios, fast-food outlets and shopping malls.

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For those who hope the election will bring a US policy change in Iraq, Hillary Clinton is a worse prospect. She has consistently refused to promise withdrawal of US forces from Iraq by the end of her first term, 2013, if elected. On 17 March Clinton outlined her plans in a telling speech at the George Washington University. While she did call for a gradual withdrawal of US combat brigades, she refused to apologise for her 2002 vote authorising the invasion. Not once has she acknowledged the illegality of that move nor explained claims she made then about Iraq’s military status and ties to al-Qaida. She continued to be a strong proponent of the occupation until she found herself vying with Obama for the votes of a populace now against the occupation; and she says she is willing to withdraw US troops from Iraq.

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A study carried out by the Project for Excellence in Journalism showed that by autumn 2007 media attention had shifted from the occupation of Iraq to the presidential campaign, de-linking the two. Reportage of the occupation fell sharply around the time that the 2008 presidential campaign emerged as the top story.

This works to the advantage of Arizona senator John McCain, the most unambiguous about his pro-occupation stand. Aboard his campaign plane McCain told reporters in April: “We fought a war with Japan and Germany. Afterwards we maintained a military presence there, which we are doing today. We fought a war in Korea, we maintained a military presence in Korea, which we are doing to this day.” Jumbling time, space and reality, he concluded: “The first Gulf war, we threw Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait, and we have a military presence there to this day” (11).

McCain also decried Obama for lack of experience and knowhow about occupation: “So he... hasn’t read or doesn’t understand the history of this country in warfare, and the way that we secure alliances and secure the peace, that is through military government-to-government agreements that call for United States presence and mutual defence. Not only in that country itself, but also in the region... it displays a fundamental misunderstanding of history and how we’ve maintained national security, and what we need to do in the future to maintain our security in the face of the transcendent challenge of radical Islamic extremism.”

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The US doesn’t want to be in Iraq – that is, 65% of actual people in the US oppose the occupation – yet Obama, Clinton and McCain march towards the election with the media not challenging their ambivalent positions on Iraq. As for the Iraqis – if any one of those three is listening – a recent BBC/IPSOS poll in Iraq showed more than 70% of Iraqis oppose the continuation of the occupation, while local polls found 92% of Iraqis oppose it.