The war in Iraq is the main point of focus even in very simple elections. Watch this video of two stuffed animals that are running for president, and make up your mind about which candidate you will vote for. The two animals give very straightforward answers to the question of what should be done about the war in Iraq, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to make your choice.
Emotions in U.S. politics are running high after General Petraeus testimony on Iraq earlier this week and President Bush’s speech after the release of the White House report on Iraq. Republicans as well as Democrats are divided in their reactions to the report’s results and the speech. Democrats who have been arguing for an immediate ending of the war in Iraq have been put into the extreme corner by Petraeus testimony and yesterdays’ speech by President Bush.
General Petraeus, commander in chief in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, ambassador to Iraq, testified before Congress in expectation to the release of the White House report on progress in Iraq early this week. The report, that was released yesterday, shows a lack of progress towards peace and stability in Iraq, with progress in only 9 of 18 benchmarks set for the Iraqi government. Read the full report here.
In reaction to the report President Bush addressed the American citizens via a television speech. The president showed dissatisfaction with the lack of progress in Iraq. He announced that he will retire troops from Iraq, but that a fast retirement would be irresponsible and a possible disaster for the Iraqi people and the stability in the region. Mr. Bush plans to bring home 5.700 troops by Christmas.
Democrats favouring a fast retirement of troops are now vulnerable for accusations of being weak, something that causes the already existing divide within the Democratic party to deepen. Grassroots democrats are still pushing for a direct ending of the war, while the Democrat leadership fears a possible emergence of an image of weakness for the Democratic party, something that may have a significant influence on next year’s elections. However, although announcing the retirement of troops, President Bush did not offer a clear strategy towards ending the war, a weakness that might turn out to be a possibility for Democrats in Congress to push for their own strategy. Democrats do not have the majority to veto the President, but an alignment with Republican critics of the developments in Iraq might empower them enough to do reach a majority.
The democratic presidential candidates are now reacting to the Petraeus Report and to Bush’s speech, with Larry King having Barack Obama live in his late night show. Live from Iowa, in a reaction to the Petraeus report, Obama was very critical about the results of Bush’s strategy and he kept pleading for a different strategy in Iraq. He also stressed that, in opposition to his rival in the running up to the presidential elections Hillary Clinton, he has been opposing the War in Iraq since its beginning. Obama also praised fellow democrat Jack Reed, who earlier this week was responsible for the Democratic response to Bush’s speech. Read the full text of the speech here.
The war in Iraq, and especially the question of how to end the war, will be of major influence in the 2008 presidential elections. Let us hope that the fight for the presidency will not be determining the strategy in Iraq but that it will be the other way around. Whoever finds a possible strategy to end this horrific chaos and grow seeds for stability in Iraq and its neighbouring countries, deserves the presidency. The Bush era will end in January 2009 but Iraq will not, and this is becoming clearer every day as progress stagnates and violence stays alive in Iraq.
www.ft.com (Financial Times)
