Obama: "See, I Was Right All Along"

Obama at the Veterans of Foreign Affairs convention:



A couple of things here:

1) McCain disagreed with the "low footprint" strategy from the beginning, and advocated for more troops long before Bush agreed with him. So yes, Obama, the success of the surge does vindicate him. Before the surge, we were in a lot of trouble. After the surge, things got better. That proves he was right. Just like Obama never got to see "what would have happened" had we withdrawn instead of surged, we also don't know how much better this situation could have been had we followed McCain's advice from the beginning.

2) Obama continues to support a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, and has been strengthening his position by claiming that others are now supporting it, even, to some extent, McCain and Bush (who refers to this as a "time horizon"). He artistically paints the picture that he was years ahead on this issue, and now the rest of the world is catching up, and proving he was right. Let me illustrate how this is wrong with a little story:

Dr. Smith is discussing the condition of his patient, Mrs. Jones, with his colleague, Dr. Roberts.

Dr. Roberts: "She is very sick, and everything you are doing seems to be just making things worse. You should just discharge her as soon as possible. She would be better off out of this hospital."

Dr. Smith: "No, I think we need to treat her more aggressively. I'm going to do a surgical procedure. It is risky, but I think it will work and if we don't do it, she will die. I have a responsibility to try to help her."

The two doctors argue for a while, but since Mrs. Jones is Dr. Smith's patient, he eventually wins. The surgery will be performed.

A week after the surgery, Mrs. Smith is doing much better, although not completely healed. Dr. Smith and Dr. Roberts meet again:

Dr. Smith: "Mrs. Jones is doing much better. I think we can discharge her soon with a clean bill of health."

Dr. Roberts: "I'm glad you are coming around to my way of thinking. I thought we should do that a long time ago."

Perhaps this is a silly story, but it illustrates how I view the debate over timetables in Iraq. Being "ahead of your time" is not always a good thing, Mr. Obama. If you argue that we should get out of Iraq, then it is only a matter of time before you will be right, of course, just as if you were to argue that it is cold outside.

Wrong Rating: 1 out of 4 (spin)