Week #2, Item #2: Obama Increases Focus on Plans for Iraq

Since their rather incomplete discussion about the Iraq War in the first Presidential Debate last month, candidates Barack Obama and John McCain have increased focus on their vastly different plans for Iraq. In recent interviews both have given specifics on the course they feel the war should take and why.

Both candidates plan to reduce the number of troops in Iraq over the course of their first term. However, Senator Obama plans to remove brigades far more quickly than Senator McCain.

Obama has proposed removing one or two brigades from Iraq a month over a 16 month period. He has retained the right to pause the troop withdrawal if sectarian violence increases in this period, and plans to keep a residual military force in Iraq after the 16 months is up. This force would continue to pursue Al-Qaeda forces and potentially train Iraqi troops.

This plan, according to Obama, would force Iraqi officials to put aside their differences and take responsibility for their own security. Additionally, it would free resources (such as troops and money) to be redirected to the conflict in Afghanistan and domestic issues.

In contrast, McCain’s plan hopes to have the majority of US troops out of Iraq by 2013—but allows generals in Iraq almost total control over the situation.

The Obama campaign has argued that the constant US military presence in Iraq has done little to prompt the Iraqi government to take on its own problems, and so suggests a (you guessed it) change of course. Furthermore, the democrats argue, keeping troops in the country at such high levels for such a long time would only put further strain on a military stretched thin.

Regardless of the final plan for Iraq, the stakes in Iraq, and for the next US President, are high.

Compare and Contrast Iraq War Plans:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/us/politics/06elected.html