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AP's Latest Hatchet Job on Obama, Iraq |
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AP has a truly bizarre piece out today–it is internally contradictory and at times simply deceptive. AP claims that both presidential candidates are seeking "centrist answers in Iraq", neglecting to mention that Obama's position is the one that actually reflects mainstream opinion about what to do in Iraq, while McCain's position reflects a continuation of the Bush "stay the course" approach that is now rejected by a substantial majority of Americans. The bulk of the piece is devoted to suggesting that Obama's decidedly centrist position on Iraq is neither serious nor mainstream.
The piece warns that "nonpartisan military experts" see Obama's plan to withdraw troops from Iraq over a 16-month period as implausible and unwise. The "nonpartisan experts" are Michael O'Hanlon, a cheerleader for the Bush/McCain Iraq policy and Matt Bennett, who helps prop up the Lieberman-esque argument that Democrats will look weak if they are seen primarily as advocating withdrawal from Iraq. It is ridiculous to call O'Hanlon and Bennett "nonpartisan" on the question of Iraq–these are men who argue that advocating for withdrawal from Iraq is a sign of weakness. That is a staunchly partisan position–in fact, it is John McCain's position. (Note: O'Hanlon has made one wrong prediction after another regarding Iraq, so it's also hard to call him an "expert" anymore.) Bennett claims that, if Obama does go slow on withdrawing troops from Iraq, lefty anti-war types will be furious. This deceptively suggests that only a few fringe types advocate withdrawal from Iraq–in fact, recent polling shows that 62% of Americans want the next president to end the war in Iraq in the next year or two "no matter what". (AP actually notes this polling, in passing, toward the end of the story, but fails to observe that Bennett's unsupported claim is contradicted by this evidence). Real lefties advocate immediate withdrawal–a position Obama does not embrace.
The reality is that Obama is in the mainstream on Iraq. Sizeable majorities of Americans think the war was a mistake, disapprove of the Bush administration's handling of the war, and want to see the troops brought home. AP's piece would have been better entitled: "McCain attampts to reach out to center on Iraq". AP could have focused on McCain's recent prediction that we will "win" in Iraq (whatever that means) by 2013, noting that this approach is wildly out of step with mainstream Americans, who want the troops home in a year or two, at the latest. Instead, AP presents Obama as weak, naive and out of touch, suggests that McCain's 2013 prediction represents a move toward the center, and concludes that Obama could suffer political fallout if he continues to advocate a position supported by a significant majority of Americans.
Reading AP pieces is often an Alice in Wonderland-like experience. It is truly a mystery–why does AP readily swallow neoconservative talking points and present them as "nonpartisan" perspective? I don't know if they're being snookered or they are pursuing a conscious agenda. Either way, reading these Orwellian missives is frustrating and provokes outrage.
correction–it's not just lefties advocating immediate withdrawal–there are Rs as well–I was being a bit sloppy here