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Obama May Slow Planned 16-Month Iraq Withdrawal
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Published: July 4, 2008
FARGO, N.D. - FARGO, N.D. - Sen. Barack Obama raised the possibility of slowing a promised gradual 16-month withdrawal from Iraq if he is elected president, saying Thursday that he will consult with military commanders on an upcoming trip to the region and "continue to refine" his proposals.
"My 16-month timeline, if you examine everything I've said, was always premised on making sure our troops were safe," Obama told reporters as his campaign plane landed in North Dakota.
"And my guiding approach continues to be that we've got to make sure that our troops are safe, and that Iraq is stable. And I'm going to continue to gather information to find out whether those conditions still hold."
At a news conference, Obama insisted his policies had not changed and that he has "not equivocated" or "searched for maneuvering room" on Iraq.
Consultations with commanders in the coming weeks will be focused more on the size of U.S. forces needed to train and equip Iraqi military and police units, as well as maintaining a "counterterrorism strike force" to prevent al-Qaida from making a comeback, Obama said.
"Let me be as clear as I can be. I intend to end this war," he said.
"My first day in office, I will bring the Joint Chiefs of Staff in, and I will give them a new mission. That is to end this war, responsibly, deliberately, but decisively."
Thus far, he added, he has seen nothing to contradict his belief that one to two combat brigades could be pulled out each month over 16 months.
Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has long said the nation "must be as careful getting out of Iraq as it was reckless going in."
Thursday's comments were his most extensive on perhaps the most important foreign policy issue of the campaign, the future of U.S. military involvement in Iraq.
And it came during a swing through traditionally Republican states that Obama thinks he can put in play this fall.
He stressed he still thinks it would be "a strategic error for us to maintain a long-term occupation in Iraq" when conditions in Afghanistan have worsened, al-Qaida has been regrouping in Pakistan and U.S. resources have been strained as the nation spends $10 billion to $12 billion a month in Iraq "that we desperately need here at home."
A pledge to end the war elicited applause as he held a town hall meeting in Fargo under an umbrella of poplar trees at Yunker Farm.
However, he told reporters, "I have always said I would listen to the commanders on the ground. I have always said that the pace of withdrawal would be dictated by the safety and security of our troops and the need to maintain stability. That assessment has not changed. When I go to Iraq and have time to talk to the commanders on the ground, I'm sure I'll have more information and will continue to refine my policies."
Obama also suggested that McCain aides had been working to create the impression "we were changing our policy, when we haven't." And Republicans did not hesitate to pounce Thursday.
"There appears to be no issue that Barack Obama is not willing to reverse himself on for the sake of political expedience," said Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant.
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