Why Obama Must Go to Iraq

Why Obama Must Go to Iraq By PETE HEGSETH June 5, 2008; Page A21 Earlier this year, I spent five days in Iraq, walking the same streets in Baghdad where I had served two years earlier as an infantry platoon leader in the 101st Airborne Division. The visit reinforced for me not only the immense complexity of the war – so often lost in our domestic political debate – but also the importance of taking the time to visit Iraq to talk with the soldiers and Marines serving on the front lines in order to grasp the changing dynamics of a fluid battlefield.

Obama painted himself into a corner, shows he is not so smart afterall.

He goes, he looks like McCain and the dreaded “neo-cons” made him do it. And he will have to admit much progress.

He doesn’t, he looks like exactly what the critics say he is, not listening to the Generals and avoiding the ground truth.

It's enough to make you wonder who exactly Mr. Obama listens to when it comes to Iraq?

It is indeed. The notion that executive decisions on the war need not be informed by field experience is a little remarkable. This is one of those advantages being a military veteran offers for a President that is very difficult to communicate to non-veteran civilians. No matter how many books you've read or theories you've spun, there is no substitute for your own personal eyes, ears, and boots.

It isn't as if this sort of stuff is classified information or that the troops are reluctant to talk to anyone who will listen. Quite the contrary. I state this categorically to my progressive friends - no one who hasn't served or hasn't spoken at length to someone who has, has any idea of what is going on. Period.

I didn't know that about Harry Reid, BTW. It's certainly in character. The truth to that crook is merely an encumbrance.

Presidential contender Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) rejected rival Senator John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) suggestion that the two of them make a joint visit to Iraq to assess the situation.

“Anyone who wants to be president has got to have a first-hand view of the situation on the ground in Iraq,” McCain said. “Visiting the area, talking to the commanders, troops and Iraqi leaders is essential to understanding what’s going on.” McCain’s currently planned trip would be his 8th since the war began in 2003. Obama went to Iraq once, in 2006, and pronounced it a “a grievous mistake in which I had no part.”

Obama characterized McCain’s invitation a “crass political stunt.” “Does he think I’m fool enough to share my limelight with him?” Obama sarcastically asked. “I think that if I’m going to Iraq, I need to go on my own so I can be the center of attention, not as a tag-along with a former war hero.”

In related news, Obama denied that his claim to have seen many of the nation’s fallen soldiers during his Memorial Day speech was a “gaffe.” “I have better vision than most people, especially my esteemed 70-year-old, bifocal-wearing opponent,” Obama bragged. “And when the votes are tallied next November, I expect that the vast majority of these soldiers will have had their ballots cast for me.”