Its a tactic, but its not diversionary.
Obama campaigned on, and has governed on a Republican Realist/Pragmatist foreign policy.
The Republican NeoCons keep attacking him for this.
So, the dems and the media are going to keep pointing out that the conflict is not between democrats and republicans, but between Republican Realists and Republican NeoCons.
The dems and the media will keep pointing out that the policy shift didn't begin with Obama, it began in 2006 when Bush replaced the NeoCons with the Realists/Pragmatists.
This event in 2002 was a conflict between neocons and realists.
It’s diversionary because it is designed to shift the focus away from health care, Gatesgate and the birth certificate controversy and point back at the Bush admin.