Obama gives a rich speech on a complex topic, laying out his plans for Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
McCain calls Obama's strategy premature because, he says, Obama hasn't talked to the ground forces. (McCain's counter speech).
I have one answer: Leadership. Leaders assert themselves, they lead the way. Obama is saying this is the deal, this is the strategy, this is what I want to happen. Make it happen. That's what leaders do.
Obama's visit to Iraq lends itself to tactics -- how to accomplish the strategy. This is just basic stuff and it's so apparent to me that McCain is George Bush that I want to scream but all I have is this blog to vent to and so I do.
Obama has plenty of foreign policy advisers who have already given him the information he needs. Obama has already put plenty of thought into foreign policy. This is his strong suit, contrary to perceptions that he's weak on foreign policy.
McCain is too old fashioned in his thinking. We are in a new world, which calls for new thinking.
CNN: McCain attacked the Illinois senator's opposition to the surge policy in Iraq and highlighted his own proposal for victory in Afghanistan.
"[Obama] is speaking today about his plans for Iraq and Afghanistan before he has even left, before he has talked to Gen. Petraeus, before he has seen the progress in Iraq, and before he has set foot in Afghanistan for the first time," McCain said at a campaign event in New Mexico.
"In my experience, fact-finding missions usually work best the other way around: First you assess the facts on the ground, then you present a new strategy."
Oh, and McCain finally got around to explaining his policy in Afghanistan.
All his blather about the "surge" is bogus. Bush-McCain say the "surge" worked. What do they mean by that? Highly debatable. This big "surge" strategy was adding more troops. That's it. That's all. There had to be more military intervention because diplomacy and politics failed because our current administration is incompetent.
