In response to my post, Andrew Sullivan responds:

But, yes, if Obama blindly insists nothing has changed, has no interest in reality on the ground, refuses to hear dissent, and does not acknowledge the surprising progress that has occurred there recently . . . he would be George W. Bush in reverse. I see no reason to believe he is, but share Jen’s hope that he isn’t.

Hope can spring eternal, but I think all the evidence to date indicates that the “George W. Bush in reverse” formulation is fairly accurate. The simplest first: he has disclaimed interest in facts on the ground. He has declined to meet with General Petraeus and, when he was bludgeoned by McCain into considering a possibility of an Iraq trip, it was not for the purpose of re-evaluating his position but to plot the immediate withdrawal.

As for the changed situation (both with regard to Iraq itself and Al Qaeda more generally), he has to date offered no indication he has read or agrees with any official or media report acknowledging progress in Iraq, whether political or military. Likewise, he has not uttered any words indicating that Al Qaeda has been severly damaged. To the contrary, his formulation in his speeches, debates and in interviews is identical to what it has been since the campaign began: he will immediately begin a troop withdrawal to be completed in 16 months. (His rationale–that progress against Al Qaeda is not possible without ending the war–in Iraq, seems in tact as well.)

In short, he still promises to end the war, he often repeats his pledge for an immediate withdrawal of forces and his campaign regularly confirms that he is adhering to his position for withdrawal of forces because the surge has not brought about the expected results.

Now, if he has changed his view and has come to recognize that McCain was correct in supporting the surge strategy, or even if he is open to soliciting facts that would confirm this is the case, this would be a remarkable turn of events and news to the entire country, the Democratic primary electorate in particular. No one would be happier than I to see a return to bipartisan agreement on national security starting from mutual acceptance of realities on the ground. But I just see no evidence, not a shred, that Obama has come around and reversed his views. He could clear it up right now in an interview or speech, explain the error of his ways and–with the same graciousness as Andrew–praise McCain’s foresightedness. But he hasn’t done this. So I would love to be as optimistic as Andrew, I just have no basis to be so.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008 at 7:28 AM and is filed under Contentions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.