[lit-ideas] Confirmed: Barack Obama interefered with US foreign policy while in Iraq
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Lit-Ideas" <Lit-Ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:17:07 -0700
The first line suggest that "Sister Toldjah" is (or was) an Obama supporter
- maybe not, but she was at least hoping the story wasn't true. Her doubts
(unlike the doubts of Lit-Idears) have been removed.
http://sistertoldjah.com/archives/2008/09/16/confirmed-barack-obama-interfer
ed-with-us-foreign-policy-while-in-iraq/
I don't want to believe it,
<http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hi9TDNHvuBZpFsO8ZbiFYsnbIl3A> but it is
indeed true - as per Obama's own national security spokesperson Wendy Morigi
(emphasis added):
In the New York Post [
<http://www.nypost.com/seven/09152008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/obama_tried
_to_stall_gis_iraq_withdrawal_129150.htm> link here. -ST], conservative
Iranian-born columnist Amir Taheri quoted Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar
Zebari as saying the Democrat made the demand when he visited Baghdad in
July, while publicly demanding an early withdrawal.
"He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US
elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington," Zebari
said in an interview, according to Taheri.
"However, as an Iraqi, I prefer to have a security agreement that regulates
the activities of foreign troops, rather than keeping the matter open,"
Zebari reportedly said. .
Obama's national security spokeswoman Wendy Morigi said Taheri's article
bore "as much resemblance to the truth as a McCain campaign commercial."
In fact, Obama had told the Iraqis that they should not rush through a
"Strategic Framework Agreement" governing the future of US forces until
after President George W. Bush leaves office, she said.
A rightfully outraged Ed Morrissey
<http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/16/did-obama-just-confirm-taheri/>
responds:
Which is exactly what Taheri wrote. Barack Obama went to Iraq and
interfered with the diplomatic efforts of the elected United States
government, in a war zone no less, by telling the Iraqis to stop negotiating
with the President. How exactly does that make Taheri's column untruthful?
It wasn't enough for Obama to fail at forcing the nation into a defeat in
Iraq when he opposed the surge. Now he has interfered with our efforts to
stabilize Iraq and provide for its security after the surge succeeded in
keeping Iraq from falling into a failed state. And when he got caught
working for failure and defeat, he tried making it into a smear against John
McCain.
That's not leadership America needs from a Senator, let alone a President.
The Senate should investigate this as a gross violation of the Constitution
and the separation of powers between the branches of government.
Peter Kirsanow at NRO's Corner blog has
<http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDQxMTQ5Y2Y5MThhNmZlMGM3YTlkYjlmYz
Y4NzQzNzg=> some suggestions as well:
Andy McCarthy and Matt Franck are right to advise against invoking the Logan
Act regarding Obama's alleged negotiations with Iraqi officials. Andy
argues, correctly I think, that the matter should be handled politically,
i.e., the McCain campaign should draw voters' attention to it and let it be
a factor in the electoral process.
If what Taheri claims is true, however, Obama's actions are of sufficient
gravity that more formal, albeit still political, actions are indicated. At
minimum, the Senate should consider investigating the allegations (heck,
Congress doesn't seem to have any hesitation investigating the likes of
Blackwater, Halliburton, etc for alleged transgressions of arguably lesser
magnitude), not with an eye toward impeachment (Matt: query whether the
House has the authority under Article II to impeach a senator - I'm not
aware of any precedent) or even censure, but to 1) verify the claims, 2)
determine the extent to which U.S. interests may have been compromised, and
3) suggest appropriate remedial action.
What do you think?
I should note, BTW, that I haven't seen the first McCain response to today's
news yet via email. If they don't hammer this issue in the coming days,
then of a lot of people with Team McCain don't know what in the world
they're doing. The mediots won't want to explore this story,
<http://newsbusters.org/blogs/john-stephenson/2008/09/16/why-media-ignoring-
accusations-obama-interfered-iraq-withdrawal-neg> of course, but the McCain
campaign sure as hell should.
Lawrence Helm
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