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The withdrawal of troops from Iraq offers the promise of a political boost for President Barack Obama on national security, but not without risks.
It’s likely to be welcomed by many war-weary Americans, particularly core Democratic voters, many of whom were first attracted to Mr. Obama because of his early opposition to the Iraq war.
President Barack Obama announces from the White House plans for the total withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
It also opens the president to criticism that the troop withdrawal provides an opening for Iran to exert greater regional influence.
“We are confident that we can protect our interests in the region, secure the stability of the region without having bases in Iraq,” said Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser at the White House.
Some Republicans Friday said the U.S.’s inability to reach agreement with Iraq about the presence of U.S. troops—the key reason for the year-end pull-out—was a sign of weakness.
“President Obama’s astonishing failure to secure an orderly transition in Iraq has unnecessarily put at risk the victories that were won through the blood and sacrifice of thousands of American men and women,” Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney said in a written statement. He went on to question whether the decision was the result of “naked political calculation or simply sheer ineptitude.”
The pullout announcement comes on top of two foreign-policy successes: The president ordered the deaths of Osama bin Laden and a string of al Qaeda operatives, and U.S. forces assisted in the operation to bring down Moammar Gadhafi.
Bringing the Iraq war to a definitive conclusion, the U.S. announces it will pull out all troops by the end of the year. The decision reverses a plan to maintain as many as 5,000 troops for training. Robert Ourlian discusses on The News Hub.
But with the 2012 election expected to be dominated by the economy, the president’s advisers are struggling with a tough reality: None of that may matter.
People in both parties say it could help Democrats neutralize the standard critique that the party is weak on national security.
But if the killing of bin Laden, public enemy No. 1, is any indication, the benefits might be short-lived. Mr. Obama’s job-approval rating jumped after bin Laden was killed in May—Gallup measured the bounce at six percentage points. Those numbers were down again by June and have since fallen further.
Charlie Black, a longtime GOP strategist, said ending the Iraq war is likely to pay dividends for Mr. Obama—to a point. “It finishes a job the previous president started,” he said. “I just don’t think voters are going to be interested in that as much as the economy and jobs.”
A Look Back at the Iraq War
A U.S. soldier walked past a ‘closed’ sign at the Camp Victory Base complex in Baghdad Oct. 15.
An October Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found 61% of Americans approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing handling the war on terrorism.
But the same poll found only 16% of people view national security and terrorism as one of their top two issues, compared with 70% who picked job creation and the economy. As a result, his overall job approval rating was 44%.
To make his case, Mr. Obama plans to speak at greater length about national security in coming weeks, a White House official said, a contrast to his typically brief discussion in recent months. The White House sent an email Friday emphasizing the impact of the Iraq decision on troops and their families. “Home for the Holidays,” the headline read.
Advisers at Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign and at the White House say they want to use foreign-policy achievements to make a broader case about leadership.
“The character of leadership is always central to the choice” of a president, said David Axelrod, the president’s senior campaign strategist. “Certainly keeping Americans safe, making tough decisions, hard decisions to secure the American people, is one measure of leadership that’s important to people.”
He cited the end of the Iraq war, the disruption of al Qaeda and the fall of Gadhafi, predicting “it’s part of the story that will be told during the campaign.”
If nothing else, Democrats believe Mr. Obama’s record will help inoculate him from attacks on national security that traditionally fall on the party’s presidential candidates. “Democrats have been on the defense around [national security], but he certainly isn’t,” said Doug Hattaway, a Democratic strategist.
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By: Laura Meckler
Source: The Wall Street Journal, October 24, 2011
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