Iraq End Game

The bargaining in Baghdad is getting serious as Iraqis pressure the Bush Administration for last-minute concessions on a status-of-forces agreement to sanction US presence beyond the end of the year.

But the American election and Bush's imminent departure have changed the game. Gone is the McCain mantra of "victory with honor," a prescription for open-ended American presence, and what's left is only haggling over details about the pace of troop withdrawal and how much control Iraqis will assume over security efforts in the meantime.

Iraqi leaders, while openly welcoming Barack Obama's timetable, are losing the luxury of factional jockeying in their own parliament and facing a timetable to resolve Shiite-Sunni differences about the future of their country.

The only questions left are when and how, not if, the loss of American lives and the expenditure of $10 billion a month finally come to an end.

Obama in Iraq: Summer Blockbuster

The Star is ready, the script written and the supporting cast assembled from the media A-list as the political extravaganza of the summer goes into production. With so much invested on the part of all concerned, can there be any surprises?

The plot of "Obama in Iraq" is foreordained: Scenes of breathless anticipation as the protagonist--young, idealistic but wise beyond his years--undertakes the critical journey, modestly protesting he is there to listen and learn not negotiate ("One president at a time," he says).

Intercut with scenes of Republican scoffers and doubters to heighten the tension. "If Barack Obama believes that visiting Iraq and meeting with commanders will not give him any new perspective," John McCain's spokesman says, "then we can only assume he's going just to smile for the cameras."

Then a montage of waiting Iraqis buzzing with ambivalent excitement: “Every time I see Obama I say: ‘He’s close to us. Maybe he’ll see us in a different way,'" says a government official. “I find Obama very close to my heart.”

But another expresses dread: “It’s a very big assumption that just because he wants to pull troops out, he’ll be able to do it. The American strategy in the region requires troops to remain in Iraq for a long time.”

From then on, the story line is clear. The president-to-be bonds with the troops, charms the commanders and promises to honor their valor while elevating their mission to a higher plane.

"As president," he promises, "I would pursue a new strategy, and begin by providing at least two additional combat brigades to support our effort in Afghanistan. We need more troops, more helicopters, better intelligence-gathering and more nonmilitary assistance to accomplish the mission there. I would not hold our military, our resources and our foreign policy hostage to a misguided desire to maintain permanent bases in Iraq."

Finally, smiling scenes with Prime Minister al-Maliki, mingling reassurance with promised firmness about the future: “Iraq is not going to be a perfect place, and we don’t have the resources to try to make it one. True success will take place when we leave Iraq to a government that is taking responsibility for its future.”

Then, boarding the plane with smiles and waves, the President-to-Be leaves the mise en scene as the music swells, the credits roll and the audience tries to figure out if what they've seen will have any effect on reality whatsoever.

Maliki and Obama Want Timetables

Unintentionally or not, the Iraqi prime minister is siding with the Democratic candidate for president on getting American troops out of his country.

"Today, we are looking at the necessity of terminating the foreign presence on Iraqi lands and restoring full sovereignty," Nouri al-Maliki is telling Arab ambassadors during an official visit to Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Maliki says he is negotiating "either to have a memorandum of understanding for the departure of forces or a memorandum of understanding to set a timetable for the presence of the forces."

That makes it near-unanimous, with only George W. Bush and John McCain dissenting from what the American people, Barack Obama and now the Iraqi government want--a foreseeable end to our costly Middle East adventure.

Any day now, McCain's campaign may start telling us that our man in Baghdad is going soft on the insurgents.

Mission Accomplished, Again?

Only the most churlish opponents of the war would want to minimize the low Iraq casualty figures for May or even argue over the Washington Post editorial contention today that "the US-backed government and army may be winning the war."

Any hope of bringing our troops home sooner than later is welcome but, under the circumstances, it would be just as unseemly to claim that this turn of events means John McCain has been right about the war and should be elected to the White House.

If anything, the beginning of the end in Iraq--if that's what it really is--should only deepen our sadness at the loss of more than 4000 American lives, millions of dead and displaced Iraqis, and the US' moral standing in the world.

"If the positive trends continue," the Post editorial observes, "proponents of withdrawing most US troops, such as Mr. Obama, might be able to responsibly carry out further pullouts next year. Still, the likely Democratic nominee needs a plan for Iraq based on sustaining an improving situation, rather than abandoning a failed enterprise."

Call it what they will, but let's start ending the nightmare. If it would get our men and women home safely any sooner, start making plans for President Obama to be inaugurated on an aircraft carrier in front of a banner than reads "Mission Accomplished."

In this case, words don't matter. Lives do.