Adam Blickstein: Withdrawing from the Empty Rhetoric on Iraq

The subtext of John McCain's response to the Iraqi government's strident assertions demanding clarity on the withdrawal of foreign forces in Iraq is this: Maliki is pandering to his political constituents who want to see American forces leave, for his own political gain, but any eventual agreement will be vague, flexible and conditional enough to allow us to stay. McCain calling Malki "a politician" seems to further confirm this line of thinking, allowing him to dismiss any clarion call of withdrawal as simply political rhetoric. This would also let McCain continue advocating his policy of perpetual American presence in Iraq unabated. One problem: with Maliki, Iraq National Security Advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, and Iraqi spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh all expressing the same expectations on the possibility of withdrawal language in... [read full story]