That’s Debatable

Just some quick thoughts on last night's debate. I watching ~half of the proceedings, so I welcome comments from those of you who saw the whole ordeal. Actually, this was the least terrible presidential debate I've seen in a while (ever?). No one looked awkward or uneven, and both candidates made a good case for themselves. In a lot of ways, this seems to validate a general sense of what political debates do today: reiterate talking points and energize a candidate's own supporters.

What interested me the most was the exchange over Iraq, which in my mind is the single most important issue, even more pressing than the current economic train wreck. Having opposed the war since it began (and earlier), I feel very strongly that the invasion of Iraq has been the greatest foreign policy mistake of my lifetime, and that the best option at this point is to change course. Even if this is a slight and gradual pullout, it needs to happen, and I'm convinced that a McCain presidency would not be able to accomplish that.

The comments regarding the surge were especially telling. McCain seems to believe that because violence has decreased since the escalation last year, a reduction in combat forces in Iraq will result in more violence. Here's how I see it. The war began without enough planning, thought, or resources. For several years, troops operated in insufficient numbers with an insufficient objective. Petraeus, who for all his faults is a thoughtful and intelligent military leader, was given the authority to make significant changes, not only with the number of forces, but also with the scope of the operations, and it made a difference.

But for McCain (or Bush) to say the surge worked and needs to continue is mistaken. The surge was a correction of a mistake made at the onset of a mistaken war. With violence down and order increasing--and with chaos on the upswing in Afghanistan--it is time to change the focus of the military efforts back to where they should have been all along.

None of this, however, is as important as this fact: Obama will represent a significant change in American foreign policy, from unilateral and impetuous engagement to thoughtful diplomacy and measured military action. McCain will continue the "Bush doctrine" (I love that phrase now); Obama will see it for what it is (fatally flawed) and replace it.