Strategy 101

What a way to end the week! If one is to believe the news, Barack Obama must be a happy candidate. President Bush has adopted a diplomatic voice in discussions with the Iranian government. His spokespeople refuse to say that he is taking a first step toward a possible negotiation. But for a president who has condemned Obama for meeting with heads of state considered to be enemies, the decision made by the White House on Friday is a reversal of position.

And on the same day, another important development, this time in Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Malaki has said that he is close to considering a date for the withdrawal of American troops. According to a German newspaper, he has said that the Democratic candidate’s plan to bring the soldiers home within the first 16 months of his administration is plausible. Bush has admitted that he can imagine a withdrawal, but continues to refuse to consent to a precise calendar.

There are no coincidences in politics. George Bush and Dick Cheney continue to hold the reigns of power. Before a disillusioned electorate, the effort is simply strategic. It won’t be surprising to see the negotiations with Iran fail, and the calendar for withdrawal to be limited to vague discussions. The objective is to prove that Obama’s approach isn’t viable. And, worse, is a threat to national security. Richard Bolton, the former UN ambassador and huge Bush supporter, let slip the true Republican strategy in saying, “Americans will have an advance taste of an Obama government.”

This news is all good for John McCain, and he really needs it after having been obliged to fire, on Friday, the co-chair of his campaign and economic advisor, Phil Gramm, two weeks after Gramm declared that Americans are, “a nation of whiners” who are wrong to complain about the economic situation.

On reflection, Barack Obama, who hopes that his trip abroad will show that he is a statesman and establish the credibility of his positions on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, had barely landed before the Republican strategists were already cutting the grass under his feet.