This entry was posted on 7/22/2008 10:29 PM and is filed under 2008 Election, All Posts.
A rundown:
May 28 Sen. John McCain harshly criticizes Sen. Barack Obama for not visiting Iraq in more than two years. The RNC even launches a timeclock noting "how many days it has been since Obama traveled to Iraq".
June 16 Obama announces plans for an extensive trip to not only Iraq, but also Afghanistan. Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, and multiple European nations. Presumably the RNC sets an alarm on the clock.
July 16 Prior to arriving in Iraq, Sen. Obama delivers a sweeping foreign policy address re-affirming his commitment to withdrawing American troops from Iraq within 16 months.
July 16 Sen. McCain harshly criticizes Obama for sticking by his policy "before he has seen the progress in Iraq".
July 19 Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki endorses the Obama plan for American withdrawal. McCain's entire campaign rationale crumbles into a pitiful heap of dust.
July 21 Sen. Obama arrives in Iraq, amid a glowing international press reception. The RNC's clock stops.
July 22 Sen. McCain harshly criticizes the press for actually covering the very trip he demanded Obama take. To change tacks amid his monumentally gloomy, barely limping campaign, McCain also harshly criticizes Obama for opposing "The Surge" back in February 2007.
(later that day) Obama points out that the Surge had nothing to do with the Anbar Awakening, which he (and many others) consider a far more important development in Iraq's recent relative stabilization.
(later that day) McCain blasted back that the Anbar Awakening was only made possible due to the security made available by the Surge.
(later that day) Others point out that the Anbar Awakening began several months before the Surge was even discussed as a potential option, and long before any additional troops were deployed.
(later that day) Not to be outdone, McCain fires back that not only was the Surge responsible for providing the security necessary for the Anbar Awakening, had the military forces made available by the Surge not been in place, the Iraqi Sheikh most responsible for the Anbar Awakening—Abdul Sattar Abu Risha—would likely have been assassinated.
July 23 Progressive media reminds McCain that Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha was assassinated several months after the Surge began.
