Obama Eases Toward The Mother Of All Flip-Flops

Barack Obama wildly careening to the right for the general election has been well publicised. The last big flip-flop to come is on Iraq.

The anti-war segment of the Democratic party is so invested in immediate withdraw, Obama needs to be particularly careful that this latest maneuver will not upset his liberal base even further. But there is no question that the Senator has begun the process of shifting his long held view that the surge would never work, and that a troop withdraw on a rigid and predetermined timetable would be immediate and nonnegotiable when he took office.

Tuesday reiterated his position for the base that he strongly stands by his plan to end the war. Part of his rationale is that the Iraqis have not made political progress, which is demonstrably untrue. Great progress has been made in the political reconciliation of Iraq.

During the original Senate hearing where General Petreaus reported the first successes of the troop surge, Senator Obama was critical and dismissive. Hillary Clinton essentially called General Petreaus a liar. Barack Obama was not willing to criticize MoveOn.org's deplorable "General Betrayus" add in the New York Times. Now, just last week, Barack Obama made comments that were critical of the ad.

Now if you go to Obama's web site, the shift is taking place in real time. The New York Daily News reported that Obama's campaign has removed a statement criticising the surge from the section discussion his solution for Iraq. Obama campaign aid Wendy Morigi explained that the change was made to better reflect current conditions.

But the changes do not stop there. Whereas Obama's web site previously stated tersely that, "Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq.", it now has more nuanced language that Obama will pursue "a responsible, phased withdrawal" that will be directed by military commanders and done in consultation with the Iraqis. In addition, the web site includes a new statement that Obama "would reserve the right to intervene militarily, with our international partners, to suppress potential genocidal violence within Iraq."

Senator Obama departs shortly for the Middle East with stops in Israel and Iraq. On his return, be prepared for his consultations with military commanders and Iraqi leaders to continue to soften his position on Iraq.