Obama To Stay the Course in Iraq

The issue is a difficult one for Mr. Obama, whose campaign pledge to “end the war” ignited his supporters and helped catapult him into the White House. But as Mr. Obama has begun meeting with his new military advisers — the top two, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are holdovers from the Bush administration — it has become clear that his definition of ending the war means leaving behind many thousands of American troops. - Elisabeth Bumiller, New York Times.

The way Bumiller frames the issue makes it sound as if Obama has suddenly discovered some new facts which are forcing him to change his campaign pledge. But he hasn't:

Under the Obama-Biden plan, a residual force will remain in Iraq and in the region to conduct targeted counter-terrorism missions against al Qaeda in Iraq and to protect American diplomatic and civilian personnel. They will not build permanent bases in Iraq, but will continue efforts to train and support the Iraqi security forces as long as Iraqi leaders move toward political reconciliation and away from sectarianism.

That's from the campaign web site.

The truth is, Obama has never been as "anti-war" as his supporters or his critics asserted. He's basically hewing to the conventional wisdom on the issue.*

The more important question is - is that conventional wisdom correct?

*In case you're wondering what that conventional wisdom is, I point you to this U.S. Institute of Peace analysis. Its recommendations are derived from the working groups that originally supported the 2006 Iraq Study Group.