Iraq

The President concluded at the end of his first term that he could not expect any co-operation from congress so he made his now famous statement that he would ignore them and use his power of the pen to make changes and he has done that, particularly using the EPA. Now the situation in Iraq has caused him to reconsider and he invited congressional leaders into the White House to ask for advice. The members like Harry Reid who voted for the Iraq War are now running away from the President saying, you decide on what we should do. Reid is not alone as people who voted for the Iraq War do not want to talk about it. They just want to say that was Bush’s war and then just change the subject. Reid is of particular interest because of the way he dealt with the war. He first voted for it and then when things started to go bad he said he voted for it reluctantly and then when things got really bad he said the war was lost. During this time he voted 6 times to send more money and troops to Iraq. Then came the famous surge and he said it would never work and when it worked he later claimed partial credit for the success. The true irony of this whole affair is that President Obama who campaigned against the Iraq War and criticized Bush for getting involved now finds himself in the position of getting involved after he pulled everyone out and claimed that he kept his promise to get us out of Iraq. What he is finding out is that things look a lot different campaigning than they do in governing. On the campaign trail problems have simple solutions because it’s all about talk and The President is very good when it comes to giving speeches.