Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Robert Kagan on the McCain/Romney Surge Controversy   [Rich Lowry]

Robert Kagan, a McCain advisor, writes in response to this post:

Hi Rich,

It is true, as you write, that “Romney wasn't as enthusiastic about [the surge] and in his body language, if nothing else seemed ready to distance himself from it if it failed.” But  he went  further than that.  In June 2007, when there were already good signs that the surge was working, Romney told an interviewer, “I think we would hope to turn Iraq security over to their own military and their own security forces, and if presence in the region is important for us than we have other options that are nearby."  (This is quoted by Dobbs in the Post)  That may seem innocuous enough now.  But you remember how thinsg were at the time.  That was the way both Democrats and Republican supporters of withdrawal described their plan in those days.  The idea was to pull U.S. troops out of the fighting in Iraq, hand over the fight to the Iraqis, and station U.S. forces “nearby” or “over the horizon.”  That was how advisers to Hillary Clinton described their preferred option.  It was how people who supported the Baker-Hamilton commission report described their ideal option.  They didn’t call for immediate and total abandonment of  Iraq   — and very few do so today.  When people who favored withdrawal explained their plan, it was as Romney described it.  The fact that he also talked about “timetables” in an earlier interview, albeit secret “timetables,” also puts him in what was then the withdrawal camp. 

Everyone who was fighting for the surge in the early months of last year  —  and that was not a very large number of people back then—was desperately looking around Republican ranks for support.  Most Republicans on the Hill were quiet.  Most conservative commentators were not working up any enthusiasm, to say the least. And aside from McCain, the leading Republican presidential candidates at the time were being careful.  It was clear that both Giuliani and Romney were tempted to let McCain take the issue and self-immolate.  But of the two, I remember, Rudy was the one who decided to put himself most clearly on the side of the surge.  He began speaking out on the need for more troops in his public appearances.  The contrast with Romney is even more striking in this regard.  As best I can recall, Giuliani never talked about timetables, withdrawal, or about stationing forces “nearby.”  Among the three leading candidates, only Romney took that line.

01/29 11:30 AMShare