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OBAMA ON IRAQ. I haven't read Obama's big foreign policy speech in full, but Other Klein, Kevin, and Matt have, and their reviews are largely -- if somewhat tentatively -- positive. I am impressed with this line, however, which I think is slightly more important than folks have given it credit for.
In 2002, I stated my opposition to the war in Iraq, not only because it was an unnecessary diversion from the struggle against the terrorists who attacked us on September 11th, but also because it was based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the threats that 9/11 brought to light. I believed then, and believe now, that it was based on old ideologies and outdated strategies � a determination to fight a 21st century struggle with a 20th century mindset.There's a lot packed into that graf. What's telling, however, is what's absent. Obama doesn't say he opposed the war because of a nagging skepticism towards Hussein's WMD capabilities, nor because this administration wasn't competent enough to pull such a conflict off. Rather, he opposed it because it was the wrong war, focused on the wrong threats, and stemming from the wrong ideology. It was an attempt to respond to terrorists the way we would've responded to Russians. And that understanding -- which neither Edwards nor Clinton have demonstrated -- says quite a bit about where Obama's foreign policy instincts diverge from theirs.--Ezra Klein
