Pravda is laughing at Obama….

Iraq wants the US troops out before June 30, 2009, as Barack Obama promised in his pre-election program. The government of the war-torn nation is concerned with Obama’s decision to prolong the presence of US troops in the country until the end of 2011.

Indeed, Obama promised that the United States would pull out its troops from Iraq during 2009. However, Obama changed his mind slightly after he took office and said that the pullout would be conducted some time later – in 2.5 years, to be more precise.

US defense officials say that it is technically impossible to execute Obama’s previous promises. It would be extremely difficult to evacuate up to 250,000 people and military hardware within only two months, they say.

It is true, of course. However, was there anything that stopped Barack Obama from executing his landmark promises immediately after taking office? The things that cannot be done within two months could be done very well during six months. Therefore, the reference to technical difficulties looks like a poor excuse. – Pravda

It is something of a quandary for the new President. He promised to withdrawal troops, the Iraq government wants him to withdrawal troops, but he knows doing so will open the door to some rather unpredictable circumstances. Staying beyond 2009 is also dangerous because if we stay after the Iraqi’s want us gone, we become an occupation force rather than liberators. It becomes an easy sell for anti-government forces to convince the population that they have traded one master (Saddam) for another (the US).

As for Afghanistan, the results of the year 2008 showed that neither the United States, not NATO can struggle against the Taliban and guerrilla groups in the country. Western forces have lost control over several regions in the south of Afghanistan last year.

A pullout from Iraq would be a catastrophe for the USA . The Shiite south of Iraq may join the Shiite Iran, which would let radical Sunni Islamists take power in their hands. If it happens, the whole region would be destabilized. The West receives almost two-thirds of its crude from the region, which means that the situation may lead to unpredictable consequences.

It is worthy of note that nearly all oil-rich countries of the Arabian Peninsula are monarchies. Islamic radicals have intensified their subversive activities there recently striving for the reign of true Islam in the Arab world.

What about Obama’s promises? It could be possible to simply cancel them, but it would obviously cause damage to the image of the president, the peacemaker. It would therefore be most convenient to delay the withdrawal of the troops and find plausible excuses for it.

There are certainly signs that the Taliban certainly hold no fear of Obama. It is going to be interesting to see how Obama resolves these conflicts between campaign rhetoric and reality. If he is not careful, his legacy is going to be Johnson – Carter II.