While Obama did not call to celebrate the bombing, he might as well have. The Obama withdrawal is based more on politics than reality. He called for withdrawal before we went in, after we defeated Saddam Hussein, during the bad days of the insurgency, and even while the Petraeus “surge” strategy was succeeding.

Today, the US military has withdrawn from Iraqi cities and towns and will be stationed primarily in large bases and outposts. President Obama said that “Iraqis are rightly treating this day as a cause for celebration,” but Iraqis should consider whether the new administration’s timid image and actions have emboldened the enemy or not. Earlier this morning, General Ray Odierno stated that “there is not widespread violence in Iraq,” shortly thereafter, a bomb ripped through the city of Kirkuk killing 30 and wounding dozens more. The last few weeks, Al Qaeda in Iraq and insurgents have been escalating their attacks and bombings, as I have written about previously, in anticipation of the US withdrawal from the cities. We should also remember that the security gains made during the Iraq “surge” involved moving our troops off large bases and making them more visible, now we are reversing course in the hopes that Iraqi security forces can defeat the terrorists and insurgents. The terrorists believe that Obama has pulled back due to their terror campaign in Iraq, just like the terrorists believed that their terror campaign forced the Soviet Union to withdraw from Afghanistan. This mindset is what emboldens them, the thought that they can defeat superpowers. While I do advocate an eventual withdrawal from Iraq, we cannot leave them in the hands of terrorists or Iran. Bush left this war unfinished, leaving terrorists and insurgents roaming the country, and now Obama is determined to leave the war on terror to the local Iraqis. Our presence in Iraq was and is an opportunity to deal Al Qaeda a death blow standing side by side with the Iraqi army. Now that we are withdrawing, what is Obama’s plan to defeat Al Qaeda in Iraq without troops on the ground? How does he plan to limit Iranian influence in Iraq? Will he redeploy troops to the region if Al Qaeda takes over? I do not believe that the administration fully appreciates the implications of not finishing the job in Iraq.

Let’s hope Iraqi security forces can protect their people, because the their victory over terror is also our victory over terror.

-AG