Obama's Magic Time Machine

There was a bit of a scuffle between John McCain and Barack Obama yesterday that's probably a preview of the Fall campaign. During the Ohio debate with soon-to-be loser Hillary Clinton, Obama was asked about what type of situation would cause him to order troops back into Iraq after he's pulled them out. His answer was this:

“As commander in chief, I will always reserve the right to make sure that we are looking out for American interests. And, if al-Qaida is forming a base in Iraq, then we will have to act in a way that secures the American homeland and our interests abroad.”

John McCain jumped on that answer with this comment:

“I’m got news for Barack Obama, Al Qaeda is in Iraq. It's called 'al Qaeda in Iraq'".

Good line. Obama shot back later in the day with this:

“I’ve got news for John McCain, there was no such thing as Al Queda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq.”

The media played it as though this was a devastating comeback, but it's anything but if you really think about it. McCain is looking at the situation that's on the ground today, the same situation that Obama and other Dems think warrants the removal of our troops before the job is done. Obama's comment was not a snappy comeback, but a dangerous admission of a confused Iraq policy.

When challenged on Iraq, Obama frequently uses the rhetorical trick of turning the argument into a discussion of what should or shouldn't have happened six years ago rather than dealing with what should or shouldn't happen today. He acts as though the presidency is some sort of magic time machine that will allow him to roll back the years, apply his wonderful wisdom and hindsight, and fix Iraq retroactively. McCain needs to call him on this and begin preparing a standard response to this rhetorical sleight-of-hand.

Obama doesn't have a time machine. He needs to be forced to deal with the situation as it is today.