Herschel Smith, a Marine Corps father, blogs at The Captain’s Journal, where he delivers a thorough and convincing commentary on the “surge” in Iraq and the differing views on the matter held by Senators McCain and Obama.
In particular, Smith focuses on the misguided advice on the war in Iraq that Obama has received from Prof. Colin H. Kahl, an assistant professor of international relations at Georgetown University. In an email, Smith summarizes his long rebuttal of Kahl’s position:
As an advisor to Senator Obama, Professor Kahl has weighed in concerning the withdrawal from Iraq within the context of what he claims to be previous pressure to withdraw in the 2006 time frame and its alleged affect on the Sunni tribal awakening. Professor Kahl has greatly contributed to raising pressure to withdraw from Iraq. I respond with an assessment of the campaign for Anbar and its relationship to the surge within the context of extensive discussions with professional military as well as my own son’s experiences in Fallujah in 2007. Professor Kahl is mistaken in his views, and lifts a unitary point out of context, making it an “exclusive use” procedure rather than a thread in the apestry of the complex campaign that is Operation Iraqi Freedom. [Read Smith’s entire argument.]