MICHAEL YOUNG ON Barack Obama and the Iraqis:

That’s why Obama’s comments were so off-putting. He effectively told the Iraqis, once again, that they weren’t worth anything to America. . . .

For as long as American leaders don’t treat Iraqis as important in their own right, the Iraqis will have no incentive to tie their long-term interests to America’s wagon. Should that matter? Both realists and idealists would probably answer in the affirmative. But where does Barack Obama stand? It’s hard to imagine that Iraqis see in him change they can believe in.

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