Voters Rejecting Hard Isolationism

"The difference between me and the other candidates is, they would leave troops there indefinitely, and I would not," says Bill Richardson in his Big Line on Iraq. Six months, and we're out; no residual forces.

And not long after that, we would pull out of the Gulf entirely. Why would we want to do that? In his Iraq issue paper, Richard says:

Most Iraqis, and most others in the region, believe that we are there for their oil, and this perception is exploited by Al Qaeda, other insurgents, and anti-American Shia groups. By announcing that we intend to remove ALL troops, we would deprive them of this propaganda tool. And once all US troops are out of Iraq, Al Qaeda foreigners will no longer be able to justify their presence there, and the Iraqis will drive them out.

How quaint that Richardson is in the "no blood for oil school." Whether he believes it or not, he's afraid others believe it. Worse, he doesn't appear to have given a thought to the idea that al Qaeda might be there for oil. If they could sit pretty in Iraq, they would be able to siphon off oil wealth to fund their global jihad.

In fact, they probably already are through theft and black markets, and it is vital that we stop that and minimize the risk of any expansion of this revenue source for the Jihadists.

How about instead of just throwing away the entire strategic region, we make it clear that we're not there for oil? After all, it's clear we're not taking Iraqi oil and intend to see that oil revenues are used to rebuild and strengthen Iraq -- which is why al Qaeda and others attack oil infrastructure.

But raise a criticism, coin a concern that makes America look bad, and Richardson's running. War is not about looking good or bad, it's about winning. Unless you're a Dem prez candidate; then it's about losing.

So, in June 2008, Richardson would have us out of Iraq? What then? Talks! Regional conference, international conferences, internal conferences, all to promote the peace he's sure that he, the former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., can broker.

And what happens when the talks fail to stop the escalating violence, as al Qaeda sees the opportunity ongoing chaos in Iraq provides, as Sunni and Shi'ia fight for power, as internal factions in both sects battle for supremacy of their view?

Richardson suggests air strikes and Special Forces raids staged from Kuwait for the time being. As if that has a chance of bringing order.

The man has mustered 8% of the vote according to Iowa data at RCP. Excellent! He's talking, people are listening, and thinking, "This man is all resume and no common sense."