A Vote for Obama is a Vote for Osama?

It may not be Prime Minister John Howard's exact words but it ain't far from the truth either. A day after Illinois Senator Barack Hussein Obama formally declared his 2008 bid for presidency, it didn't take long for the senator to draw criticism for his Iraq policy and rebuke a U.S. ally.

Don't get me wrong, Howard called out Obama first and his words were sharp -- but they were a directed reaction to the senator's statements. During his announcement Osama's pledged to cut support for the war and withdraw troops by March 2008 should he be elected president. Australia has supported the U.S. government in it's war on terror and actions in Iraq. As a consequence, Australia and it's prime minister have a vested interest in how things turn out there as you would expect. Personally, I think P.M. Howard was out of line pointing out Osama personally but in today's media circus where a Hugo Chavez or Ahmadinejad are allowed a forum at Turtle Bay it was hardly outrageous.

But how does the next great 'uniter' respond? Obama attacks a U.S. ally. "I think that it's flattering that one of George Bush's allies on the other side of the world started attacking me a day after I announced my candidacy for president. I take that as a compliment," senator Obama responded. Last time I checked, Australia was backing the U.S. and it's war on terror -- not George Bushland. The senator later went on to chastize Australia for not sending more troops into Iraq. Frankly, for the great diplomat that he aspires to be or is made out to be, I find his response to the P.M. disturbing. (Look out for more articles on this soon....)

At the end of the day, no one has any real idea where Obama stands with the war on terror or much of anything else yet. Not a bad thing for Obama yet really. We only know the Senator has made it perfectly clear that he has no interest in the future of Iraq or it's people. Regardless of support for our reasons going into Iraq in the first place, it's clear that there's a real and serious consequence to us pulling out of that country now. Obama even acknowledged that civil war is likely to errupt in Iraq should the U.S. withdraw it's troops. The apathy to this crisis on the part of the senator is frankly perplexing since Obama doesn't think we are doing enough for Darfur.

However, when Al Qaeda senior members, international intelligence analysts, and allies all agree that a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq will be a major win for the terrrorists then one is only left to speculate about Senator Obama's vision for international stability. Knowing as little about this candidate as we do, veiled questions like "does a vote for Obama mean a vote for Osama" are likely to come up even from self-serving democrats given the little Obama has chosen to share. You decide...