Since almost no one is coming to the defense of U.S. President Barack Obama, whose opinion poll numbers continue to slide, why don't I give it my best effort? After all, back in 2002, before the actual invasion of Iraq, the then-senator from Illinois and this American journalist were among the relatively few lonely Americans to oppose it. Now it looks as if the president's dim view of this unnecessary war hasn't changed, and neither has mine. In fact, the president's consistency of vision and decision-making integrity should be applauded.
Obama didn't get America into this mess, and it is he who courageously proposed to get us out of it. People who say this president has no vision or consistency or is decision-adverse are almost psychotically counterfactual.
The pressure on him now is to re-enter Iraq with U.S. forces that are all but pulled out. It will be impossible for Obama to resist completely. But his instinct is to rebid with a minimum and re-exit that force as soon as feasible. The instinct is based on solid reason.