Obama gets it, version 2.0

Obama is once again impressive on foreign policy. In Wednesday's major address on Iraq the Senator expressed his views on the military and political situation in the country, and his analysis was insightful, reality-based, and pragmatic.

The crucial element of Obama's speech, and a focus that demonstrates his sound judgment and macro understanding of the situation in Iraq, was his dismissal of the status quo debate over military "progress." Instead, he insisted, reasonable and serious evaluation of (and indeed, planning regarding) Iraq must focus on the political situation. This is the type of statement that those of us who follow the issue immediately process as true and unremarkable, but, of course, it's a vital point, and one that the current administration is working hard to obscure.

Obama laid out a plan for an expeditious -- but not so rapid as to damage force protection -- redeployment, and he also outlined steps to deal with the spiraling humanitarian crisis in Iraq and, increasingly, its neighbors. The US policy on refugees, for example, has been nothing short of disgraceful, and Obama's attention to this is laudable.

I was a little skeptical about some of the points on Iraq's political process, which is why I was happy to have the opportunity to discuss the speech with two of Obama's principal foreign policy advisers. Sarah Sewall and Samantha Power were kind enough to answer questions on a conference call, and to the extent that a candidate's inclinations can be judged by his or her surrogates, it's hard not to be excited about the foreign policy of an Obama administration.

I asked them about the dubious call for "a new constitutional convention in Iraq, convened with the United Nations, which would not adjourn until Iraq's leaders reach a new accord on reconciliation" -- I always worry when people call for a political summit that will succeed because ... nobody gets to leave until it succeeds. Power reassured me, explaining that (and I'm paraphrasing from notes) it "shouldn't be read as some Pollyannaish notion that just by getting everybody together you'll get a solution," but simply that the political process has to remain the focus.

Power put it in a way that I think gets to the core of this administration's bankruptcy on foreign policy in general and Iraq in particular: "Right now, the military is fighting this war alone." And she's right -- our diplomatic efforts are execrable. Our intelligence process is broken. The administration gives no sense of shared sacrifice.

Obama offered a programmatic solution -- or at least plan -- and he hit all the right notes on humanitarian issues to go along with an appropriate focus on transitioning from a military focus to a diplomatic one. His grasp of the realities of Iraq appears excellent, from the suffering of the Iraqi people to subtle regional elements to our strategic role.

It's nice to remember what real leadership looks like.