Is the Iraq debate coming to an end?

[Lief Erikson]

Of course there will continue for a long time to be debate between many Republicans and Democrats about whether or not the Iraq War should have been fought in the first place, but there seems to be a growing consensus over the future of Iraq policy.

Presidential candidates McCain and Obama are making increasingly similar statements about how Iraq should be handled from now on.

Originally Posted by The Washington Post: "Campaigns' Iraq Stances Seem to Hit a Middle Ground"

Even as the two presumptive presidential nominees continue to squabble about the past, their debate over the future of US troops in Iraq seems to have entered a broad new middle ground, in which the question is not whether to withdraw but rather the speed and circumstances of departure.

In recent days, McCain has said he would support withdrawal over 16 months -- the timetable proposed by Obama -- provided "conditions" were right. Obama has said that he would "adapt" his withdrawal timeline should "things drastically worsen as we're drawing down." Both advocate leaving a residual US force in Iraq, although neither has specified the size of such a force or where it would be based.

The primary remaining visible difference between their positions, according to the Washington Post, is that McCain has said withdrawal should be based on the judgment of military commanders, whereas Obama has said that the president, as Commander in Chief of the armed forces, should make the decisions about withdrawal while listening to the advice of the generals.

There are of course crazy hardliners in the Democratic Party that insist on instantaneous complete withdrawal, but the dominant perspective in the Democratic Party is far saner. It also seems that because of the success of the Bush Administration's Surge policy (I'll add to the BBC article I just cited that the violence was lower last month than in any other month since the war began, according to the Washington Post article "U.S. Deaths In Iraq fall To Lowest Of the War"), Republicans, including President Bush, are ready to increase troop withdrawals.

Originally Posted by The Washington Post: "U.S. Deaths In Iraq fall To Lowest Of the War"

In a brief statement at the White House early Thursday, President Bush suggested that the decreasing violence in Iraq would allow him to withdraw additional U.S. troops before he leaves office. He said that the top American commander in Iraq,Gen. David H. Petraeus, would make recommendations in September for "further reductions in our combat forces, as conditions permit."

Republican and Democrat positions seem to be coming together at last, because Republicans feel coalition and Iraqi forces have won a great victory and thus are willing to take steps similar to those Democrats have been advocating for years.

I personally feel as though, while this won't end debates over whether we should have entered Iraq in the first place, our debate over current foreign policy on the Iraq War may be fading. What do the rest of you think?


EDIT: I know there's already an Iraq War thread, but the subject of this thread is the debate, not the war, so I thought it might be all right to make another thread. If mods disagree, obviously feel free to merge this with the other thread. It doesn't matter much to me.