Continuing the weekend’s theme, we now see that Iraqi officials want the Americans out of their country by 2010.

I’m here to tell you that’s not happening, even if Obama is elected president.

Two thoughts here. The first is that John McCain’s campaign absolutely hits the wall with these developments. Because it places him in the position of having to deny virtually everything that the neoconservatives/warhawks have said these past five years; that the war was all about out American magnanimity in trying to provide the Iraqis with a better life, that all we wanted was the best for them - freedom!

And now the little ingrates are using that freedom to tell us to get lost? How dare they.

So McCain’s in the position of telling the Iraqis: We fought this war for your sovereignty, but you don’t know what’s best for you; we do. We’ll tell you when you can have your sovereignty.

And that position simply makes a mockery of everything that came before for the right; forces them to admit that this was never about Iraqi freedom in the first place. That’s a tough pill to swallow, especially in full view of the voters, during an election campaign - stepping up to the plate and saying, yes: It was imperialism all the time.

The second thought has to do with Obama. Now that he’s perceived to be wavering from his commitment to bring the troops home ASAP, the left is getting antsy; and the right is saying, see? He was never All That; and why do we act like he is?

I supported Obama during the primary process primarily because I think he understands why the war in Iraq was a mistake - and I just don’t think Hillary really did. Sure, she regretted her vote, but for political reasons; she was very much of the establishment that, whatever they said publicly at the time, knew this was an imperialistic adventure, and supported that. Obama can make a claim that he wasn’t on that bus, which made him a more credible candidate in my eyes.

But who among us thinks Obama is some sort or real “outsider,” prepared to buck the entire establishment on Iraq, or anything else? Of course he’s going to let facts on the ground determine when he would pull out of Iraq; that was always going to be the case, regardless of what he might have said during the primary season, or what you might have believed.

But I do believe that in the long run, he isn’t as beholden to the imperialistic instinct; may keep fewer troops in country in the short term, and may indeed pull out completely in the long run, which McCain would never do. Moreover, in understanding why Iraq was a bad call, he also understands that bulling your way into war with Iran would also be a bad call; and there is no evidence that McCain grasps this.

Obama’s watchword is “change,” but the change is not going to come quickly, nor be as thorough as many want. It’s like turning a battleship; and Obama remains preferable because he continues to prove that he understands why the battleship must turn, however slowly. Whereas McCain simply stays the course.