WASHINGTON, July 15 (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Tuesday a "single-minded" focus on Iraq was distracting the United States from other threats and he renewed his vow to end the war.
"This war diminishes our security, our standing in the world, our military, our economy, and the resources that we need to confront the challenges of the 21st century," Obama said in excerpts of a speech to be delivered later on Tuesday.
Obama's talking about this from a perspective of national security, which is the only way we're allowed to talk about such things, but from the perspective of US as imperial power the "'single-minded' focus on Iraq" has also been an utter disaster. For those who think that one way or another the US should be throwing its weight around everywhere (by invading random countries, by various forms of economic imperialism, or by controlling and using the power of international institutions), Bush has pretty much set that agenda back substantially. That these people have been and continue to be his biggest supporters is a testament to the fact that their egos are more important than their dreams. But that's no surprise either.