Barack Obama on the issues 5

What distinguishes your plan for Iraq from those of the other candidates?

What distinguishes my plan from nearly all the other candidates is that I was among the few with the good judgment to have opposed the war from the beginning. Now that we must correct the mistake of authorizing and waging this war, there are only bad options and worse options. Under my plan, we would begin withdrawing troops immediately. I would maintain a follow on force in and around Iraq to protect ongoing U.S. interests there, including counter-terrorism operations, training and force protection. Since success in stopping this civil war requires a political solution among Iraq's leaders, I have proposed a diplomatic surge in Iraq and in the neighboring countries. My plan to end the war also seeks to use policy measures now to ensure that our troops are not confronted with destabilizing ethnic strife that undercuts regional stability later. To that end, I have proposed that we condition any future assistance to Iraq on human rights performance, that we aggressively seek to assist Iraq's internally displaced now, that we increase funding for refugees in neighboring countries, and that we declare the international community's intention to hold the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide accountable for their crimes.