In the midst of the economic turmoil, the Iraq war is taking a back seat in this presidential campaign. Not so for the 400,000 Iraqi Americans. With continued ties to Iraq, the single most important issue on their minds is the fate of their ancestral home. Whom they will cast their votes for on November 4th is not as clear.
Will Iraqi Americans vote for the candidate who wants to end the war or for the one who vows to continue fighting? Not an easy choice if your home country is the prize. Not surprisingly, the Iraqi community is split.
At the beginning of the campaign, an undecided Iraqi American friend of mine was leaning toward McCain, afraid that if Obama followed through with his promise to withdraw American troops, Iraq would fall into chaos. Now he is leaning toward Obama. Why? He says Obama will be more accepted by the Iraqi people, and thus more likely to make breakthroughs. Second, he hopes Obama’s continued pressure on the Iraqi government to take responsibility for their own country by setting a timetable for withdrawal will yield results.
I add that, of the two, Barack Obama is the more thoughtful, more patient candidate. John McCain is locked into the mindset that the military has the most potent answer to all international crises.
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