July 21: The intangible in Iraq

By Sylvia Gurinsky

Regarding the debate by the presidential candidates over the war in Iraq: There is an intangible that neither Barack Obama or John McCain will mention, of course, but it is there.

The intangible is how much the rest of the world will get involved in helping the United States clean up the mess President George W. Bush made in Iraq.

The idea, of course, will not be to get troops from other nations into Iraq. The point will have to be getting the rest of the world involved in diplomacy and obtaining and maintaining the peace.

So far, at least, McCain publicly mentions staying Bush's course in Iraq as far as U.S. troop commitment. The question is whether McCain is more willing than Bush to wave an olive branch to the countries (U.S. allies, that is) Bush ticked off during the invasion. McCain has to be more specific about how he intends to mend foreign fences. Obama certainly is willing to reach out, and is showing it during his travels this week.

Isolation has never done the United States much good - especially during the last eight years. The next president needs to take the steps to put the intangible of international support into play - on Iraq, and other matters.