March 2008: Did Obama really oppose the Iraq War?

(A post from March 2008)

One way or another. Obama's past is under greater scrutiny. From now on, people will go back and compare what he said with what he is saying now.

Welcome to the majors Obama!

Obama's favorite reply to every question is that he opposed the war in 2002. Some of us have reminded Obama-istas that Obama was not a US Senator. In other words, he did not have access to the same intelligence that Clinton did. Better than that, he did not have to vote. Obama simply answered a question in a Chicago TV program.

It turns out that Obama's position may be a little confusing after all. I found this interview from 2006 in The New Yorker:

"I think what people might point to is our different assessments of the war in Iraq, although I’m always careful to say that I was not in the Senate, so perhaps the reason I thought it was such a bad idea was that I didn’t have the benefit of U.S. intelligence.

And, for those who did, it might have led to a different set of choices. So that might be something that sort of is obvious.

But, again, we were in different circumstances at that time: I was running for the U.S. Senate, she had to take a vote, and casting votes is always a difficult test."

What exactly did he mean? This is the kind of scrutiny that Obama has not had. My guess is that it will be a lot different from now until convention, and subsequently, the election.