I’ve been writing an occasional series, entitled “Hard Questions for Senator Obama,” here at Standpoint, and previously at my Main Point blog. The series was prompted by the Senator’s success, during the Democratic primaries, at eluding such hard questions. This eluding may have been a strategy to keep from being tied then to policy positions that would later hamper him in the general election. If so, that would be understandable, but clarification on many points of defense and foreign policy are now due.

One of the readers of this series has sent me a list of some questions being asked of Senator Obama, about his policies, inside the professional national security community. It follows here:


1. Why does Senator Obama advocate a surge of troops in Afghanistan though he considers a surge of troops in Iraq to have been a mistake?
2. Why is a stable Afghanistan crucial to US interests while a stable Iraq is not?
3. How long does Senator Obama expect to keep troops in Afghanistan?
4. Why is an open-ended commitment in Afghanistan manageable while the same in Iraq is not?
5. How much does Senator Obama expect to spend rebuilding Afghanistan?
6. Why is rebuilding Afghanistan affordable while rebuilding Iraq is not?
7. Why does Senator Obama consider the ethno-sectarian issues in Iraq to be nearly intractable while in Afghanistan they are something we can overcome?
8. If leaving Iraq will make the Iraqi government behave more responsibly, how will an increased presence in Afghanistan affect the Afghan government?
9. Why does Senator Obama advocate a "surge in diplomacy" and multilateralism in Iraq while simultaneously advocating unilateral action in the Pakistani tribal areas?
10. How large of a "residual force" will be left in Iraq and for how long?

My earlier “Hard Questions” are at Standpoint here, and here, and here, and at The Main Point here.

I’ve recently learned that another on-line commentator used the “Hard Question” rubric, a year and a half ago, for somewhat similar questions directed more broadly. I’ll be writing about that commentator, US Army Major Andrew Olmstead (dec. Diyala Province, Iraq, January 7, 2008), in an upcoming post. His "Hard Question" post here.