They’re hoping that the talk of troop withdrawals is just campaign talk. But if it is, Obama is going to have a very tough term as president. His base will turn on him very quickly and he’ll be protested until he brings home the troops:

A tough Iraqi general, a former special operations officer with a baritone voice and a barrel chest, melted into smiles when asked about Senator Barack Obama.
“Everyone in Iraq likes him,” said the general, Nassir al-Hiti. “I like him. He’s young. Very active. We would be very happy if he was elected president.”
But mention Mr. Obama’s plan for withdrawing American soldiers, and the general stiffens.
“Very difficult,” he said, shaking his head. “Any army would love to work without any help, but let me be honest: for now, we don’t have that ability.”
Thus in a few brisk sentences, the general summed up the conflicting emotions about Mr. Obama in Iraq, the place outside America with perhaps the most riding on its relationship with him.

Let’s hope that Obama will finally get it when he goes over there and meets the people and see that the surge (that he was against and thought would actually increase violence) actually accomplished its goal. Wouldn’t that be a kick in the teeth to Reid and the other Democrats who are denying the success of the surge 🙂
And then there’s this:

And despite those improvements, street interviews remain risky in Iraq. For this article, 18 people were interviewed about their opinions of Mr. Obama, in Baghdad, in the northern city of Mosul, in the holy Shiite city of Najaf, and in the Sunni suburb of Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad.

Notice anything about the cities where the interviews took place? These are some of the tougher neighborhoods. Did the reporters go looking for anti-American sentiment? Support for Obama’s troop withdrawal? It’s funny that they didn’t find it. They found people who understood that they still needs us to help them maintain stability.
(via)