"The Least of My Problems … Iraq"

I realize I am late in commenting on this, but I just saw this quote when I was reading my new issue of The Economist. In an interview with "60 Minutes" which I think was broadcast on March 24, President Obama said this:

"[I]f you had said … a year ago that the least of my problems would be Iraq, which is still a pretty serious problem, I don't think anybody would have believed it."

Hmm. Who would have thought that? Well, how about Senator John McCain – and Senator Joe Lieberman – and lots of our soldiers and Marines on duty in Iraq – and most of the people who voted against Barack Obama last November. Because they knew what then-Senator Obama wasn’t willing to admit, and probably didn’t even take the time to try to figure out: that the "surge," i.e., the change to a counterinsurgency strategy and an increase in the number of troops, was actually working.