Barack Obama has a problem when he gets off script. In Gary, Indiana, Obama wants to make the point that al-Qaeda needs to be pursued, but in Pakistan. Unfortunately. Obama almost makes a big mistake, and the walk-back isn’t exactly effective:

Note the problem Obama creates for himself in this stumble. He stopped just short of saying that al-Qaeda isn’t in Iraq. He wanted to say it, but he stopped himself, and for good reason — al-Qaeda is in Iraq. Saying otherwise would have made him look ill-informed, and he knows it. He corrects himself to say that AQ senior leadership isn’t in Iraq.

Given that, and given his buildup of warning how great a strategic danger AQ presents to the US, then why does Obama want to retreat from Iraq? We’re trying to take down the whole network. An effective strategy would have us fighting them in Iraq and in the Pakistan/Afghanistan theater — which we’re doing now. We managed to fight two wars simultaneously in 1941-1945 on much larger scales than we face today. If he can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, should he really be Commander in Chief? (via Jim Geraghty)