Obama, McCain Camp Trade Jabs on Iraq
(SAN DIEGO) Barack Obama and the McCain campaign traded jabs on Iraq today with some of the toughest rhetoric to date.
"There's nothing less than total confusion about where Senator Obama is on the issue of Iraq and where he's been over the course of the past several years," Randy Scheunemann, McCain senior foreign policy advisor, said today.
Scheunemann went on to suggest that Obama's upcoming overseas trip is politically motivated, stressing that Obama hasn't been to Iraq in over 900 days and has never visited Afghanistan.
Obama blasted back, dismissing McCain's trip to Iraq last year and questioning his knowledge of the region.
"Before we went into Iraq, I knew the difference between Shiia and Sunni," Obama said at a press conference, referring to a gaffe McCain made earlier this year. "I'll recall the visit he made last year in which he was surrounded by helicopters and swat teams and, came back and reported how safe everything was in Baghdad."
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds quickly responded, "If Barack Obama believes that visiting Iraq and meeting with commanders will not give him any new perspective, than we can only assume he's going just to smile for the cameras."
Obama is expected to visit Iraq and Afghanistan later this summer, but said last night that he will not make any promises to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "We have one president at a time so I'm not going to be traveling to negotiate anything or making promises. I am there to listen."