From The Road
July 15, 2008 9:26 AM

McCain To Hit Obama On Foreign Policy

By
John Bentley
Topics
John McCain
(CBS)
From CBS News' John Bentley

(ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.) John McCain will go after Barack Obama this morning at a town hall here on his plans to talk about his policy for Iraq and Afghanistan before his scheduled visit to the region.

"He is speaking today about his plans for Iraq and Afghanistan before he has even left, before he has talked to General Petraeus, before he has seen the progress in Iraq, and before he has set foot in Afghanistan for the first time," McCain will say, according to excerpts released by the campaign.

"In my experience, fact-finding missions usually work best the other way around: first you assess the facts on the ground, then you present a new strategy."

Obama will argue in his speech that the war in Iraq is causing too few American troops to be sent to Afghanistan.

"As should have been apparent to President Bush and Sen. McCain, the central front in the war on terror is not Iraq, and it never was," Obama will say in his speech in Washington this morning.

"Sen. McCain said – just months ago – that 'Afghanistan is not in trouble because of our diversion to Iraq.' I could not disagree more."

McCain acknowledged yesterday that "a lot of things" need to be done in Afghanistan, and that could entail more U.S. troops being sent there. But he disagreed with Obama's assertion that the main front in the war on terror was in Afghanistan.

"He was wrong when he said we've lost the war, and he is wrong today when he says that Iraq is not the central battleground," McCain said about Obama. "That's what Gen. Petraeus says and that's what Osama bin Laden says, that Iraq is the central battleground. We are winning there and his proposals would jeopardize the fragility of the success we've achieved. And his refusal to acknowledge that success is remarkable."

Add a Comment
by DCropp July 15, 2008 4:49 PM EDT
Did everyone hear McCain once again showed his lack of foreign affairs?

Once again, McCain calls it Czechoslovakia, instead of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

How on earth can McCain repeatedly forget the fine work our military did in the Balkan states.

That''s 5 countries McCain has messed up facts on.
Reply to this comment
by mattcat25 July 15, 2008 1:50 PM EDT
What the United States needs is a solid and thoroughly examined Military Course of Action, Mission, and Proper Implementation to alleviative the threat from Islamic Terrorists in Afghanistan. This action should be done entirely by our US Military without the Privatization Revelry and Mismanagement that have occurred in Iraq under the Bush/McCain Administration.
Reply to this comment
by indyvet66 July 15, 2008 1:20 PM EDT
McCain has no standing to critique Obama on Iraq.

The problem for Senator McCain is that he is on the wrong side the Iraq war debate from the start.

Foremost, Senator McCain was a prime mover in the Senate and a great advocate who caused the war in Iraq. And the instability caused by John McCain''s war in Iraq is a major reason why we are paying $4 a gallon for gas.

John McCain and George Bush caused the problem%u2026now John McCain wants you to hire him to fix it. Well%u2026that%u2019s one way to go.

Either McCain or Obama can HOLD this job...the question is SHOULD he hold the job based on his position on the important issues %u2013 in your opinion.

Frankly, the voters should be able to decide which candidate to support, based primarily on their respective positions on the issues.

In the end, Obama is a much better choice...and McCain is disqualified simply by his very poor judgment that led to the Iraq war disaster.
Reply to this comment
by indyvet66 July 15, 2008 1:18 PM EDT
Are you better off today than you were 8 years ago?

Senator McCain voted with President Bush 95% of the time during the past eight years. So much for being a Maverick.

If you like President Bush and think he has done a good job, then John McCain is your man.

If you''re one of many Americans who thinks that the war in Iraq was a mistake or believe that the Republicans have run the economy into the ground and think that the chaos George Bush and John McCain unleashed in our foreign affairs has something to do with the price of gas at the pump... then you have Bush%u2019s partner John McCain to thank.

No one worked harder than McCain to get Bush elected then reelected.

And no one originally promoted and advocated for the Iraq war than John McCain. John McCain%u2019s original sin was supporting Bush and going to war in the first place. That decision cost of more than $1 Trillion and 4,000 American lives. The economy is in big trouble and McCain now wants to perpetuate Bush%u2019s tax cuts for the wealthy.

Again, if you like the results of the past 8 years, then vote for McCain, because you will get more of the same for the next 8 years.

So, are you better off today than you were in 2000?

If not, then I respectfully suggest you vote for Barack Obama in 2008.
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