Speaking to Disabled Vets, McCain Criticizes Obama on Iraq
(CBS)
(LAS VEGAS) - John McCain told veterans today that Barack Obama stubbornly refuses to agree that the troop surge in Iraq has worked and took legislative steps to divert funding for the effort in order to prevent progress in the Iraq war.
Speaking at the Disabled American Veterans conference in Las Vegas, McCain said Obama “tried to legislate failure,” adding that “I would rather lose an election than lose a war.”
“Thanks to the courage and sacrifice of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines and to brave Iraqi fighters the surge has succeeded,” said McCain.
“And yet Senator Obama still can't quite bring himself to admit his own failure in judgment. Instead, he commits the greater error of insisting that even in hindsight, he would oppose the surge.”
Obama told CBS News last month that he acknowledges the lessening of violence since the surge began, but added “it does not solve the broader strategic question that we have been dealing with over the last five, six, seven years.”
McCain also spoke out against “hasty withdrawal and arbitrary timelines” that he accuses Obama of wanting to set, although McCain told the Des Moines Register yesterday that he thought an agreement between Iraq and the U.S. for a pullout of all troops by 2010 would be permissible if the U.S. was “winning” at the time.
Aside from attacks on his opponent, who is vacationing this week in Hawaii, McCain focused his speech on care for veterans and promised to create an access card that would help those coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan to get faster access to care and better assist the rising number of female veterans.
He also promised that as president he would veto any veterans bill Congress sent to his desk that had pork-barrel spending projects included in the legislation. To the thousands of veterans that attended the conference, McCain promised that he would work to increase death gratuity payments and benefits to the families of those killed in the line of duty.
Tomorrow, McCain travels to Pennsylvania for a closed dinner at a private residence.
To name just a few votes by John McCain against veterans:
McCain voted against an amendment providing $20 billion to the VA%u2019s medical facilities. [5/4/06]
McCain voted against providing $430 million to the VA for outpatient care and treatment for veterans. [4/26/06]
McCain voted against increasing VA funding by $1.5 billion by closing corporate loopholes. [3/14/06]
McCain voted against increasing VA funding by $1.8 billion by ending abusive tax loopholes. [3/10/04]
Per retired Army General Robert Gard, McCain''s proposal for concentrating health care on just combat injuries would "shortchange those veterans who suffer from non-combat related conditions". McCain is apparently unconcerned about the number of veterans this would affect, including the 15% of female combat veterans who suffer from military sexual trauma.
When the VA was busted recently for circulating a memo suggesting doctors lower their diagnosis for veterans in order to save money, John McCain replied: "it''s not important".
I urge all Americans to examine what they are voting for, and to please vote in favor of their own better interests.