A Gulf Between Candidates Over War

Iraq And GI Bill Are Points Of Contention Between Dem, GOP Campaigns

(CBS)  If Iraq has not been the leading issue in the presidential campaign owing to widespread concerns about the economy, it soon may be, as the differences between the two leading candidates - presumptive GOP nominee Sen. John McCain and Democratic front-runner Sen. Barack Obama - play out in the weeks ahead.

One major disagreement has been in support of a new GI Bill, sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., which would expand benefits for those who serve. It passed the Senate with bipartisan support by a vote of 75-22 - a vote McCain missed while out campaigning.

The Arizona Senator, however, has said he objects to the bill, which President Bush has also threatened to veto.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said he hoped McCain would join Obama in supporting the bill, and suggested he meet with soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. "I think Senator McCain would come to realize that these veterans deserve the same good treatment coming back from this war as those who returned from World War II," Durbin said to Face The Nation host Bob Schieffer.

However, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., characterized the new GI Bill as one that would "give $52 billion to the people who will leave the military and nothing for those who will stay."

Graham, in turn, suggested that because of changes on the ground in Iraq since Obama's last visit to that country in 2006, the Illinois Senator would benefit from another visit to the country to meet with officials there.

"Senator Obama keeps talking about an immediate withdrawal as soon as he gets to be president," Graham said. "I would recommend that he go back. So much has happened since 2006 on the ground. It's been extraordinary. He's never really had a one-on-one with General Petraeus. Go back and go to Iraq and talk to General Petraeus. Talk to the Maliki government and see how things have changed.

"I think if he would look at what's happened in Iraq, talk to General Petraeus and Maliki, I think he would have a different view of what you need to do next." He even recommended that McCain join Obama on the trip, so they could share in the briefings and fact-finding.

Durbin took exception with Graham's remarks, however, likening them to an ad created by a 527 committee, Veterans for Freedom (on whose advisory board Graham and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., both sit). That ad accuses Obama of refusing to meet with General David Petraeus or go to Iraq.

"I would say to Senator Graham and Senator Lieberman, take a look at this ad," Durbin said. "This really is misleading and it really shouldn't be out in this part of the campaign. And I wonder how their being involved in it ... is consistent with Senator McCain's recent statement saying that if you have a title or a position in his campaign, you shouldn't get involved in a 527 that produces negative ads."

"I haven't been involved in anybody's ad," said Graham, who repeated that Obama has never sat down one-on-one with Petraeus.

Also on the program, Howard Wolfson, director of communications for Hillary Clinton's campaign, said that Clinton's remarks on Friday, bringing up the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy as an example of how nominating processes can extend late into the year, were blown out of proportion.

"To claim that she was making any kind of other reference in her comments is wrong and a misreading of what she said," Wolfson told Schieffer. "I think some in the news media did overhype this. I think that's unfortunate. ... So let's get to the facts of what she was saying, rather than what some in the media have interpreted she was saying.”

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Read the full "Face the Nation" transcript here.

[lalinda4]

You are going to have to pay for the war and the only way you can do this is by TAXING THE HEDGE FUND DEALERS who go offshore to escape the tax. I''m one of those super voters who don''t believe in superdelegates, the caucuses or the electoral college. Whoever wins the popular vote should be the President. Senators Clinton or Obama should be the Democratic Presidential nominee and the other one should be the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee. Since both candidates want to TAX THE HEDGE FUND DEALERS, it''s going to take both of them working together to get it through the Senate. After what I read in the article, "Senate Judiciary Hearings Expose Hedge Fund Perfidy" by John Hoefle on the web July 21, 2006 where Gary Aguirre, a former SEC investigator, who got fired said, "Hedge funds should be regulated" and another person testified that "They like to screw small investors."
Yours truly, Disgusted Middleclass Taxpayer, LaVern Isely

[don_castella]

Senator Durbin said Sunday, "I would hope
that Senator McCain would join Senator Obama in meeting with some returning veterans and
soldiers..."

Senator Durbin is incorrect. In reality, despite the fact that our group of twelve Illinois veterans (Including at least three disabled veterans and two amputees) requested personal meetings with our Illinois Senator Obama for a month before we visited Capitol Hill, Senator Obama refused to meet with us personally. Yet Senator Obama has offered to meet personally with enemy and terrorist leaders without preconditions.

On that same trip to Capitol Hill, our membership met Senator McCain, who was a guest speaker at our April 8th News Conference.

In addition, Senator Durbin himself refused to meet personally with our group of Illinois veterans. Although our scheduler had sought a personal meeting for us with Senator Durbin well in advance of our visit to Capitol Hill, we were relagated to meeting with Senator Durbin''s Staff. SSG Garrett Anderson and the other brave young men in our group were disappointed that neither Illinois Senator could find time to meet with us and listen to their first-hand experiences fighting in Iraq. Men like Sgt Joseph Cook, of Wauconda, IL, who lost a leg in an IED attack and has two brothers also presently serving our military in Iraq, deserve better treatment from our elected officials, particularly one who wishes to be elected our Commander-in-Chief.

Don Castella
Illnois Captain
Vets for Freedom

[remco82]

Bring ''em home! Every reason Bushie ever gave for invading Iraq proved to be false. Bring ''em home!

[sjc_1]

Onama was not in the Senate when the war vote was taken. It is easy to say what you might have done, but if you were not there to actually do it, it is just talk.

[samthetvcat]

That Vets for Freedom organization seems like it''s been established to springboard pro-war vets with political ambitions into office. There''s a competing organization called Vote Vets (I think that''s the one) that''s anti-war that''s at least up front about their agenda.

On the issue of retention, I would argue that the fact that retention is even an issue is maybe an indication that the war in Iraq isn''t any longer perceived as being a cause on the same level as the war in Afghanistan post-9/11. Like for a professional soldier, wouldn''t the greatest motivator of all be a noble cause that''s winnable when that soldier is asked to do what they''ve been trained to do? Do the Iraq vets still feel that way after they''ve completed their first tour?

Does that make sense - like I guess I''m trying to say that retention''s mostly a problem just for McSame because he wants to continue the war in Iraq and maybe both the public AND the troops have stopped believing in it. Like maybe if our troops get refocused on Afghanistan/Pakistan, troops will feel more inspired (?) and as well not as many troops will be needed anyway (?)

I don''t think it bodes well for McCain that his support for the war has stretched resources so thin that he wouldn''t want to give vets enough $ to get an education . . . and that the majority of Repubs voted against his view . . .

[mcvet]

MCCAIN/ROMNEY- 2008- SOLID FAMILY VALUES,STRONG MILITARY AND ECONOMIC EXPERIANCE, AND A SENSE OF REALITY


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Posted by jack3213 at 12:10 PM : May 26, 2008
+ report abuse

Hey Swastika Hugger?? DIDn''t you say the SAME thing about Bush/Cheney? ROFLMAO THEY turned out to be the WORST in our history now didn''t they? So tell us what does McSame and the Religious Freak propose that''s different than the TOTALLY Failed Policies of Bush/Cheney??? Now stand... Don''t be ashamed that your a simple minded Bootlicker, everyone already knows it anyway. SIEG HEIL BUSH!!

[mcvet]

Its pretty obvious to me this is a liberal ploy to weeken the military. I find it hard to beleive that the same people who take such delight in spitting on our troops are now trying to help them. Why not give them the benifit wile they are serving? why not up their pay? Election year politics are something else. Who am I kidding every year is election year. I''''ve seen liberals do some dirty things this ranks up there with trying to get the 2000 Florida military vote thrown out.


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Posted by cbscrash07 at 03:04 PM : May 26, 2008
+ report abuse

Restoring the GI Bill to it''s PRE FASCIST state is going to HURT the Military? Swastika Breath YOU have got to explain that one to me! SIEG HEIL BUSH

[omega39-2009]

ry. I find it hard to beleive that the same people who take such delight in spitting on our troops are now trying to help them. Why not give them the benifit wile they are serving? why not up their pay?

Posted by cbscrash07

Troops don%u2019t need bigger pay raises, White House budget officials said Wednesday in a statement of administration policy laying out objections to the House version of the 2008 defense authorization bill.

The Bush administration had asked for a 3 percent military raise for Jan. 1, 2008, enough to match last year%u2019s average pay increase in the private sector. The House Armed Services Committee recommends a 3.5 percent pay increase for 2008, and increases in 2009 through 2012 that also are 0.5 percentage point greater than private-sector pay raises.

The slightly bigger military raises are intended to reduce the gap between military and civilian pay that stands at about 3.9 percent today. Under the bill, HR 1585, the pay gap would be reduced to 1.4 percent after the Jan. 1, 2012, pay increase.

Bush budget officials said the administration %u201Cstrongly opposes%u201D both the 3.5 percent raise for 2008 and the follow-on increases, calling extra pay increases %u201Cunnecessary.%u201D
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/05/military_payhike_whitehouse_070516/

[Syndicate]

Its pretty obvious to me this is a liberal ploy to weeken the military. I find it hard to beleive that the same people who take such delight in spitting on our troops are now trying to help them. Why not give them the benifit wile they are serving? why not up their pay? Election year politics are something else. Who am I kidding every year is election year. I''ve seen liberals do some dirty things this ranks up there with trying to get the 2000 Florida military vote thrown out.

[jack3213]

MCCAIN/ROMNEY- 2008- SOLID FAMILY VALUES,STRONG MILITARY AND ECONOMIC EXPERIANCE, AND A SENSE OF REALITY

[graigrsmith]

you know, they might have MORE military people if they sign this act into law. free school is a good thing.

[cosmotopper]

If there is any one issue which represents the hypocrisy and corruption of the Bush administration, and Senator McCain (who I would like to support, but cannot, for this very reason), it is the continued abuse of our military personnel. On a day when we are supposed to be honoring our military for their service, we find that President Bush & Sentator McCain are in agreement that making our volunteer army ''''too voluntary'''' is a bad idea. They have coined a euphemism for their abuse: the term is ''''retention'''', and what it means is: we''''re going to make it as difficult as possible for our veterans to get out and lift themselves up economically by getting the education they were promised when they enlisted.

It is bad enough that President Bush has chosen to saddle this tiny minority of American citizens with the entire burden of sacrifice for his ill-conceived and incompetently prosecuted war. Now, Senator McCain, is realizing that he also might have to persuade the American public to support a continued presence in Iraq in ways other than simply remaining quiet while the existing reservist carry the load. So he, along with Lindsay Graham, are attempting to re-jigger the language of the new GI Bill so they won''''t have to face that problem.

Speaking as a Republican: this is, quite simply, despicable. If their contract says they can leave and go get an education, there is no higher obligation of this nation than to keep it''''s word and fund that option.

[hologram5]

Vote for Obama is a vote against facsism. Get the criminals out of office, we are tired of lies and deception. Bush finished what his granddad started, a facsist coup. Impeach and indict!!!

[bluestardad]

STICK A FORK IN THE REPIGS!

THEY ARE DONE!

AMERICA DEMAND IRAQ WAR CRIMES TRIALS NOW!

AMERICA STAND UP OR SHUT UP!

[bluestardad]

HOW DOES LINDSEY GRAHAM GET ELECTED IN A MILITARY STATE WHEN HE HAS CONSISTENTLY SUPPORT BUSH THE DUEL PASSPORT HOLDING ISRAELI NEOCONS LIKE LIEBERMAN OVER THE AMERICAN TROOPS?

THESE GUYS WILL TRULY BE INCLUDED IN THE IRAQ WAR CRIMES TRIALS!

DEMAND WAR CRIME TRIALS NOW!

AMERICA STAND UP OR SHUT UP!

[smirk5]

Hi. I''m John McCain. Ok. So I don''t know the difference between Shia and Sunni and I don''t know that Iran is Shia and Al-Qaeda is Sunni. Ok. So I don''t actually know that Ali Khameini is the leader of Iran. Ok. So I thought we''d be greeted as liberators in Iraq.
Forget all that my friends. The important thing is that I ate my own feces in Vietnam. That qualifies me. Vote John McCain in 2008. I promise to keep the Bush foreign and economic policies in place for good.

[crater7]

OBAMA HAS WHINNED FOR McCAIN, TO RELEASE HIS MEDICAL RECORDS, CINDY''S TAX RECORDS. WELL, THEY HAVE BEEN RELEASED, AND NOTHING FOR THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN TO COMPLAIN ABOUT OTHER THAN CINDY IS A VERY RICH GIRL.
MICHELLE AINT GONNA LIKE THAT.

NOW IT''S TIME FOR OBAMA TO RELEASE HIS MEDICAL RECORDS, HIS PASSPORT RECORDS, AND EVEN MICHELLE''S MEAN AMERICA, SPEECHES.

OWN UP OBAMA, AND STOP WHINNING.

GOD "BLESS" AMERICA. NOT "G D" AMERICA.

[smirk5]

I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.

I am not opposed to all wars. I%u2019m opposed to dumb wars.
Barack Obama Oct. 2, 2002

"But the point is that, one, we will win this conflict. We will win it easily." [MSNBC, 1/22/03]
John McCain

"But I believe, Katie, that the Iraqi people will greet us as liberators." [NBC, 3/20/03]
John McCain

[undermyboot]

McCain is showing some serious mental confusion.

[harp1963]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/09/60minutes/main592330.shtml