McCain Proposes Trip To Iraq With Obama

GOP Senator Says He'd Seize "Opportunity To Educate" Obama, Who's Not Been Since 2006

(CBS/AP)  Republican John McCain on Monday sharply criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for not having been to Iraq since 2006, and said they should visit the war zone together.

"Look at what happened in the last two years since Senator Obama visited and declared the war lost," the GOP presidential nominee-in-waiting told The Associated Press in an interview, noting that the Illinois senator's last trip to Iraq came before the military buildup that is credited with curbing violence.

"He really has no experience or knowledge or judgment about the issue of Iraq and he has wanted to surrender for a long time," the Arizona senator added. "If there was any other issue before the American people, and you hadn't had anything to do with it in a couple of years, I think the American people would judge that very harshly."

McCain, a Navy veteran and Vietnam prisoner of war, frequently argues that he's the most qualified candidate to be a wartime commander in chief. In recent weeks, he has sought portray Obama, a first-term senator, as naive on foreign policy and not experienced enough to lead the military.

The Iraq war, which polls have shown that most of the country opposes, is shaping up to be a defining issue in the November presidential election.

McCain, who wrapped up the GOP nomination in March, supports continued military presence in Iraq though he recently said he envisions victory with most U.S. troops coming home by January 2013 if he's elected. Obama, who has all but clinched the Democratic nomination, says he will remove U.S. combat troops within 16 months of taking office, though sometimes he shortens it to 11 months.

"For him to talk about dates for withdrawal, which basically is surrender in Iraq after we're succeeding so well is, I think, really inexcusable," said McCain, who has been to Iraq eight times, most recently in March.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton declined to respond directly to McCain, saying only: "Senator Obama thinks Memorial Day is a day to honor our nation's veterans, not a day for political posturing."

Over the weekend, Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of McCain's top surrogates, laid the groundwork for McCain's criticism in a television interview in which he noted Obama's absence from Iraq and floated the idea that Obama and McCain should go together to be briefed by Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

"I think if he would look at what's happened in Iraq and talk to Gen. Petraeus and Maliki, I think he would have a different view of what you need to do next," Graham told Face The Nation host Bob Shieffer. "I know it's the campaign season, I would recommend to Sen. McCain that they both go together." (Watch Schieffer interview Graham.)

Asked whether he'd be willing to take such a trip, McCain told the AP: "Sure. It would be fine."

"I go back every few months because things are changing in Iraq," he said. McCain questioned whether Obama has ever been briefed by Petraeus. "I would also seize that opportunity to educate Senator Obama along the way."

Both McCain and Obama spent part of Memorial Day in New Mexico, a general election battleground that was decided by razor-thin margins in 2000, for Democrat Al Gore, and in 2004, for Republican President Bush.

Obama addressed veterans Monday in Las Cruces while McCain used a speech at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial in Albuquerque to press his case against withdrawing troops from Iraq, saying they must continue their mission even though he's "sick at heart" by mistakes at the outset of the war.

McCain also defended his opposition to Senate-passed legislation that would provide additional college financial aid to veterans, a measure Obama supports.

The Republican made no direct mention of the Democrat but seemed to poke at him nonetheless.

McCain said his opposition to the bill was the right rather than the politically expedient position, suggesting Obama was on the wrong side of the measure sponsored by Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia and approved by the Democratic-controlled Senate. Lawmakers blocked a more limited version that McCain supported.

"I am running for the office of commander in chief. That is the highest privilege in this country, and it imposes the greatest responsibilities. And this is why I am committed to our bill, despite the support Senator Webb's bill has received," McCain said. "It would be easier, much easier politically for me to have joined Senator Webb in offering his legislation."

However, McCain said he opposed Webb's measure because it would give everyone the same benefit regardless of how many times they enlist. He said he feared that would depress reenlistments by those wanting to attend college after only a few years in uniform. Rather, McCain said the bill he favored would have increased scholarships based on length of service.

Obama told a separate gathering of veterans Saturday that he couldn't understand why McCain opposes the veterans' scholarships bill passed by the Senate.

"No one can dispute John McCain's love for this country or his concern for veterans. But here's what I don't understand. I don't understand why John McCain would side with George Bush and oppose our plan to make college more affordable for our veterans," he said. "George Bush and John McCain may think our plan is too generous. I could not disagree more." (Read more on Obama's Saturday address.)

McCain spent the early part of the holiday weekend at his retreat in Sedona, Ariz., where he entertained some two dozen guests, including three fellow Republicans who have been mentioned as possible vice presidential running mates: Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. (Read more on McCain's barbeque.)

"It really was just a social occasion," McCain told the AP. Asked whether he did any vetting of the three, McCain said: "None. Zero. There is plenty of time for that kind of thing."

[honest_pols]

Hussein Obama is viewed by enemy nations as easy to deal with, but only in the sense of his being young, naive, and inexperienced.

In other words, leaders of enemy nations, rogue states, and other enemy entities see Hussein Obama as easy to manipulate at a time that they perceive America as becoming weaker.

In addition, America''s enemies have recognized that Hussein Obama is not working in the best interests of America. We know which foreign enemy nations, and Islamic terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran, support Hussein Obama.

We as Americans should never allow our country to be perceived as weak, or be led by a President who will yield to the temptations of NEAR-TERM RELIEF at the expense of facing far worse situations down the road!

Another way to describe what is meant above is:

APPEASEMENT, FOLLOWED BY TERRIBLE CONSEQUENCES !

[standlee5]

It really doesn''t matter if Iraq was a mistake. That''s for history to decide. What matters is the mission is managed and completed correctly from here on out. McCain''s the best man for the job. Without question he''ll make it his legacy to get the job done. He will probably get us out of Iraq quicker than Obama or Clinton simply because of the focus and dedication he''ll bring to the job.

[vaidotas-2009]

http://www.turizmas.lt/konkursas/nuotrauka.php?id=191


go and vote, thank you

[riptide213]

SITREP

Americas All Volunteer Force is burnt out.

High speed low drag political objectives are overdriving an unsustainable military operational tempo.

Subtle subterfuges are quietly achieving a backdoor draft by stealth.

All enlistments incur an Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) legal obligation for 8 years of service commitment.

STOP LOSS.

In Lieu of Taskings.

Army 15 month combat tours. No limit on numbers of tours incurred.

Mandated block leave. Use it or lose it.

Current CINC not backing a better pay rise for his troops.

Potential CINC talking 5 to 100 years more of the same and not backing a better GI Bill without longer commitment strings attached.

VA staffers attempting to conceal and divert PTSD diagnosis.

The Good News is BOHICA SNAFU TARFU FUBAR. Hooah.

Just another Combat Groundhog Day in the box.

Record cases of PTSD, unless covered up by backroom number crunchers.

Cause and effect.

[kansas1946]

"He really has no experience or knowledge or judgment about the issue of Iraq and he has wanted to surrender for a long time," the Arizona senator added. "If there was any other issue before the American people, and you hadn''t had anything to do with it in a couple of years, I think the American people would judge that very harshly."
********************************************
Blah..blah..blah...
McCain is so out of touch with the American people on this that it is laugable. 80pct of Americans think Iraq was a mistake and about that number want us out of there. A vote for John McCain is a vote for Bush on Iraq, and we all know how well Bush''s handling of this misguided fiasco has been.

[terrorislami]

never pay fascist nazi terrorislam tribute,,, never,,,

Kipling poem %u201CDane-Geld%u201D

It is always a temptation to an armed and agile nation
To call upon a neighbor and to say:%u2014
%u201CWe invaded you last night%u2014we are quite prepared to fight,
Unless you pay us cash to go away.%u201D

And that is called asking for Dane-geld,
And the people who ask it explain
That you%u2019ve only to pay %u2019em the Dane-geld
And then you%u2019ll get rid of the Dane!

Kipling runs briskly through the stages of humiliation undergone by any power that falls for this appeasement, and concludes:

It is wrong to put temptation in the pathof any nation,
For fear they should succumb and go astray;
So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,
You will find it better policy to say:%u2014

%u201CWe never pay any-one Dane-geld,
No matter how trifling the cost;
For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
And the nation that plays it is lost!%u201D

It may be fortunate that the United States had to pass this test, and imbibe this lesson, so early in its life as a nation.

[terrorislami]

america stands up to fascist nazi terrorislam,,,

But one cannot get around what Jefferson heard when he went with John Adams to wait upon Tripoli%u2019s
ambassador to London in March 1785. When they inquired by what right the Barbary states preyed upon American shipping, enslaving both crews and passengers, America%u2019s two foremost envoys were informed that %u201Cit was written in the Koran, that all Nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon whoever they could find and to make Slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Mussulman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.%u201D (It is worth noting that the United States played no part in the Crusades, or in the Catholic reconquista of Andalusia.)
Ambassador Abd Al-Rahman did not fail to mention the size of his own commission, if America chose to pay the protection money demanded as an alternative to piracy. So here was an early instance of the %u201Cheads I win, tails you lose%u201D dilemma, in which the United States is faced with corrupt regimes, on the one hand, and Islamic militants, on the other%u2014or indeed a collusion between them.
http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_2_urbanities-thomas_jefferson.html

[terrorislami]

fascist nazi terrorislam

In a way, I am glad that I did not have the initial benefit of all this research. My quest sent me to some less obvious secondary sources, in particular to Linda Colley%u2019s excellent book Captives, which shows the reaction of the English and American publics to a slave trade of which they were victims rather than perpetrators. How many know that perhaps 1.5 million Europeans and Americans were enslaved in Islamic North Africa between 1530 and 1780? We dimly recall that Miguel de Cervantes was briefly in the galleys. But what of the people of the town of Baltimore in Ireland, all carried off by %u201Ccorsair%u201D raiders in a single night?
http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_2_urbanities-thomas_jefferson.html

[terrorislami]

the defeat of fascist nazi terrorislam,,,

%u201CIt is a settled policy of America, that as peace is better than war, war is better than tribute. The United States, while they wish for war with no nation, will buy peace with none.%u201D President James Madison

[j-whitman]

Repent6,,, Why do you think the Bush/McBush fund raiser today was kept out of the media ???? ----- Corporate Money

[j-whitman]

Repent6,,, Why do you think the Bush/McBush was kept out of the media ???? ----- Corporate Money

[j-whitman]

Repent6,,, I give you the news Fox or Newsmax won''t & you call it whinning ??? --- Sounds like you are the whinner

[j-whitman]

2 other McBush lobbyists continued to lobby opposing changes to the mortgage crises as late as last year.

[j-whitman]

McBush''s own economic advisor Gramm opposed correcting the mortgage crises before it occured. He was a lobbyist for Swiss Bank

[j-whitman]

McBush''s own economic advisor Gramm opposed correcting the mortgage crises before it occured. He was a lobbyist for Swiss Bank

[j-whitman]

von_marko,,,, Actually in the 60''s I was very intrested in the Navy''s NAVCAD program, but I didn''t have the college & volunteered for Swift Boats & Submarine Duty, I was in a critical rating at the time & they wouldn''t transfer me to Swift Boats.

How about you ??? Do you know what''s envolved in flight training ???? --- Obviously you don''t know what the consequences where for not compleating training --
-- Bush should have immediately been transfered to active duty & straight to Viet Nam, that was the standard & the proceedure at that time.

[von_marko]

GreatDriveW - BO has announced his travel plans...

O''''Baama''''s travel itinerary as president:
1. Meet with Al Q
2. Meet with Iran
3. Meet with Syria
4. Under no circumstance visit US troops in Iraq
5. Meet with Hugo Chavez
6. Meet with Castro
7. Repeat step 4
8. Go on vacation with mom to Jamaica to increase foreign policy resume
9. Repeat step 4

[von_marko]

GreatDriveW - BO has announced his travel plans...

O''''Baama''''s travel itinerary as president:
1. Meet with Al Q
2. Meet with Iran
3. Meet with Syria
4. Under no circumstance visit US troops in Iraq
5. Meet with Hugo Chavez
6. Meet with Castro
7. Repeat step 4
8. Go on vacation with mom to Jamaica to increase foreign policy resume
9. Repeat step 4

[greatdrivew]

Barack on a trip to Iraq??

Oh sure, he''ll go, but not with McCain.

Instead, he''ll go with his Secretaries of Defense and State, and while they''re there, Barack will give a direct order to Petreus to begin an orderly redeployment.

Oh, I''m certain Pertreus will throw a fit, but that will simply give Barack the ammo he needs to replace Petreus and the rest of Bush''s newly-promoted generals!!

So yeah, Barack will go to Iraq, but with his Secretaries of Defense and State, not McCain.

[von_marko]

j whitman - I''m curious... Have you ever finished a fighter pilot school? And video games don''t count!