Boehner: Obama "dead Wrong" On Surge

(The Politico)  House Minority Leader John Boehner said Sen. Barack Obama was "dead wrong"  for continuing to oppose the troop surge in Iraq, after Obama said he would still oppose the surge despite a recent decline in violence in the country.

“Senator Obama was dead wrong about the surge, and to foolishly maintain he would oppose it again today calls into question whether he has the judgment and fortitude necessary to be President of the United States,” Boehner said Tuesday.

Boehner called the surge a “clear success” and said; “General Petraeus’ strategy succeeded in routing al Qaeda and defeating the insurgency, and has allowed our soldiers to begin coming home in victory rather than defeat.”

In an interview with ABC while touring Iraq on Monday, Obama said he would still oppose the surge if he had to make the decision over again.

“These kinds of hypotheticals are very difficult,” Obama said. “But I think what I am absolutely convinced of is that at that time, we had to change the political debate, because the view of the Bush Administration at that time was one that I just disagreed with.”

With violence on the decline across Iraq, Republicans are eager to portray Obama as unwilling to acknowledge the success of President Bush's troop surge.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain set the tone early, telling ABC before Obama's interview that the Democrat "should admit he was wrong about the surge."

However, Obama received a boost Monday, as reports emerged that Iraqi government had welcomed Obama's call to begin removing troops from the country.