McCain: Obama Tried To Legislate Iraq Loss

(AP)  John McCain told fellow veterans on Monday that his Democratic rival Barack Obama tried to legislate failure in Iraq and has refused to admit he erred when opposing the military increase there last year.

McCain said Obama placed his political self-interest ahead of his country's, a theme the Arizona Republican has often repeated. McCain told a friendly convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars that Obama's positions have changed as his political ambitions grew.

"With less than three months to go before the election, a lot of people are still trying to square Sen. Obama's varying positions on the surge in Iraq. First, he opposed the surge and confidently predicted that it would fail. Then he tried to prevent funding for the troops who carried out the surge," McCain said.

"Not content to merely predict failure in Iraq, my opponent tried to legislate failure."

Obama has acknowledged the surge reduced violence in Iraq but says it has failed in its political goal of facilitating a reconciliation among contentious Iraqi factions. The Illinois Democrat proposes to withdrawn U.S. combat forces from Iraq within 16 months; McCain opposes any timetable for withdrawal.

Iraqi leaders have been pressing the U.S. for a timetable for withdrawal.

"It is hard to understand how Sen. McCain can at once proclaim his support for the sovereign government of Iraq, and then stubbornly defy their expressed support for a timeline to remove our combat brigades from their country," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton. "John McCain is intent on spending $10 billion a month on an open-ended war, while Barack Obama thinks we should bring this war to a responsible end and invest in our pressing needs here at home."

McCain said victory in Iraq is in sight, but much depends on the next president's judgment.

"The lasting advantage of a peaceful and democratic ally in the heart of the Middle East could still be squandered by hasty withdrawal and arbitrary timelines. And this is one of many problems in the shifting positions of my opponent, Sen. Obama," McCain said.

The Republican nominee-in-waiting said Obama's political ambitions have blinded him to reality. He also said Obama has refused to change his positions to reflect new success.

"Even in retrospect, he would choose the path of retreat and failure for America over the path of success and victory," McCain said. "In short, both candidates in this election pledge to end this war and bring our troops home.

"The great difference is that I intend to win it first."

Obama was scheduled to speak to the group on Tuesday. President Bush plans to attend on Wednesday.

[tbweb]

Sen. McCain is currently speaking of Iraq in terms of winning and losing the war but can`t seem to define what winning is in a manner that makes sense! What is winning in Iraq? Iraq just started purchasing billions of dollars of U.S. weapons and gave some oil contracts to U.S. companies, is that winning in Iraq? I can`t wait for Mission Accomplished Part 2!

[joe_transit]

Ever notice we only see the right side of the McCain head, the left side looks to cancerous.

[luvienne]

Mccain''s answer to everything is the surge. What does he not get? If the surge was so great why are people still dying in Iraq? Why is it still costing the USA millions a month to keep this war going? Why are soldiers still dying in Iraq? If everything is so great why does the Iraqi government want the USA to leave? Why does Mccain and the Republicans want to keep this war going? Is the siphoning off of big money so great they will risk all to stay in control? American lives, our economy, our allies.

[taotxzen]

News to CBS - Parrots

Obama hits back at McCain cheap shots in VFW speech

By: SilentPatriot

Just as McCain did Monday, Barack Obama addressed the Veterans of Foreign Wars today, and didn%u2019t pull any punches in his response to McCain%u2019s attacks, especially when it came to the cheap shot that he would rather win the Presidency than win the war. It%u2019s welcoming to see a Democrat eager to go before traditionally Republican-friendly audiences and knock it out of the park.

(cont)

[taotxzen]

(cont)

In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, I warned that war would fan the flames of extremism in the Middle East, create new centers of terrorism, and tie us down in a costly and open-ended occupation. Senator McCain predicted that we%u2019d be greeted as liberators, and that the Iraqis would bear the cost of rebuilding through their bountiful oil revenues. For the good of our country, I wish he had been right, and I had been wrong. But that%u2019s not what history shows. [%u2026]

These are the judgments I%u2019ve made and the policies that we have to debate, because we do have differences in this election. But one of the things that we have to change in this country is the idea that people can%u2019t disagree without challenging each other%u2019s character and patriotism. I have never suggested that Senator McCain picks his positions on national security based on politics or personal ambition. I have not suggested it because I believe that he genuinely wants to serve America%u2019s national interest. Now, it%u2019s time for him to acknowledge that I want to do the same.

[stn_sage]

For crying out loud! The Iraq war is a Bush/Cheney/GOP blunder---everybody who is sane knows it!

It''s in extremely bad taste to try to ''lay the war off'' on Obama! Doing so, just makes him look like a senile old man!

The more McCain talks, the more he looks like Bush, the country can''t stand four more years of this!

[deacon20081]

Orrin Hatch is sending out EMAILS Begging for $7.00 donations to support the protesters at the democratic convention.....isn''t that special!

For every protester they send they need $7.00 each LOL
Will the Republicans slime machine stop at nothing?
Of course not! That is what they do! Decieve and Lie are the McSame traits he wants to bring to the White House....sorry Bush has been enough.

[misha128-2009]

Senator John "Talk Tough and Carry NO Stick" McCain''s "Katrina Response" toward Georgia continues yet another day. Senators Lieberman and Graham reportedly dispatched as envoys to Georgia days ago spend another day in the US on speaking engagements.

%u201411:00 am: Senator Joe Lieberman meets with the Mount Washington Valley Economic Council, Conway, N.H.

%u201412:00 pm: Senator Graham holds a forum on national security and foreign policy at Keene State College, Keene, N.H.

[taotxzen]

It''s a Three-Man Race: Obama vs The Two McCains

Posted August 18, 2008

"How honest are we if we tell the truth most of the time & stay silent only when telling the truth might get us fired or earn us a broken nose? We need moral courage to be honest all the time."

Those words were written by John McCain in his 2004 book Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life.

I couldn''t agree with them more. I just wish John McCain did. Not the John McCain who wrote them in 2004; the John McCain running for president in 2008. There''s a big difference.

When Barack Obama finally secured the Democratic nomination over Hillary Clinton, we all thought it was down to a two-man field. Obama vs. McCain. But it''s turned out to be a three-man race: Obama vs the Old, Honorable McCain and his political doppelganger the New, Unprincipled McCain.

After a month dominated by the new-but-definitely-not-improved McCain, it was actually a bit of a shock to see the John McCain so many of us fell in love with in 2000 make a rare appearance at the Rick Warren forum the other night. Engaging, easy-going, able to connect his incredible life story to his view of the world. Hearing him tell the story of how he and Cindy came to adopt their youngest daughter Bridget, you could almost forget this was the same man who for much of the summer has been running a disgraceful, dishonorable campaign.

(cont)

[taotxzen]

(cont)

And even this rare appearance by the old McCain was tainted a bit by the "cone of silence" dust-up (particularly his campaign''s ridiculous use of the former-POWs-never-lie defense), and the question of whether McCain lifted his moving "cross in the dirt story" from Solzhenitsyn.

Sightings of the old McCain are becoming more and infrequent. He was there at the beginning of the race, when he pledged to run a "respectful campaign" -- and when his campaign manager, Rick Davis, penned a memo vowing, "Throughout the primary election we saw John McCain reject the type of politics that degrade our civics, and this will not change as he prepares to run head-to-head against the Democratic nominee."

But it did change. And so did those steering McCain''s campaign. In July, Davis was replaced with Steve Schmidt, a protigi of Karl Rove. Schmidt''s nickname is "the bullet," and it''s not just because of his bald head -- he practices the kind of politics that shoots for the head. You bring in guys like Steve Schmidt for a reason. And McCain has gotten exactly what he''s paying for -- what Joe Klein (a great admirer of the old McCain) calls the "quadrennial Republican scum festival that begins in August of every presidential election year."

The Huffington Post