Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., talks with the media aboard his plane en route to Chicago, Wednesday, May 28, 2008.
Senator Barack Obama the presumptive Democrat nominee for President NOW says he is planning a trip to Iraq this summer.
Senator Barack Obama said today that he is considering visiting American troops and commanders in Iraq this summer. He declined an invitation from Senator John McCain to take a joint trip to Iraq, saying: “I just don’t want to be involved in a political stunt.”
In a brief interview here, Mr. Obama said his campaign was considering taking a foreign trip after he secures the Democratic presidential nomination. No details have been set, he said, but added: “Iraq would obviously be at the top of the list of stops.”
Mr. Obama visited Iraq in January 2006 as part of a Congressional delegation to the Middle East, but he has not returned since he became a presidential candidate. Mr. McCain and the Republican National Committee have sought to use that singular trip to highlight a lack of foreign policy experience.
Nice that someone who espouses a complete withdrawal from Iraq at least be updated from his ONE VISIT TWO YEARS AGO.
Obama says he does not want to be involved in a political stunt but suddenly after the Republican National Committee, an Iraq War veteran’s organization and Senator John McCain call him out on his lack of foreign policy experience especially with regards to the Iraq War he urgently tells the press - he is considering an Iraq trip.
Fancy that.
How many days will the RNC counter show before Obama, a member of U.S. Senate Foreighn Relations Committee actually commits himself to get his ass over there and talks to General Petraeus?
McCain in Reno, Nevada May 28, 2008: Obama Needs To See The Facts On The Ground In Iraq. Skip ahead to 1:20
John McCain in a townhall forum today in Reno, Nevada ripped Barack Obama for having ONLY been to Iraq one time two years ago (before the Surge) and for failing in his duties as a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Key Quotes:
“A little over two years ago he went and he has never seized the opportunity except in a hearing to meet with General Petraeus. This is about leadership and learning.”
“Why is it that Senator Obama wants to sit down with the president of Iran but has not sat down with General Petraeus…”
Is Obama Willing To Meet Ahmadinejad, But Not Petraeus?
Obama has been to Iraq once, in 2006. It was a two-day tour of the country.
I suppose one can argue about the value of seeing the situation on the ground with one’s own eyes, but wouldn’t the architect of a withdrawal want to see some of the circumstances himself? Even if Obama didn’t want to travel with McCain, is it really wise to suggest that a tour of post-surge Iraq is unnecessary? Wouldn’t scheduling a visit defuse criticism like this from Vets for Freedom PAC?
And isn’t Obama vulnerable to the argument that a man who’s pledged to meet unconditionally, one-on-one, face-to-face with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad really ought to meet at least once one-on-one with Gen. David Petraeus?
Barack Obama is too inexperienced in foreign policy to be the President and Commander in Chief. Obama has not served in the military and his military background is limited except a Great Uncle who served in World War II - and Obama got the facts wrong on his service.
Is this someone we can trust to be the leader of the free world, especially in a time of terrorism and war ?
Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker spoke directly to the next U.S. president Tuesday, giving a cautiously optimistic assessment of the situation in Iraq.
They just weren’t certain when they talked to the president.
Was it in the morning before a congressional panel that included Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.?
Or that afternoon when they spoke to another that included Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
In either case, the two top U.S. officials in Iraq said the military is making progress, with Petraeus calling for a halt in troop withdrawals to consolidate the surge’s gains. If carried out, the next president could enter office with more than 140,000 U.S. troops still in Iraq.
Actually, the decorum of the Senate and the Senate gallery was better than when General Petraeus testified last September. Remember when Moveon.org placed the General Betray US ad in the New York Times?
But, conditions on the ground are better in Iraq and Petraeus has done a remarkable job. Now, who will voters believe in November?
Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, speaks as U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, right, looks on during a press conference at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) for Defence and Security Studies in London, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007.
The most notable NO’s were Senators Hillary Clinton and Chris Dodd. Senator Barack Obama did not vote although he earlier had voted on a substitute resolution by California Senator Barbara Boxer.
This issue should make interesting general election debate fodder.
Rudy Giuliani called on The New York Times to allow the campaign to purchase a full page ad at the same discounted rate they provided MoveOn.Org for their “abominable” ad attacking General Petraeus.
The New York Times dramatically slashed its normal rates for a full-page advertisement for MoveOn.org’s ad questioning the integrity of Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq.
Headlined “Cooking the Books for the White House,” the ad which ran in Monday’s Times says Petraeus is “a military man constantly at war with the facts” and concluded - even before he testified before Congress - that “General Petraeus is likely to become General Betray Us.”
According to Abbe Serphos, director of public relations for the Times, “the open rate for an ad of that size and type is $181,692.”
A spokesman for MoveOn.org confirmed to The Post that the liberal activist group had paid only $65,000 for the ad - a reduction of more than $116,000 from the stated rate.
