John McCain Attacks Obama Over Iraq War

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial on Monday, May 26, 2008, in Albuquerque.

In an interview today with the Associated Press, Senator and presumptive GOP nominee for President rips into Senator Barack Obama (the presumptive Democrat Presidential nominee) over the Iraq War.

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 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 as qualified to lead the military.

In time of war the American people will have to decide whether they want an experienced military commander or an inexperienced first term Senator who has never been in the armed services for President.

Obama can criticize the policies of President Bush but will have a harder time persuading voters that he is ready to be commander in chief – especially since McCain was critical of President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld early on in the war.

Advantage McCain.