WASHINGTON — Sen. Barack Obama said today that overall U.S. interests have been hurt rather than helped by the Bush administration’s decision to increase troop strength in Iraq 18 months ago as he vowed to withdraw combat troops within 16 months of becoming president.
Obama said his White House rival, Sen. John McCain, “has argued that the gains of the surge mean that I should change my commitment to end the war. But this argument misconstrues what is necessary to succeed in Iraq, and stubbornly ignores the facts of the broader strategic picture that we face.”
In a speech delivered in advance of an overseas trip to the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama said fighting al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan would be his top priority.
The speech billed as a major address by the campaign offered no new policy, but a high-profile explanation of his opposition to the war and his pledge to complete a U.S. troop pullout within 16 months of becoming president. It also gave him a forum for criticizing President Bush and McCain.
“By any measure, our single-minded and opened-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe,” Obama said at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center. “I am running for president of the United States to lead this country in a new direction.”
“I will end this war as president,” he said, speaking from a podium that said “Judgment to Lead.” Obama addressed the crowd with a line of American flags behind him.
Obama’s last trip to Iraq was in 2006. He has never been to Afghanistan. The campaign was keeping the exact dates of the trip secret for security reasons.
“This war distracts us from every threat that we face and so many opportunities that we could seize,” Obama said. “This war diminishes our security, our standing in the world, our military, our economy and the resources that we need to confront the challenges of the 21st century.”
Obama delayed his appearance for half an hour for a presidential news conference that the White House announced this morning during the same time that Obama was scheduled to be speaking just three blocks away.
President Bush was asked what advice he might give Obama as he prepared to visit Iraq. The president said he would ask Obama to listen carefully to Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
“It’s a temptation to let the politics at home get in the way, you know, with the considered judgment of the commanders,” Bush said. He defended his policy and maintained that the effort in Iraq was succeeding and acknowledged that the war in Afghanistan remained “a tough fight.”
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