Obama Calls War in Iraq a Distraction

By Pamela Mortimer

Barack Obama took the stage in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, shortly before a planned trip to the Middle East. During his speech, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee reiterated his pledge to end the war in Iraq by the summer of 2010. Obama called the war a distraction which continues to prevent the U.S. from focusing on other threats. The Illinois Senator claims the U.S. needs to focus on defeating Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and preventing nuclear weapons from being sent to Iran.

"This war distracts us from every threat that we face and so many opportunities we could seize," Obama said. "By any measure, our single-minded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe."

Obama boldly stated that he intends to "give the military a new mission" if he wins the Presidential election: "ending this war."

Republican frontrunner John McCain quickly responded to Obama’s remarks, saying that he knows "how to win wars" and the strategy of increasing troop levels in Iraq is the same strategy that should be applied to Afghanistan.

"Senator Obama will tell you we can’t win in Afghanistan without losing in Iraq. In fact, he has it exactly backwards," said McCain. "It is precisely the success of the surge in Iraq that shows us the way to succeed in Afghanistan."

McCain openly criticized Obama for devising a policy regarding Iraq "without having visited both Iraq and Afghanistan."

"Senator Obama is departing soon on a trip abroad that will include a fact-finding mission to Iraq and Afghanistan," McCain said.

"He is speaking today about his plans for Iraq and Afghanistan before he’s even left, before he has talked to General Petraeus, before he has seen the progress in Iraq, and before he has set foot in Afghanistan for the first time. In my experience … fact-finding missions usually work best the other way around: First you assess the facts on the ground, then you present a new strategy."

Obama denounced McCain for using the "success of the troop surge" to state that he should alter his pledge to end the war in the 16 month time period.

"But this argument misconstrues what is necessary to succeed in Iraq, and stubbornly ignores the facts of the broader strategic picture that we face," Obama said.

Obama said U.S. troops have "performed brilliantly" in decreasing violence in Iraq, but that the presence of additional troops has created other strains: on taxpayers, on the military, and on security efforts in Afghanistan.

Obama’s plan for the Middle East includes introducing a minimum of two additional combat brigades in Afghanistan as well as exerting pressure on Pakistan to escalate the war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The Senator also says he would combine "aggressive and direct diplomacy" with the threat of sanctions in order to keep nuclear weapons away from the Iranians.

Obama is reserving the option to make" tactical adjustments" to his strategy as time goes on. "We can safely redeploy our combat brigades at a pace that would remove them in 16 months — that would be the summer of 2010," he said.