Obama Gets it Wrong with McCain

By Pamela Mortimer

John McCain and Barack Obama are at odds once again. Republic presidential candidate McCain says Barack Obama, a democratic hopeful, distorted his comments regarding military presence in Iraq. Obama claims that McCain wants to wage war in Iraq for 100 years. According to McCain, he referred to maintaining a military presence in Iraq for 100 years. There’s a big difference.

Due to the snafu, McCain says Obama "clearly has no understanding of military history in the U.S." and how our nation projects its influence.

"We fought a war with Japan and Germany. Afterwards we maintained a military presence there, which we are doing today. We fought a war in Korea; we maintained a military presence in Korea, which we are doing to this day. The first Gulf War, we threw Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait, and we have a military presence there to this day," McCain said.

"So he doesn’t either, hasn’t read or understand … the history of this country in warfare, and the way that we secure alliances and secure the peace. That’s through military government to government agreements that call for United States presence and mutual defense. Not only in that country itself, but also in the region. … So in all due respect, it displays a fundamental misunderstanding of history and how we’ve maintained national security, and what we need to do in the future to maintain our security in the face of the transcendent challenge of radical Islamic extremism. And I understand that because he has no experience or background in any of it," McCain said.

The original statement about maintaining a 100-year presence in Iraq occurred during a town hall meeting in New Hampshire in January. It was then that McCain said he’d have no problem with a long-term U.S. commitment in Iraq.

"President Bush has talked about our staying for 50 years, maybe 100. We’ve been in Japan for 60 years, in South Korea for 50 years or so. That would be fine with me as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or killed," McCain said.

The non-partisan group Factcheck.org has stated that Obama’s distortion of McCain’s words "is to the point of rank falsehood". On Monday, Obama was asked if he would retract his comments. Obama replied that while McCain, a Vietnam POW, is a war hero, he is wrong regarding Iraq.

"John McCain is willing to sign up for the prospect of spending as much as $150 billion or more each year for who knows how long," Obama said, noting that by suggesting that the U.S. keep a long-term presence in Iraq, "that implies that there is some criteria by which we would understand how long it takes. John McCain has not been clear about what exactly lead him to decide it’s time to pull out."

Obama did admit to knowing that the U.S. has maintained a presence in South Korea and other volatile regions for extended periods. McCain supporters call the admission proof that the Illinois senator is knowingly twisting McCain’s words to be used against him. McCain’s campaign staff is referring to the controversy as "politics as usual".