Barack Obama defends patriotism to vets
The Democratic presidential candidate focuses on his policy positions on Iraq and Afghanistan in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars a day after rival John McCain visited the group.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama defended his patriotism today, chiding rival John McCain for impugning his integrity and challenging the Republican to acknowledge that they can disagree without maligning each other.
"I have never suggested that Sen. McCain picks his positions on national security based on politics or personal ambition," Obama told an audience of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. "I have not suggested it because I believe that he genuinely wants to serve America's national interest. Now it's time for him to acknowledge that I want to do the same."
One day after McCain addressed the same group, Obama gave a spirited defense of his foreign policy positions, using events in the last few days to buttress his argument that "the calamity left behind by the last eight years is too great" to merely "use the same partisan playbook where we just challenge our opponent's patriotism to win an election."
On Iraq, the Illinois senator said that while the surge may have worked militarily, it has failed politically.
"We have lost over a thousand American lives and spent billions of dollars since the surge began, but Iraq's leaders still haven't made hard compromises or substantial investments in rebuilding their country," he said. "And while we pay a heavy price in Iraq -- and Americans pay record prices at the pump -- Iraq's government is sitting on a $79-billion budget surplus from windfall oil profits."
On Afghanistan, Obama said that the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan is now "the central front in the war on terrorism," where the Taliban is resurgent and "Osama bin Laden and the same terrorists who killed nearly 3,000 Americans on our own soil are hiding and plotting seven years after 9/11."
Declaring that "this is a war that we have to win," Obama pledged that "as commander in chief, I will have no greater priority than taking out these terrorists who threaten America, and finishing the job." He also called for what he termed an Afghanistan strategy of "more for more," more from NATO allies, more from the Afghan government, more from the U.S. military.
On Pakistan, Obama said that for years he has argued the need to move from "a Musharraf policy" to "a Pakistan policy." Now that President Pervez Musharraf has resigned, he said, "we will have the opportunity to do just that." He advocated tripling non-military aid while making sure that military aid is targeted on fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda.
