RENO — Speaking with evident condescension, Arizona Sen. John McCain needled Barack Obama on Wednesday by offering to travel to Iraq with the Illinois senator to help him gain a better understanding of the war and the consequences of withdrawing troops.
The attack by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was in line with his campaign's recent attempts to portray Obama as too young and inexperienced to lead the nation.
Speaking before a boisterous crowd of 500 who gathered for a town-hall-style meeting here, McCain accused his Democratic rival of ignoring the successes of the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq and suggested that Obama was ignorant of the facts.
"To say that we failed in Iraq and we're not succeeding does not comport with the facts on the ground, so we've got to show him the facts on the ground," McCain said.
McCain also said Obama's proposal to set a date for troop withdrawal would "lead to chaos, genocide and increased Iranian influence."
At a late-afternoon news conference in Beverly Hills, McCain said he was glad to learn via news accounts that Obama is considering a trip to Iraq this summer -- although not a joint trip with McCain, which the Obama campaign branded "a political stunt."
"It's long overdue; it's been 871 days since he was there," McCain said, referring to a 2006 trip Obama took to Iraq. "And I'm confident that when he goes he will then change his position on the conflict in Iraq."
Obama spokesman Bill Burton fired back that it was "odd that Sen. McCain, who bought the flawed rationale for war so readily, would be lecturing others on their depth of understanding about Iraq."
Burton said Obama challenged President Bush's rationale for the war "from the start."
"Sen. McCain stubbornly insists on pursuing the failed Bush policy that continues to cost so much, while Sen. Obama believes it's time to begin a deliberate, careful strategy to remove our troops and compel the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future."
Obama, in a session with reporters while flying back to Chicago from Colorado, spoke of the coming conclusion of his contest with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York for the Democratic nomination.
