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McCain
TV Ad Accuses Obama of Shifting Views on Iraq for Political Gain
 (AP) - Republican John McCain launched
a new television ad Friday that accuses presidential rival Barack Obama
of switching positions on Iraq "to help himself become president" just
as the Democratic candidate prepared to make a high profile trip to
Baghdad. McCain's sharply worded criticism was not limited to the ad.
He said Friday that Obama would be facing a far less secure Iraq "if we
had done what he wanted to do."
The 30-second ad, running on national cable and in 11 battleground states, is the hardest hit aimed at Obama so far by McCain.
"Barack Obama never held a single Senate hearing on Afghanistan," the
ad's announcer says. "He hasn't been to Iraq in years. He voted against
funding our troops. Positions that helped him win his nomination. Now
Obama is changing to help himself become president."
The ad suggests that Obama was placing politics ahead of the country's
interests. "John McCain has always supported our troops and the surge
that's working. McCain. Country first," the ad states.
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McCain could have let the Republican National Committee air the
commercial, as it did with another critical portrayal of Obama. But
McCain aides say Iraq and national security are issues that McCain is
eager to debate with Obama and saw no reason to put distance between
himself and the criticism.
The ad is airing as Obama prepares to make a high-profile foreign trip
designed to ease voter concerns about his national security
credentials. It also airs as Obama's commitment to withdrawing combat
troops within 16 months of becoming president has come under question.
Obama has said he remains steadfast in his goal to end the war. But
while he had earlier said he would "immediately" begin to remove
troops, he now says he would immediately give his commanders a mission
to end the war.
McCain has been a staunch proponent of a military escalation that has
increased security in Iraq. Obama opposed that surge in troops.
"He will land in a very different Baghdad than the one he would have
landed in ... if we had done what he wanted to do," McCain said at a
Detroit fundraising lunch Friday. "He wants to set a date for
withdrawal. He said the surge couldn't work. He said it couldn't work.
He said it wasn't working and to this day he has yet to acknowledge
that the surge was working."
McCain also called on Obama to thank Gen. David Petraeus for the military success during the last year and a half.
The ad's reference to Obama not holding hearings on Afghanistan refers
to Obama's status as chairman of the Senate's subcommittee on European
Affairs. The subcommittee's jurisdiction includes "all matters,
policies and problems concerning the continent of Europe, including the
European member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization." NATO
forces are fighting in Afghanistan.
Obama was last in Iraq in 2006; McCain was there in March of this year.
Only once has Obama voted against money for troops in Iraq and
Afghanistan — in May 2007. The bill passed overwhelmingly anyway.
Otherwise, he has voted for every bill that financed the troops since
he has been in the Senate.
"While Barack Obama wants to change American foreign policy to wind
down the war in Iraq and address the grave threat posed by a resurgent
al-Qaida and Taliban in Afghanistan, John McCain offers this patently
misleading negative ad," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said. "Given his
calls for a civil campaign, it's disappointing that Sen. McCain has
slipped so easily into the same, tired campaign tactics that have
become so familiar to the American people."
The commercial is McCain's first negative television ad against Obama,
although the Republican National Committee has aired ads critical of
Obama's stance on energy. McCain also aired a Spanish language radio ad
that stated that "the other candidate has just discovered the
importance of the Hispanic vote." And a McCain ad on the Web site of
the Jerusalem Post shows pictures of Obama and Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "Is it OK to unconditionally meet with
anti-American foreign leaders?" the ad asks.
Last week, in a response to the RNC ad, Obama aired a commercial that
described McCain as "part of the problem" of high gas prices. It only
aired in the same four states where the RNC ad appeared.
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