Donald Lambro at The Washington Times: Exposing A Blind Spot.
Sen. John McCain had one goal in mind when his turn came to question Gen. David Petraeus about the Iraq war: to show Sen. Barack Obama didn’t understand the dire threat al Qaeda posed to that country’s survival…
Though he never mentioned the Democratic presidential front-runner by name, Mr. McCain wanted to dismantle one of Mr. Obama’s chief contentions regarding the war: that there is no serious al Qaeda threat in Iraq in terms of a military infrastructure with command centers, bases, etc., and it is time to begin a full withdrawal of all combat forces there.
Mr. Obama has from the beginning maintained that al Qaeda was not in Iraq before the U.S. invasion and only entered the country after Saddam Hussein’s regime was toppled. The Illinois senator’s argument essentially maintains that the U.S. presence in Iraq is the sole cause of the presence of al Qaeda in the country.
You would be unable to find any declaration in any of his campaign speeches that al Qaeda, the radical Islamic terrorist force that killed nearly 3,000 people in America on Sept. 11, 2001, and many other people in attacks around the world, poses a dire threat to Iraq’s fledgling democracy.
Indeed, if you visit Mr. Obama’s campaign Web site and look up his position paper on U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and scroll down to the very bottom of it, you will see a rather extraordinary statement. He asserts that if, after pulling most of our troops out of Iraq, al Qaeda were to establish bases there, he would go back in with strategic forces to eliminate them…
The cross-committee debate between the two rivals formed a study in sharp contrasts: On the one hand, Mr. McCain, focused on eliminating al Qaeda as a serious threat in Iraq; on the other, Mr. Obama, acknowledging al Qaeda’s presence as a force to be reckoned with, but willing to abandon the fight in any event.
HotAir: Iraqis Aren’t Stupid — And They’re Watching Us.
Powerline: The Consequences of Withdrawal.
Time reporter in Baghdad: “… every Iraqi who offers me a view on American politics seems to be praying for a McCain victory.”
Hamas endorses Barack Obama for President: “He has a vision to change America.”
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The quote in the cartoon is from the book The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, and the Future of the Holy City
