15 February 2008 - Barack Obama's Bogus Claims

Hillary Clinton's been tarnished by accusations of negative campaigning, but Barack Obama's campaign is turning out to be a rather negative one as well.

Obama has begun to attack John McCain, hoping to distort his views on just about everything.

The following propaganda video was put out by supporters of Obama. It's a spoof of Obama's "Yes We Can" video, and twists McCain's view of the U.S. mission in Iraq:



For the record, again, here is what Obama himself has said about the need to maintain a military presence in Iraq:

"Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda."


So, what Obama is saying is:

1. We're going to withdraw troops from Iraq, starting now.

2. We're going to keep troops in Iraq to protect American diplomats there.

3. We're going to keep troops in Iraq, or nearby, to attack Al Qaeda.

So Obama's policy is self-contradictory. He's selling full withdrawal to his voters, but actually committing himself to a long-term presence of indeterminate numbers in Iraq. Should a guy who is that confused be commander-in-chief?

Now, here's what McCain actually said in his "100 years" statement:



"Q: President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for fifty years . . ."

"McCain: Maybe a hundred [years] . . . We've been in Japan for sixty years, we've been in South Korea for fifty years or so, that would be fine with me as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed. Then it's fine with me. I hope it would be fine with you if we maintained a presence in a very volatile part of the world where Al Qaeda is training, recruiting and equipping and motivating people every single day."

So, what McCain is saying is:

1. Keeping troops in Iraq would be like keeping troops in other regions, which remains necessary for our security and the security of our allies.

2. Keeping troops in Iraq would be conditional on our ability to defend them reasonably.

3. Keeping troups in Iraq is necessary to stop Al Qaeda from becoming stronger and launching attacks against Americans.

Sounds like a strategy.

Obama's distortions don't hold up.