Washington
27 July 2008
The presumed Republican presidential nominee, Senator John McCain, continues to accuse his Democratic rival of advocating a defeatist U.S. policy for Iraq. VOA's Michael Bowman reports, the verbal salvo follows the conclusion of Senator Barack Obama's weeklong foreign trip that included stops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Senator Obama has long advocated a timetable for pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq, as well as a boost in American forces deployed to Afghanistan.
During his trip, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee was clearly heartened by Iraqi government statements endorsing the concept of withdrawing U.S. troops by 2010, as well as statements by the Bush administration on the need to focus more attention on the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.
"There is no doubt, and I have said this repeatedly, that our troops [in Iraq] make a difference," said Barack Obama. "My job as the next commander-in-chief is going to be [to] make a decision: what is the right war to fight and how do we fight it? And I think we should have been focused on Afghanistan from the start. We should have finished that job. We have not. But we now have the opportunity, moving forward, to begin a phased redeployment [from Iraq] and make sure we are finishing the job in Afghanistan."
U.S. public opinion surveys show a tight race between the two presidential contenders, with most Americans rating economic issues as their top concerns.