Excerpts from a New York Times editorial reveal that Democrat Sen. Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, the presumptive presidential nominees, shifted their focus toward foreign policy. Obama is again calling for a phased withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq and sending about 7,000 US soldiers to the 36,000 already serving in Afghanistan.
Obama has insisted his position on the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq within 16 months has remained consistent, despite fears among his more liberal allies that his resolve to end the war is softening. While McCain told reporters on campaign trail in Phoenix, “I think we need to do whatever is necessary and that could entail more troops” and sharply criticized Obama’s position on Iraq.
The piece wrote that Obama said the recent call by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki for a timetable for the removal of American troops represented an opportunity. “We should seize this moment to begin the phased redeployment of combat troops that I have long advocated, and that is needed for long-term success in Iraq and the security interests of the United States,” Obama said.
The Iraq war was wrong and ending it is “essential to meeting our broader strategic goals, starting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the Taleban is resurgent and Al-Qaeda has a safe haven. Iraq is not the central front in the war on terrorism, and it never has been,” Obama argued.
In the piece, the Illinois senator again states: “On my first day in office, I would give the military a new mission: Ending this war.”
