McCain Campaign Conference Call On Barack Obama's Iraq Position

"You know last week, Barack Obama had indicated he was going to refine his position on Iraq, and then a few hours later he then said that, really with a mix of qualifying sentences, that there were going to be no changes. We're back again today to highlight the fact that Barack Obama has seemingly been very unsure -- his words have been, to me, very unclear about where he really is on his original unilateral 16 month withdrawal proposal from Iraq." -- Rep. Eric Cantor

Today (July 6, 2008), U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign held a press conference call with U.S. Representative Eric Cantor (R-VA) and McCain 2008 senior policy adviser Randy Scheunemann to discuss Barack Obama's position on Iraq:

Representative Eric Cantor: "You know last week, Barack Obama had indicated he was going to refine his position on Iraq, and then a few hours later he then said that, really with a mix of qualifying sentences, that there were going to be no changes. We're back again today to highlight the fact that Barack Obama has seemingly been very unsure -- his words have been, to me, very unclear about where he really is on his original unilateral 16 month withdrawal proposal from Iraq. These are vital questions obviously to the American people as we approach November, and I'd just like to make a few points. First of all, both candidates in this presidential election want to end the war, but John McCain clearly has indicated he wants to see the gains in Iraq -- as discussed by The Washington Post, The New Yorker and others -- he would like to see those ga ins solidified on the ground before a withdrawal.

"And secondly, I've said before that Barack Obama is a great politician, but he is a politician who's caught between a rock and a hard place politically, because his anti-war base has frankly fueled the campaign, but reports have indicated now that the reality on the ground in Iraq is that there is progress that has been demonstrated. And I think that there is an agreement on the part of everyone that a secure Iraq helps the United States, it helps Israel, and it also helps with the security of the region against a nuclear-crazed Iran. And as a member of Congress, I have seen just a pretty unprecedented event or happening that occurs repeatedly and that is an anti-war base that has pushed the Democrats into taking one vote after another, and I think over 50 attempts trying to de-fund our troops in the middle of a war. We have spent hours on the floor debating withdrawing from Iraq and we've taken these votes all to no avail because really the reality on the floor in Congress is the votes aren't there, because I believe that that reflects where the American people are, and the American people simply do not support a unilateral, unwise decision to leave our job in Iraq unfinished."

Randy Scheunemann: "I want to put Senator Obama's positions on Iraq in a little bit of context because he has held almost every conceivable position in the course of his relatively brief career in the Senate. In 2004-2005, at one point, he indicated he was open to additional troops to stabilize the situation. He said he was opposed to a deadline for withdrawal. He said it would be wrong to cut off funds for troops that are fighting in the field. In January 2007 when the surge and the new strategy was first announced, he indicated that he didn't think the additional 15 to 20,000 troops had any chance of reducing sectarian violence, and in fact, he indicated it might make the situation worse. In May 2007, he voted with a small minority to cut off all funds for troops in the field, and had his position prevailed on that funding bill, we would have forced the most precipitous kind of withdrawal imaginable. Fortunately, his position did not prevail. In the fall of 2007, he said explicitly that he would overrule the advice of commanders in the field to secure the withdrawal along the rigid deadline that he had proposed, and he also said the time to end this war is now. That was in September 2007.

"Now at the end of this week, we've seen a completely new position from him where he claimed he has always said the safety and security of the troops and the need to maintain stability in Iraq would guide his withdrawal -- that is a new position, the need to maintain stability. He also said he would continue to refine his position. With this new position, of course, there was quite a bit of interest in the media and a number of people pointed out it was a significantly new departure from any of the previous positions he had on Iraq. He then came out and claimed that he was puzzled by the reaction.

"And the position of our campaign is that words do matter. And Senator Obama's words have left significant questions as to exactly what he intends if he is now joining Senator McCain's position and saying that the need to maintain peace and stability in Iraq is a prerequisite before a responsible withdrawal which is Senator McCain's position. We welcome his conversion to that position, but that's significantly different from the position he's had in the past which is an irresponsible withdrawal, disregarding the advice of commanders in the field and irrespective of conditions on the ground.

"Now it's been 910 days since Senator Obama's been to Iraq, so it's understandable if he's a little bit unclear on what the situation on the ground is, but I think this key question if he now is going to maintain that the need to maintain stability in Iraq is an essential prerequisite to withdrawal, we need to understand if this is clearly a position he is going to hold moving forward, or if in fact he's being intentionally vague, and we've got yet another position on Iraq, because you do literally need to have a kaleidoscope to follow Senator Obama's positions on Iraq."

Listen To The Full Conference Call.