Excerpts from Fox's Interview With Obama from London

SENATOR BARACK OBAMA TELLS FOX NEWS CHANNEL HE 'DIDN'T WANT TO BE A DISTRACTION' TO THE WOUNDED SOLDIERS IN LANDSTUHL

On "taking heat for this decision not to go to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center and if it is a mistake":
"Well no, not at all. It was scheduled, we intended to go and we got wind that there was some concern that this might be perceived as political; because we were using campaign resources. And at that point, the last thing I wanted to do is to in anyway distract the terrific work that's being done in terms of treating our troops, by getting it fouled up by a bunch of politics. So, since I had a chance to visit folks from Walter Reid, we had a chance to visit folks in Iraq."

"I didn't want it to be a distraction."

On his consistency for the withdrawal plan for Iraq:
"I've been very consistent. What I've said is, is that it will be my job as commander-in-chief to set the strategy, to set the policy, to set the mission. My policy is that we made a mistake by going into Iraq."

"We're there now, which means we have to be as careful getting out as we
were careless getting in."

On if he thinks the surge worked:
"And there is no doubt that they helped to quell the violence in Baghdad as a consequence of their presence.  When you combine that with a Sunni Awakening, where the Sunni tribal leaders rejected al Qaeda, something that happened before the surge took place; and you combine that with a stand down of the Shia militias, what you have is a significant reduction in violence."

"I'm much more interested in the broader debate not only of whether we should have been in Iraq in the first place, but what do we do going forward?  What are our priorities?"

On if his policies have changed since this trip:
"Well, I think that, as I said before, our broad strategic outlines are right."

On what needs to be improved in the War On Terror:
"We cannot have folks who are sworn enemies of the United States, who want to kill us, and are seeking weapons of mass destruction, and killing our troops, from being able to operate freely as they do."

On the U.S. not been an attack on U.S. soil since 9/11:
"I think there's no doubt that we've improved our air safety. I think that we have done a better job of monitoring terrorism -- potential terrorist activities, particularly the financial networks."

On if the Germans are willing to give more forces in Afghanistan? Did you get that impression when you were in Berlin?
"I got an impression that they recognize the gravity of the situation and they want to take it seriously. They've got some political constraints at home. They've got some political constraints at home that they've got to deal with."