McCain Response to Obama Call

“Barack Obama's own campaign is the only one talking about his patriotism. Again and again, Barack Obama has advocated withdrawal from Iraq before victory in Iraq, even now with victory in sight. After saying it would be wrong to vote against funds for troops in combat, Obama did just that. Criticizing these positions isn't a question of Barack Obama's patriotism, it's a question of his judgment.” ---Tucker Bounds, spokesman John McCain 2008

In January 2007, Barack Obama Pressed For A Senate Vote On His Bill To Begin Redeploying U.S. Forces By May 1, 2007 And Complete A Total Withdrawal By March 31, 2008. "Obama told reporters he will press for a Senate vote on his bill to begin redeployment of U.S. forces by May 1 with a goal of removing all combat troops by March 31, 2008." (John DiStaso, "Obama: Senators Made Mistake On War," The [Manchester] Union Leader, 2/13/07; S. 433, Introduced 1/30/07)

In September 2007, Obama Called For The U.S. To "Immediately Begin To Remove Our Combat Troops" From Iraq. Obama: "So let me be clear. There is no military solution in Iraq. There never was. The best way to protect our security and to pressure Iraq's leaders to resolve their civil war is to immediately begin to remove our combat troops. Not in six months or one year, but now. To execute this, we should enter into talks with the Iraqi government to discuss the process of our drawdown. We must get out strategically and carefully, removing troops from secure areas first and keeping troops in more volatile areas until later. But our drawdown should process at a steady pace of one or two brigades each month. If we start now, all our combat brigades should be out of Iraq by the end of next year. We will...Now, we will need to retain some forces in Iraq and in the region. We'll continue to strike at Al Qaida in Iraq. We'll protect our forces as they leave. And we'll continue to protect U.S. diplomats and facilities. If, but only if, Iraq makes political progress and their security forces are determined not to be sectarian we should continue to train and equip those forces. But we will set our own direction and our own pace, and that direction must be out of Iraq. The future of our military, our foreign policy and our national purpose cannot be hostage to the inaction of the Iraqi government. Removing our troops is part of applying real pressure on Iraqi leaders to end their civil war." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks On Iraq, Clinton, IA, 9/12/07)

In November 2007, Barack Obama Says He Would Have Troops Out Of Iraq Within 16 Months. Obama: "And since that time, I've been absolutely clear in terms of the approach that I would take. I would end this war, and I would have our troops out within 16 months." (NBC's "Meet The Press," 11/11/07)

In July, Even After Visiting Iraq, Barack Obama Said He Still Had An Unconditional Timetable For 16 Month Withdrawal. "U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Tuesday he was committed to a 16-month timetable for a U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq, after a trip in which he met Iraqi leaders and U.S. officials. Obama was speaking in the Jordanian capital as part of a tour of the region in which he has sought to shift the focus of U.S. military efforts from Iraq to Afghanistan, where al Qaeda and the Taliban are resurgent. The question of when to withdraw some 147,000 U.S. troops in Iraq overshadowed the first term senator's trip. Obama has made his opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 a centerpiece of his election campaign. 'What I have proposed is a steady, deliberate draw down over the course of 16 months,' he told a news conference in Amman." (Caren Bohan, "Obama Says Committed To Iraq Withdrawal Timetable," Reuters, 7/22/08)