Partial Transcript of McCain Camp Media Call on Obama's Iraq Trip

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
McCain Campaign Conference Call On Barack Obama's Iraq Positions

"Senator Obama decided some months ago when he was running for the nomination that 16-months was the time period that all troops should be withdrawn. Not 12 months, not 14, not 18, but 16. That's an artificial date and it is completely ignorant of conditions on the ground and the effect that it would have both on our ability to withdraw as well as the ability to have sustainable security in Iraq in the aftermath." -- Randy Scheunemann

ARLINGTON, VA -- Today, U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign held a press conference call with Randy Scheunemann, McCain 2008 senior foreign policy adviser, to discuss Barack Obama's Iraq position:

Randy Scheunemann: "We are pleased to see that Senator Obama is in Iraq and he's getting to see firsthand the progress on security that has been made under the surge policy. We understand he's going to meet General Petraeus and other commanders for the first time. We also think that's a very positive development. He's going to get briefings from military commanders and also meet with or he has met with Iraqi officials and he's going to hear the views of our commanders on the problems with unconditional withdrawal, on why withdrawal has to be based on the conditions on the ground. We hope he listens to them. Senator Obama has said this is going to be a listening tour. We certainly hope very sincerely he listens to the advice of our military commanders.

"Just yesterday, Admiral Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a withdrawal driven by dates -- withdrawing all combat troops in two years -- would be 'dangerous.' General Petraeus has made it clear that a withdrawal must be based on security conditions on the ground, on what the enemy is doing and is likely to do or all our gains will be jeopardized. General Hammond who is commander of the Fourth Infantry Division in Baghdad, when asked about a date to withdraw he said 'It is very dangerous. I'll speak for coalition forces, men and women of character and moral courage; we have a mission, and it's not until the mission is done that I can look my leader in the eye and say, "Sir, Ma'am, mission accomplished," and I think it is dangerous to leave anything a little bit early.' These are the commanders Senator Obama is likely to hear from when he's in Iraq and the question is whether he will listen to them or whether he will ig nore their military judgment on the importance of having a conditions based withdrawal and supplant it with his own military stunts which is really based more on a political calculation rather than any experience he has and continued to stubbornly insist on his unconditional date driven withdrawal.

"Senator Obama's judgment on Iraq has been universally wrong. He opposed the surge. He predicted it would fail. He said not only would it not decrease sectarian violence, it would likely increase it. Had we followed his course of action there would have been no surge, funding for troops would have been cut off last year. He proposed a withdrawal plan in January 2007 that would have all our troops out of Iraq by March 2008. He rewrote his website on the surge and now he is trying to rewrite history saying he always knew the surge could reduce sectarian violence.

"Had we followed Senator Obama's advice in fact he would not be in Iraq today because Iraq would be in chaos. He couldn't visit Basra as he's doing today because Basra would be under the control of Iranian backed killers rather than under the control of the Iraqi government and coalition forces. So what we're seeing today is a real watershed moment for Senator Obama. Is he going to listen to our commanders in the field and talk about and listen to them when they say any withdrawal must be based on conditions or is he stubbornly adhere to his politically motivated plan to have an unconditional withdrawal driven only by dates, arbitrary dates, rather than conditions on the ground?"

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Reporter: "I'm curious. The Senator's meeting with former President Bush today. Meanwhile, the current administration is now negotiating with Iran and is also talking about a time horizon for withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Obama is bragging about both of those, saying the administration is coming to his point of view. Is the Bush administration's foreign policy making it difficult for you guys to make your case?"

Scheunemann: "Not at all, and what Senator Obama is doing is selectively misinterpreting what, in fact, is happening. In the case of Iran, we're engaged in serious sustained multilateral diplomacy with our European allies and with other permanent members of the Security Council presenting Iran with a clear choice -- a very generous package of incentives should they decide to suspend uranium enrichment and come into compliance with the IAEA. That's a course that Senator McCain has strongly supported.

"Senator Obama's course is very different. He wants to make unilateral concessions to Iran, not insist that they suspend their uranium enrichment program, and engage in unilateral cowboy summitry and meet unconditionally with Ahmadinejad. The only way you could compare what the Bush administration is doing with its diplomacy with Iran with what Senator Obama wants to do would be if President Bush invited President Ahmadinejad to Crawford for a barbeque, and that certainly isn't going to happen.

"On the time horizon question, there's a great deal of difference between having a time horizon, or a goal, where you hope to have American troops out depending on conditions on the ground, and having an unconditional date-driven withdrawal, which is what Senator Obama wants. Senator Obama decided some months ago when he was running for the nomination that 16-months was the time period that all troops should be withdrawn. Not 12 months, not 14, not 18, but 16. That's an artificial date and it is completely ignorant of conditions on the ground and the effect that it would have both on our ability to withdraw as well as the ability to have sustainable security in Iraq in the aftermath. Senator McCain is a strong believer that we cannot jeopardize the gains made to date. That any withdrawal has to be made based on conditions as we are in the process of taking the 5th of 5 surge brigades out, based on the improvement of security conditions, and Senator McCain believes that's the way to move forward. Not with an artificial date like Senator Obama's proposing."