Obama, McCain trade shots on Iraq plans

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) strongly attacked Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) Iraq policy Thursday, saying that the presumptive GOP presidential nominee “is embracing the failed policies of the past.”

Obama, who is leading Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) in the race for the Democratic nomination, is seeking to tie his prospective general-election rival to President Bush.

{mosads}“John McCain refuses to learn from the failures of the Bush years,” Obama stated in a speech in Charleston, W.Va. “Instead of offering an exit strategy for Iraq, he's offering us a 100-year occupation.”

The McCain campaign returned fire on an issue that will likely be a focal point of the presidential race.

“On national security, Sen. Obama would rather rehash the past than look forward with resolve to address fundamental challenges and opportunities we have today to secure our future,” said McCain communications director Jill Hazelbaker. “He has embraced an irresponsible policy of withdrawing our troops from Iraq without regard for the conditions on the ground, the advice of our military commanders or the consequences of failure, which his own top adviser called unrealistic.”

Obama hopes that his opposition to the Iraq invasion will help not only in the primary but also in a general election, as people are dissatisfied with the war as it enters its sixth year. In his speech, the Illinois senator argued that the money spent on Iraq could be used to provide universal healthcare, tax cuts for the middle class and other domestic programs.