By Kurt Sorensen

In a Democratic debate, Sen. Obama was asked what he would do if his withdrawal in Iraq leads to an increase in the presence in al-Qaida in Iraq. He answered that he always reserves the right to send troops back to fight enemy forces.

John McCain quickly responded that he had “some news for Senator Obama. Al-Qaida is in Iraq.” Sen. Obama’s response was that “of course” he knew about al-Qaida in Iraq, but their presence there was simply a result of John McCain’s vote to engage Saddam Hussein. This is a gross misstatement.

According to intelligence reports, Zarqawi was in Iraq prior to the invasion, and a 2008 Pentagon report states that Saddam Hussein’s connections to global terror were actually underestimated.

To make the allegation that Saddam Hussein was a leader who posed no threat to the West is inconsistent with the facts.

It was not surprising that after he made these statements, Sen. Obama then proceeded to say that John McCain was content with a 100-year war in Iraq.

This accusation comes from John McCain saying that if American casualties are incredibly low, he would be comfortable with keeping troops in the country just as we do in Japan and Germany.

Does Senator Obama want to end our 60-year war with Japan?

And for Sen.Obama to claim that John McCain, a former POW in Vietnam, is somehow content with a 100-year war is dishonest and is a slap in the face to an American hero.

There is no one who hates war more than John McCain, and he is the only presidential candidate who actually knows firsthand what war is like — so long as you ignore Sen. Clinton’s experience with snipers in Bosnia.

Since this argument between the two senators, neither of them has brought up this simple fact: Sen. Obama did not answer what he would do if his withdrawal leads to additional violence.

He said he would “reserve the right” to attack al-Qaida in Iraq and then talked about how we should be focusing on al- Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

So we know Sen. Obama wants to invade Pakistan, a nuclear power and one of our allies in the War on Terror. As for his long-term plan for Iraq, it is unclear and incomplete. With regard to Afghanistan, he has been misleading and deceptive.

Earlier this summer while campaigning in New Hampshire, Sen. Obama claimed that American forces were “just air raiding villages and killing civilians” in Afghanistan.

I’ve spoken with friends who have served our country in Afghanistan, and I have heard countless stories of encounters with al-Qaida as the reconstruction occurs.

Our troops are doing a lot more than “killing civilians” as Sen. Obama so eloquently put. For someone who rails against “the politics of yesterday” and talks about uniting the country, Sen.Obama has been a monumental disappointment.

His dishonest attacks, elusive answers and simple miscalculations are enough to make any observer cringe. Perhaps it is time for anyone who is really hungry for bipartisanship and honesty to take a look at John McCain.

This is the opinion of Kurt
Sorensen, an SJU senior.

Filed under: Opinion by Tan Tuohy