US strategy in Iraq is unsound : Obama
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
WASHINGTON, Jul 15 (AP): Contending that the US is not pursuing a sound strategy for keeping Americans safe, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama laid out goals Tuesday that he argued would deal with the nation's most pressing threats.
In a major speech on the war, Obama listed ending the war in Iraq responsibly as the top priority. If elected president, he said, he would also finish the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban; secure nuclear weapons and materials from terrorists and rogue nations; achieve "true energy security"; and rebuild the nation's alliances.
The speech sets the stage for Obama's upcoming visit to Iraq and offers a high-profile explanation of his opposition to the war and his pledge to complete a US troop pullout within 16 months of becoming president. It also gives him a forum for criticizing President Bush and his rival for the presidency, Republican John McCain.
"By any measure, our single-minded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe," Obama said in remarks prepared for delivery at the International Trade Center in Washington. "In fact - as should have been apparent to President Bush and Sen. McCain - the central front in the war on terror is not Iraq, and it never was."
Obama said the Bush strategy that McCain supports has placed the burden for U.S. foreign policy on American military.
In a major speech on the war, Obama listed ending the war in Iraq responsibly as the top priority. If elected president, he said, he would also finish the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban; secure nuclear weapons and materials from terrorists and rogue nations; achieve "true energy security"; and rebuild the nation's alliances.
The speech sets the stage for Obama's upcoming visit to Iraq and offers a high-profile explanation of his opposition to the war and his pledge to complete a US troop pullout within 16 months of becoming president. It also gives him a forum for criticizing President Bush and his rival for the presidency, Republican John McCain.
"By any measure, our single-minded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe," Obama said in remarks prepared for delivery at the International Trade Center in Washington. "In fact - as should have been apparent to President Bush and Sen. McCain - the central front in the war on terror is not Iraq, and it never was."
Obama said the Bush strategy that McCain supports has placed the burden for U.S. foreign policy on American military.