OBAMA'S IRAQ BACKTRACK: Obama Spends Another Week Backtracking on His Iraq Positions...

OBAMA'S IRAQ BACKTRACK: Obama Spends Another Week Backtracking on His Iraq
Positions Instead of Visiting the Country, Showing Once Again That He Lacks
the Leadership to Be Commander-In-Chief

IT HAS BEEN 880 DAYS SINCE OBAMA HAS BEEN IN IRAQ - visit http://www.gop.com/

WASHINGTON, June 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following release is being
issued by the Republican National Committee:

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080519/RNCLOGO )

Today, Obama Communications Director Robert Gibbs Claimed That "Everybody"
Said The Surge Would Improve Security In Iraq:

Gibbs: "[W]ell, there's no doubt that the security situation has improved,
much as everybody admitted it would if we put more troops on the ground."
(MSNBC's "Morning Joe," 6/6/08)

But When The Surge Was Announced In January 2007, Obama Said That It Would Not
Work And Would Actually Increase Sectarian Violence:

Obama Said "I Don't Think The President's Strategy Is Going To Work." Obama:
"But right now what we have is, I think by all accounts, a disaster unfolding
in Iraq. We all have a responsibility, Democrats and Republicans, Congress and
the White House, to make sure that we can come up with the best strategy. I
don't think the president's strategy is going to work. We went through two
weeks of hearings on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; experts from
across the spectrum -- military and civilian, conservative and liberal --
expressed great skepticism about it."(MSNBC's "Reaction To The State Of The
Union Address," 1/23/07)

-- Obama Said The Surge Would Actually Worsen Sectarian Violence In Iraq.
Obama: "I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraqis
going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will
do
the reverse." (MSNBC's "Response To The President's
Speech On Iraq," 1/10/07)

Obama: "Finally, in 2006-2007, we started to see that, even after an election,
George Bush continued to want to pursue a course that didn't withdraw troops
from Iraq but actually doubled them and initiated a surge and at that stage I
said very clearly, not only have we not seen improvements, but we're actually
worsening, potentially, a situation there." (NBC's "Meet The Press," 11/11/07)

Yesterday, Obama Claimed That He Would Be Open To Listening To Commanders On
The Ground And What They Advised Regarding Withdrawal From Iraq:

Obama Told CNN's Candy Crowley That He Was Open To "Facts And To Reason" With
Regard To His Plan For Withdrawal From Iraq. Crowley: "You have said you want
to go back to Iraq." Obama: "Yeah." Crowley: "See what the situation is on the
ground. Is there nothing that they could show you or that General Petraeus
could tell you that would move you from wanting to immediately begin removing
U.S. troops?" Obama: "Well, you know, I never say there's nothing or never or
no way in which I'd change my mind. Obviously, I'm open to the facts and to
reason. And there's no doubt that we've seen significant improvements in
security on the ground in Iraq." (CNN's "The Situation Room," 6/5/08)

But Previously, Obama Committed To Removing Troops From Iraq Regardless Of
What Military Commanders Advised:

Obama Committed To Withdrawing Troops From Iraq Regardless Of The Advice He
Received From Commanders On The Ground. ABC's Charles Gibson: "And, Senator
Obama, your campaign manager, David Plouffe, said, 'When he is' -- this is
talking about you - 'When he is elected president, we will be out of Iraq in
16 months at the most. There should be no confusion about that.' So you'd give
the same rock-hard pledge, that no matter what the military commanders said,
you would give the order to bring them home?" Obama: "Because the
commander-in-chief sets the mission, Charlie. That's not the role of the
generals. And one of the things that's been interesting about the president's
approach lately has been to say, 'Well, I'm just taking cues from General
Petraeus.' Well, the president sets the mission. The general and our troops
carry out that mission." (Sen. Barack Obama, Democrat Presidential Candidate
Debate, Philadelphia, PA, 4/16/08)

Obama Has Made No Effort To Meet One-On-One With Gen. David Petraeus, And Has
Not Met With Troops Or Commanders On The Ground In Iraq In Over Two Years:

Obama Confirmed That He Has Never Attempted To Meet With Gen. Petraeus.
Question: "He's saying outside of those meetings on the Hill, you would not
set up your own meetings with General Petraeus, never attempted to meet with
him?" Obama: "And I haven't - look, it's just a flippant comment, it's not
designed to actually talk about substance. It's a political comment that
doesn't get anywhere." (Sen. Barack Obama, Press Conference, 5/28/08)

Obama Was In Iraq For Two Days In 2006. "Obama ... met with U.S. Ambassador
Zalmay Khalilzad and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Saturday [January 6,
2006]. He said before his two-day trip to Iraq that he wanted to ask U.S.
commanders what a realistic time frame was for bringing troops home." (Jason
Straziuso, "Obama Says Minorities Must Be More Involved In Iraq's Government,"
The Associated Press, 1/7/06)

It Has Been 880 Days Since Obama Visited Troops And Commanders In Iraq. (GOP
Website, www.gop.com, Accessed 5/29/08)

Paid for by the Republican National Committee.
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

SOURCE Republican National Committee

Republican National Committee, +1-202-863-8614