Retired Navy Captain Scott Witt attacked Barack Obama at the unveiling of John McCain’s New Mexico veterans’ group today in Las Cruces. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
Heather Wilson, other NM vets attack Obama on Iraq
By Heath Haussamen
07/22/2008
| 7 Comments
LAS CRUCES -- U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson and other New Mexico veterans joined today in the assault on Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s stance on the Iraq War a day after the candidate visited the war-torn nation.
The Republican representative from New Mexico joined U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and a staffer for Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s campaign on a conference call today to discuss Obama’s trip to Iraq and positions on the 2007 troop surge and a timeline for withdrawal.
After visiting Iraq, Obama said today in Jordan that Iraq needs a “political solution” and held to his plan to withdraw combat troops within 16 months of becoming president. While Obama said as recently as Monday that he still opposes the troop surge despite a sharp drop in violence in Iraq, today he said the surge is one of many factors that have improved the situation in that war-torn nation.
Wilson said during the conference call that Obama’s shifting statements prove that he isn’t leading.
“He has his finger in the wind trying to figure out which way the wind is blowing,” she said, adding that he’s “frighteningly inexperienced” on foreign-policy issues. Wilson said if Obama had his way, American troops would have already left Iraq.
“He would have withdrawn from Iraq and left it a mess,” she said. “… He would have chosen failure over the success we’ve had today, and I find that completely perplexing.”
Obama campaign spokeswoman Shannon Gilson said in an interview that Obama “has frequently said that deploying 30,000 more of our troops into Iraq could reduce violence -- because of the extraordinary work of our men and women in uniform. But the stated goal of the surge was to create breathing room to allow for political reconciliation. Senator Obama has been consistently critical that the surge has not achieved its stated goal.”
Violence has decreased in Iraq to the point that emboldened Iraqi government officials have begun calling for a timetable for withdrawal of American combat forces. The Iraqi government and Bush Administration agreed earlier this week to set a “general time horizon” for further withdrawals of American forces.
Some skeptics now say the surge worked
Brownback said during today’s call that, though he and others were skeptical of the surge initially, the strong push for it by McCain helped convince the Bush Administration and others to proceed.
Now “we’re looking at a situation where we can substantially draw down troops in Iraq,” Brownback said. “… Thank goodness for John McCain and the surge, because without that, we’d be looking at defeat today.”
While she said today that the surge has led to success, Wilson didn’t speak during the call about her initial opposition to the surge. She was one of the first Republicans in January 2007 to break with the Bush Administration and oppose the surge, saying at the time that the United States needed to shift its focus from stopping sectarian violence to ensuring that Iraq doesn’t become a safe haven for al-Qaida or a source of instability in the region.
Following a shift in strategy, Wilson supported increasing forces in the Sunni-dominated regions of Iraq to deny al-Qaida safe haven there.
This is the second McCain campaign conference call in which Wilson has participated. In June, she was on a call to criticize Obama for suggesting that supporters of Hillary Clinton should “get over” her loss and back the Democratic presidential nominee. Today, CNN is calling Wilson a “leading surrogate” for McCain.
N.M. veterans for McCain
Meanwhile, McCain’s campaign today rolled out its New Mexico Veterans for John McCain group at an event in Las Cruces. Co-chairing the group will be retired Air Force Cols. Barry J. Howard and Penny Bailey.
At the event, Scott Witt, a Las Crucen and retired Navy captain, echoed Wilson’s criticism of Obama. He said the progress Obama has seen in Iraq is “only possible because of the surge, a strategy he voted against, campaigned against and railed against.” He said Obama was wrong on the surge and is wrong on withdrawal.
“Withdrawal must be based on conditions on the ground,” Witt said. “Whether that happens in 12 months or 16 months or 24 months, our troops must come home in victory and with Iraq secure.”
Former Albuquerque Mayor Jim Baca responded to such criticism, in a statement released by the Obama campaign, by saying that McCain’s “plan to keep our troops in Iraq indefinitely is not what the American people are looking for.”
And he hit McCain on veteran’s issues, saying he hasn’t supported veterans because he has “voted against increased funding for health-care and mental-health services for veterans and opposed legislation for a new G.I. Bill despite its support from every major veteran’s organization in the country.”
In a news release, the Democratic Party of New Mexico highlighted McCain’s low ratings from the Disabled American Veterans, Vietnam Veterans of American and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. All three groups give Obama higher rankings.
“McCain can’t hide from his actions. His votes against better health-care benefits and educational benefits are out of touch with New Mexico,” Josh Geise, executive director of the Democratic Party, said in the release. “Honoring veterans is a part of New Mexico’s heritage, and McCain’s actions show he’s out of step with the values of voters in this state.”
In a release from the McCain campaign, Bailey, co-chair of the McCain group, said that’s not the case.
“Veterans back John McCain because he always backs us,” Bailey said. “Whether it’s working to improve veterans’ health care or supporting the families who support them, Senator McCain clearly understands that this country is forever indebted to those who served, and who still serve today, in our nation’s armed forces. While Barack Obama has played politics with troop funding, John McCain continues to fight for our men and women in uniform.”
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© 2008 The New Mexico Independent
Comments:
Posted 07/24/2008 15:59 with
Republicans will say anything to win this election. The surge has worked? Iraq is a violent shambles of a country, and the longer we stay there the more of a crap hole it will become.
Most Iraqis want us out, their leaders side with Obama on the withdrawal of US troops, and all McCain-partisans like Witt can give us is “our troops must come home in victory”?? This is a seriously delusional man, like granddaddy McCain.
Iraq is a war started by lies, continued by lies, and – from what propagandists like Witt are trying to tell us – still awash in lies. Bush’s “surge” was just a sideshow; it was the billions in payoffs to corrupt Iraqi warlords that got them to partially shut down their attacks on us. Billions of US dollars to terrorists, and we’re all back here in the US scuffling for nickels and dimes for food and gas. Talk about war crimes!
Thanks, Bush! And don’t let the door hit your butt on the way out!
Posted 07/24/2008 23:14 with
As if Heather is any type of expert ( more like a drip under pressure at this point ).
Iraq is Not working, as is nothing else in the mid east.
SOOO the usa needs to get home and get to alternatives…on several fronts here.
The ones that cannot see this…perhaps do not want to see it.
That simple.
Posted 07/26/2008 12:27 with
I’ve been calling Rep. Heather Wilson’s D.C. Office about once a week, for FIVE years asking about the status for the hunt for the Nine Eleven Conspirator Osama Bin Laden and the domestic U.S. Military Grade Anthrax Terrorist Dr. Philip Zack. I’ve never gotten a response.
I’ve asked her what happened to the Bush doctrine and the fact that Al Qaeda has a safe haven in Pakistan. I’ve never gotten a response.
The violence in Iraq is down. Al Qaeda in Iraq was only 1-3% of the Iraqi Resistance. The Iraqi People see no need to give their lives for the freedom of their country, now that the Tyrant Bush is leaving.
Barack Obama was right about Iraq all along, since 2002, a year after Nine Eleven. The Pentagon has NO Troops to go fight in Afghanistan.
Bush, Cheney, McCain, Wilson, Domenici should be “brought to justice”.
Posted 07/27/2008 09:40 with
The Veterans for McCain should be paying attention to McCain’s voting record instead of blindly following what his campaign propaganda (whether written or verbal) has to say.
Posted 08/20/2008 06:20 with
Barack Obama is in Iraq, where he’ll meet with U.S. commanders and troops, as well as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee met with President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan this weekend and then made a stop in Kuwait.
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Stellathomas
New Mexico Drug Treatment
Posted 08/30/2008 17:10 with
I think this is the reason the military is supporting Obama.
John McCain is not a friend of the American Military:
John McCain does not know that 9-11 was caused by Osama Bin Laden not Sedam Hussein?
John McCain does not know if Sunnis or Sheits are our enemies?
John McCain missed 10 of the past 14 votes on Iraq?
John McCain in September 2007: voted against the Webb amendment calling for adequate troop rest between deployments?
John McCain July 2007: voted against a plan to drawdown troop levels in Iraq?
John McCain in March 2007 was too busy to vote on a bill that would require the start of a drawdown in troop levels within 120 days with a goal of withdrawing nearly all-combat troops within one year?
John McCain in February 2007 didn’t even bother to show up to vote against a resolution condemning it? For such a strong supporter of the escalation, McCain didn’t even bother to show up and vote for it?
John McCain in June 2006, voted against a resolution that Bush start withdrawing troops but with no timeline to do so?
John McCain in May 2006, voted against an amendment that would provide $20 million to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for health care facilities?
John McCain in March 2004, once again voted for abusive tax loopholes over veterans when he voted against creating a reserve fund to allow for an increase in Veterans’ medical care by $1.8 billion by eliminating abusive tax loopholes. Jeez, McCain really loves those tax loopholes for corporations, since he voted for them over our veterans’ needs?
John McCain in October 2003, voted to table an amendment by Senator Dodd that called for an additional $322,000,000 for safety equipment for United States forces in Iraq and to reduce the amount provided for reconstruction in Iraq by $322,000,000?
John McCain in April 2003, urged other Senate members to table a vote (which never passed) to provide more than $1 billion for National Guard and Reserve equipment in Iraq related to a shortage of helmets, tents, bullet-proof inserts, and tactical vests?
If he believes that we should stay the course for as long as possible he should be willing to support the people he puts in harms way.
Posted 09/04/2008 08:31 with
I have never voted party lines; I have always voted for the person I belived would do their best for my country. I believe John McCain will work hard for the well-being of this country. A man who has been to war will do what he can to end a war, but will not back off if his country is threatened. I don’t feel that Obama has the same strength of character. I think most liberals today are “color blind.” They are so enamored of the fact that they are voting for an African-American for president of the United States, that I they have failed to look at some of the most important points; namely, what qualifications does he come with? Can he lead in times of peace as well as turmoil? Can he fix our health or our economy without taxing the people? Those I feel are things that should be asked and answered.