Reuters - Obama belittles McCain for confusing extremists

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Obama belittles McCain for confusing extremists

Wednesday, Mar 19, 2008 7:50PM UTC

By Caren Bohan

FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama belittled Republican John McCain on Wednesday for misidentifying Iraqi extremists, saying he fails to understand the war has emboldened U.S. enemies.

On the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Democrats Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton both pledged to withdraw U.S. troops speedily from Iraq if either of them is elected in November, while McCain held firm to his position that a troop build-up was paying off and should be maintained.

At the same time, Clinton responded to charges that she is overly secretive by allowing the release of more than 11,000 pages of her daily schedule from 1993-2001 when she was U.S. first lady to President Bill Clinton.

The release was also intended to promote her argument that she gained valuable White House experience during her years as first lady.

The documents provided information on many of the events and meetings she attended. Absent was any detail on what was discussed.

"They are a guide, and of course cannot reflect all of Senator Clinton's activities as first lady," the Clinton campaign said.

McCain, the 71-year-old Arizona senator who touts his national security experience as a main reason why he should be elected, gave Democrats a line of attack to use against him on Tuesday.

On a Middle East and Europe swing, he got tangled up in stating which Islamic extremist group in Iraq that Iran is accused of supporting.

At a news conference in Amman, McCain said Iran supported the Sunni group al Qaeda in Iraq, until he was corrected by a colleague. U.S. officials believe Iran has been backing Shi'ite extremists in Iraq, not a Sunni group like al Qaeda.

It was the first stumble of note that McCain has made since clinching the Republican presidential nomination early this month.

"Just yesterday, we heard Senator McCain confuse Sunni and Shi'ite, Iran and al Qaeda," Obama said.

"Maybe that is why he voted to go to war with a country that had no al Qaeda ties. Maybe that is why he completely fails to understand that the war in Iraq has done more to embolden America's enemies than any strategic choice that we have made in decades," the Illinois senator said.

He also mocked McCain's oft-stated vow to follow Osama bin Laden to "the gates of hell" if elected, arguing the U.S. focus should have been on Afghanistan and Pakistan instead of Iraq.

"We have a security gap when candidates say they will follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell but refuse to follow him where he actually goes," Obama said.

On a visit to Detroit, Clinton reiterated her position that the United States could start withdrawing troops within 60 days of her taking office, and she said it was up to the Iraqis to take responsibility for their country's future.

"We cannot win their civil war. There is no military solution," she said at a quickly arranged stop to push for a repeat of Michigan's presidential nominating contest, which had been disqualified because it violated party rules.

McCain, who strongly supported President George W. Bush's troop increase a year ago, said in a statement the United States and its allies "stand on the precipice of winning a major victory against radical Islamic extremism."

"The security gains over the past year have been dramatic and undeniable.

And this time, he got the extremist identification correct.

"Al Qaeda and Shi'ite extremists -- with support from external powers such as Iran -- are on the run but not defeated," he said.

(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason and Andy Sullivan, writing by Steve Holland, editing by David Wiessler)

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/0