Security
From NBC's Mark Murray
Is the Obama vs. McCain now beginning in earnest? On CNN today, Obama said this about McCain's statement that Hamas wants Obama to be president. “This is offensive, and I think it's disappointing, because John McCain always says ‘I am not going to run that kind of politics.’ And to engage in that kind of smear is unfortunate, particularly because my policy toward Hamas has been no different than his."
Obama added, “I’ve said it’s a terrorist organization and we should not negotiate with them unless they recognize Israel, renounce violence, and unless they are willing to abide by previous accords between the Palestinians and the Israelis. So for him to toss out comments like that I think is an example of him losing his bearings as he pursues this nomination. We don’t need name calling in this debate.”
The McCain campaign didn't like the "losing his bearings" comment. McCain adviser Mark Salter responded in a memo: "First, let us be clear about the nature of Senator Obama's attack today: He used the words 'losing his bearings' intentionally, a not particularly clever way of raising John McCain's age as an issue. This is typical of the Obama style of campaigning. We have all become familiar with Senator Obama's new brand of politics. First, you demand civility from your opponent, then you attack him, distort his record and send out surrogates to question his integrity. It is called hypocrisy, and it is the oldest kind of politics there is."
Salter goes on say, "Obama is complaining about comments John McCain made about a senior Hamas adviser stating that Hamas would welcome Senator Obama's election as president. Indeed, on April 13th, senior Hamas political adviser Ahmed Yousef said, 'We don't mind -- actually we like Mr. Obama. We hope he will (win) the election and I do believe he is like John Kennedy, great man with great principle, and he has a vision to change America to make it in a position to lead the world community but not with domination and arrogance.'"
"The McCain campaign has never suggested that Senator Obama supports Hamas' agenda, but it is more than fair to raise this quote about Senator Obama because it speaks to the policy implications of his judgment. Just today, the president of Iran, whom Senator Obama wants to meet with unconditionally, called the state of Israel a 'stinking corpse.' Iran is the paymaster and state sponsor of Hamas."
From NBC's Mike ViqueiraHouse Democrats today announced that they will vote to send
President Bush and his successor $184 billion to spend on the war, plus a couple of other items that are politically popular but have not been requested by the president and may be veto bait.
The "emergency" package, to be considered on Thursday of this week, gives the president much of the $108 billion that has asked for the remainder of this year, plus $66 billion that would sustain the war effort into the first months of a new administration.
But the House will also be voting on an extension of unemployment benefits, the establishment of a new GI Bill for educating veterans, $500 million more in international food aid, and money for Louisiana levees. These items will be hard for many Republicans to oppose, though the president has not asked for any of it to be included in the war spending package.
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From NBC's Lauren Appelbaum
On the fifth anniversary of President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" aircraft carrier landing, antiwar superdelegates -- supporting Clinton, Obama, or who remain uncommitted -- held a conference call with reporters calling for language to be adopted at August's Democratic convention for ending the Iraq war.
On the conference call, sponsored by the left-leaning group Win Without War, these superdelegates said their purpose is to ensure neither Democratic candidate -- should he/she win the presidency -- wavers on their support for ending the Iraq war fully. Rep. Barbara Lee, an Obama supporter, stressed the importance of the grassroots effort on the part of Democrats to show their support for the presidential candidates' plans to end the war.
"We need to make sure there isn't any fuzzy language," Rep. Jim McGovern, a Clinton supporter, added. "We have to demonstrate the Democratic Party gets it."
The campaign hopes to get more superdelegates to sign a petition for the Democratic National Platform to include a full withdrawal from Iraq with no permanent military bases behind; negotiations in the Middle East, including with the Iranian government, per recommendations by the Iraq Study Group, and an end to torture and closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison.
And in one sign that at least some Democrats are starting to come together, Rep. Lynn Woolsey -- a Clinton supporter -- said on the call she now also believes Obama will be able to successfully end the Iraq War. "From the beginning, I had full confidence in Hillary Clinton's commitment and strength to bring troops home," she said." Over time, I am also gaining confidence that Barack Obama will be able to do the same with the experience that he will gain."
British PM Gordon Brown will meet with all three major candidates tomorrow. "Brown's own relationship with President Bush has been cordial but much less close than the ties Bush enjoyed with former prime minister Tony Blair, who bucked British public opinion to remain Washington's chief ally in Iraq and the wider battle against terrorism. With Bush in his final months in office, however, Brown is hoping to lay a foundation for closer relations with the next U.S. president, bolstering both transatlantic links and his own stature, according to analysts in London and Washington."
More: "Brown has had a longtime working relationship with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), dating to the presidency of her husband, Bill Clinton, when Brown served as Britain's chancellor of the exchequer. He also conferred with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) when the presumptive GOP nominee traveled to London last month, but he has yet to meet with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)."
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
In an interview with NBC's Brian Williams to air tonight on NBC Nightly News, Gen. David Petraeus says he will "never" run for or hold public office.
"And I've tried to say that on a number of occasions," Petraeus said. "Some folks have reminded me of a country western song that says, 'What part of no, don't you understand?'"
Williams also asked, "In your job, you give orders, you also take them from your Commander in Chief. And if your commander in chief said 'get out,' could you carry that out?
Petraeus: "Absolutely. Again, we raise our right hand; we swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. One of the principles enshrined in the way we do business in the United States is civilian control of the military. There is also responsibility on the part of a commander, of course, to discuss what risks are associated with various courses of action. And I firmly believe whoever it is that is elected in the fall, will sit down and look at the various interests, try to figure out the competing risks, because there are risks beyond Iraq."
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
ALIQUIPPA, Pa. -- Hillary Clinton said today she was the only candidate voters could count on to end the war in Iraq and bring troops home.
The senator appeared with veterans and retired military officers at an event outside Pittsburgh that focused on military readiness. She said the war in Iraq must be ended and the military rebuilt and used yesterday's Senate hearings on the war's progress to argue presumptive Republican nominee John McCain was not prepared to end the war.
VIDEO:Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton urges President Bush to provide America with an endgame to the war in Iraq.She said McCain "has said that it would be alright with him if we kept troops in Iraq for up to 100 years, and again yesterday, he basically reiterated his commitment to the course that we are on in Iraq. Well, I don't agree with that. We need to be planning and preparing to start bringing our troops home, and I have committed to doing that within 60 days of my becoming president."
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The New York Times: “Telling Congress that progress in Iraq was ‘fragile and reversible,’ the top American commander recommended Tuesday that consideration of any new withdrawals of American troops be delayed until the fall, making it likely that little would change before Election Day.” More: “The hearings lacked the suspense of last September’s debate, when the focus was on measurable benchmarks and heightened expectations of speedy troop withdrawals. But they thrust the war to the center of the presidential campaign, as General Petraeus faced questioning from the two Democrats and one Republican still vying for the White House. He told them that progress in Iraq had been ‘significant and uneven.’”
The Washington Post: "Asked repeatedly yesterday what ‘conditions’ he is looking for to begin substantial U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq after this summer's scheduled drawdown … Petraeus said he will know them when he sees them. For frustrated lawmakers, it was not enough."
More: "What worked in September -- an overall sense of progress that gave the Bush administration additional time to pursue its "surge" policy of sending nearly 30,000 more troops to Iraq -- sparked little enthusiasm this time among lawmakers who had hoped for a brighter light at the end of the tunnel. Much of their frustration appeared to stem from a realization that there was little they could do to affect policy in the administration's final nine months."
"All three major presidential candidates - Republican John McCain and Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama - displayed their contrasting views and styles in questioning General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker," the Boston Globe writes.
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From NBC's Lauren Appelbaum and Mark Murray
You be the judge: Did McCain once again confuse Shiites and Sunnis when talking about Al Qaeda in Iraq (a Sunni group) at today's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing?
VIDEO: Watch this exchange between Sen. John McCain and Gen. David Petraeus, in which the presidential hopeful mistakenly identifies Al Qaeda as a Shiite group.
Here's the transcript...
McCain: There are numerous threats to security in Iraq and the future of Iraq. Do you still view Al Qaeda in Iraq as a major threat?
Petraeus: It is still a major threat, though it is certainly not as major a threat as it was say 15 months ago.
McCain: Certainly not an obscure sect of the Shiites overall?
Petraeus: No, no sir.
McCain: Or Sunnis or anybody else then? Al Qaeda continues to try to assert themselves in Mosul, is that correct?
Petraeus: It is senator, as you saw on the chart. The area of operation of Al Qaeda has been greatly reduced in terms of controlling areas they controlled as little as a year and a half ago.
*** UPDATE *** McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds responds: “In the course of having a serious dialogue with our military leadership in Iraq about how Americans can formulate success going forward, John McCain stumbled on his words and corrected them immediately. Leave it to Barack Obama, who voted against funding our troops in combat after saying it would be irresponsible to make that vote, to try and find some wiggle room on an issue he has very little credibility with.”
*** UPDATE II *** DNC chairman Howard Dean weighs in with this statement: "As John McCain continues to get the basic facts on the ground in Iraq wrong, he makes it clear to the American people that he will continue the open-ended commitment to fighting President Bush's war in Iraq. One hundred years in Iraq is not a plan. We all honor the service and sacrifices of our brave troops and their families, who have done everything that has been asked of them every step of the way. Honoring their service means bringing this war to a responsible end, and the only way to do that is to elect a Democratic president in November."
From NBC's Lauren Appelbaum
Before attending the Senate Armed Services hearing with Petraeus and Crocker, McCain attended a rally sponsored by the pro-Iraq war Vets for Freedom, where he continued to praise Petraeus, calling him "one of [America's] greatest generals."
Before McCain spoke, former Army Staff Sergeant David Bellavia introduced the Arizona senator, telling those in attendance he wants his sons to view McCain as a role model, versus someone like Tiger Woods. While McCain did not mention either of his Democratic opponents, Bellavia engaged, calling the Arizona senator and former prisoner of war "the real audacity of hope."
McCain then took the stage for fewer than five minutes, using his time to thank the people sharing the stage and the soldiers, Marines, etc. in the audience. McCain recounted an experience from last July with Petraeus when he visited with young men and women who decided to re-enlist after their time was up. "They had the opportunity to go home. Instead, they decided to stay in the most honorable of all American traditions and that is to stay and fight for someone else's freedom," McCain said.
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Some poll numbers to consider for the hearings… According to last month’s NBC/WSJ survey, 53% said achieving victory in Iraq isn’t possible versus 40% who said the opposite. Moreover, 52% responded that the most responsible thing the US can do is find a way to withdraw most US troops from Iraq by the beginning of 2009. By comparison, 43% said the most responsible thing is to remain in Iraq until the situation in the country is stable. And there’s this recent quote from retiring Army Vice Chief of Staff Richard Cody: "The current demand for our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan exceeds the sustainable supply, and limits our ability to provide ready forces for other contingencies… Soldiers, families, support systems and equipment are stretched and stressed… Overall, our readiness is being consumed as fast as we build it. If unaddressed, this lack of balance poses a significant risk to the all-volunteer force and degrades the Army’s ability to make a timely response to other contingencies."
In a piece on MSNBC.com, NBC’s Ken Strickland sets the stage for today’s Senate hearings on Iraq. On McCain: “As the top Republican on the [Armed Services] panel, the spotlight inevitably falls on the Arizona senator. Other than Committee Chairman Carl Levin, McCain will be the only member allotted time to make an opening statement. And once the questioning begins, alternating back and forth from Democrat to Republican, he'll have the first GOP opportunity to address both men.”
Regarding Clinton: “As the 10th in seniority among the 13 Democrats on the panel, Clinton's round of questioning could come late in the hearing, after many of the obvious questions have been asked and answered. It could easily be two and a half hours before her voice is heard… Her Senior Adviser Philippe Reines said he "expects that the committee will question [Petraeus and Crocker] closely on the lack of political progress in Iraq, the rising influence of Iran in Iraq and the region and the strain on our military caused by the continuing presence of large numbers of troops in Iraq."
“As for Obama, he will not have to share the stage with either his Democratic or Republican rivals when the Foreign Relations Committee meets later Tuesday afternoon. And although he sits toward the bottom of the seniority totem pole, he enjoys the backing of half of the group's Democrats, lead by former opponent Chris Dodd and '04 nominee John Kerry.”
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