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Republican accuses rival of being defeatist. Obama has meeting with Sarkozy
By Tom Raum
Associated Press
Published on Saturday, Jul 26, 2008
DENVER: Republican presidential candidate John McCain, ridiculing Barack Obama for ''the audacity of hopelessness'' in his policies on Iraq, said Friday the entire Middle East could have plunged into war had U.S. troops been withdrawn, as his rival advocated.
Speaking to an audience of Hispanic military veterans, McCain stepped up his criticism of Obama while the Illinois senator continued his headline-grabbing tour of the Middle East and Europe. The Arizona senator contended that Obama's policies — he opposed sending more troops to Iraq in the ''surge'' that McCain supported — would have led to defeat there and in Afghanistan.
''We rejected the audacity of hopelessness, and we were right,'' McCain said, playing on the title of Obama's book The Audacity of Hope.
McCain laid out a near-apocalyptic chain of events he said could have resulted had Obama managed to stop the troop buildup ordered by President Bush: U.S. forces retreating under fire, the Iraqi army collapsing, civilian casualties increasing dramatically, al-Qaida killing cooperative Sunni sheiks and finding havens to train fighters and launch attacks on Americans, and civil war, genocide and a wider conflict.
''Above all, America would have been humiliated and weakened,'' he said. ''Terrorists would have seen our defeat as evidence America lacked the resolve to defeat them. As Iraq descended into chaos, other countries in the Middle East would have come to the aid of their favored factions, and the entire region might have erupted in war.''
Noting that the buildup was unpopular with most Americans, McCain said: ''Sen. Obama told the American people what he thought you wanted to hear. I told you the truth.''
Nearing the end of his fast-paced international campaign trip, Obama on Friday used a Paris visit to warn Iran ''don't wait for the next president'' to take office before yielding to Western demands to dismantle its nuclear weapons program.
''The pressure, I think, is only going to build,'' he said at a news conference as he stood beside French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Obama spent less than five hours in the French capital. That was time enough for his motorcade to drive past curious Parisians gathered along the sidewalks hoping to catch a glimpse, receive a greeting from his host on the steps of the presidential palace and then conduct talks in private before a news conference.
The French president veered close to an endorsement to a man he called ''my dear Barack Obama.''
Obama said he and Sarkozy agreed that Iran poses ''an extraordinarily grave situation,'' and the world must send ''a clear message to Iran to end its illicit nuclear program.''
Obama has spoken frequently of Iran on his trip, stressing that its nuclear ambitions pose a threat to Israel's existence and threatens to destabilize the entire region.
While the United States and other Western nations accuse Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, Tehran insists that its program is for peaceful purposes.
DENVER: Republican presidential candidate John McCain, ridiculing Barack Obama for ''the audacity of hopelessness'' in his policies on Iraq, said Friday the entire Middle East could have plunged into war had U.S. troops been withdrawn, as his rival advocated.
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