Obama Praises McCain's Comments on Iraq
From WSJ's Washington Wire:
Obama Praises McCain's Comments on Iraq: Jay Solomon reports on the presidential race from London.
Barack Obama praised comments by his rival, John McCain, suggesting the Republican might support a 16-month timeline for withdrawing American troops from Iraq.
Sen. Obama talks with U.K. Conservative Party Leader David Cameron outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Obama has promoted his Iraq strategy during a 10-day tour across the Middle East and Europe. He’s also called for the redeployment of some U.S. soldiers to Afghanistan to combat the Taliban’s and al Qaeda’s growing insurgency there.
“And in terms of his comment about maybe 16 months sounds good, we are pleased to see that there’s been some convergence around a proposal that we have been making for a year and a half,” Obama said Saturday after meeting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. “The fact that John McCain thinks that we now should put more troops in Afghanistan, I think is a good thing,” Obama added at a press conference at 10 Downing Street, the British premier’s official office and residence.
During an interview Friday on CNN, McCain called the 16-month timeframe “a pretty good timetable” for withdrawing troops from Iraq. The Republican candidate, however, has stressed this was dependent upon the conditions on the ground in Iraq. Throughout Obama’s overseas trip, the senator has sought to portray the Republicans as following his lead on key foreign policy issues. In addition to Iraq, Obama has praised the Bush administration’s decision to send a high-ranking State Department official to directly engage Iran over its nuclear program this month. “The fact that the Bush administration assigned Bill Burns, outstanding diplomat, to get involved in the talks surrounding Iran, something I’ve been advocating for over a year and a half, I think that is a good thing” Obama said...
I agree. It is a very good sign that both Bush and McCain are scrambling to follow the Obama-Democratic line on Middle East policy.
