Heather Wilson, other NM vets attack Obama on Iraq

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)

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“He would have withdrawn from Iraq and left it a mess,” she said.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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