John McCain’s campaign criticized Barack Obama Tuesday for “refining” his Iraq position on his campaign Web site, as McCain said his general election rival is “directly contradicting” himself on the war.
The New York Daily News first reported that the Obama campaign stripped a line on his site that said the troop surge “is not working.”
The Web page now describes an “improved security situation” in Iraq, and no longer lists the subhead, “The Surge,” as part of a section titled, “The Problem.”
That subhead has been renamed, “Inadequate Security and Political Progress in Iraq.”
Like the old entry, the site still states that hundreds of Americans have died since the implementation of the surge and that the Iraqi government has made negligible political progress.
Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor told FOX News it was a standard update to reflect new circumstances in Iraq, in advance of the major policy speech the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee gave in Washington, D.C., Tuesday.
He said McCain’s campaign has also changed its Web entry on economic matters like the Alternative Minimum Tax, and that it would be foolish for the Obama campaign not to update its own site. He said the update does not diminish Obama’s belief that the surge is a tactical maneuver within the context of a massive strategic blunder.
Obama made that point in his speech Tuesday, saying that while the troop surge led to reduced violence, it has cost billions and allowed Al Qaeda to fester in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
But McCain said at a town hall meeting that Obama is reversing to tout the merits of the surge he once opposed.
“Flip-floppers all over the world are enraged,” McCain said, without mentioning his own Web site alterations, or Obama’s. “It is pretty clear that Senator Obama is … directly contradicting the statements that he made concerning the surge and the war in Iraq for a long period of time. And today we know Senator Obama was wrong. The surge has succeeded.”
McCain’s campaign also accused Obama of “refining” his withdrawal position by taking out a line on his Web site that said Obama “will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq.”
The Web site now says, “Immediately upon taking office, Obama will give his secretary of defense and military commanders a new mission in Iraq: ending the war. The removal of our troops will be responsible and phased, directed by military commanders on the ground and done in consultation with the Iraqi government.”
The site still says that he wants to remove all brigades by the summer of 2010 — a plan he restated during his address Tuesday.
“Military experts believe we can safely redeploy combat brigades from Iraq at a pace of 1 to 2 brigades a month that would remove them in 16 months,” his Web site says.
Click here to read the story on Obama’s Web site in The New York Daily News.
Click here to see Obama’s Web page dealing with his Iraq policy.
FOX News’ Major Garrett contributed to this report.
McCain Camp Mocks Obama for ‘Refining’ Iraq Position on Web Site
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