Obama is asked if he would return to Iraq if al Qaeda regains a foothold. He says yes.

McCain notes that al Qaeda is already in Iraq, in case Obama has missed the news during his campaign. Two points, McCain.

Obama counter’s that al Qaeda was not there until we went into Iraq. The crowd cheers. This shows how detached his crowd is from reality.

First of all, most reports show that al Qaeda was in Iraq, and that they were linked with Hussein even though they maintained their independence.

The public did not know what or who al Qaeda was before 911, but that does not mean they did not exist. Al Qaeda existed in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Egypt, Sudan, the West Bank and Gaza, Spain, Germany, Italy, Libya, Syria, Iran, Russia, Canada and as we eventually learned….. the United States.

But they did not exist in Iraq…. according to Obama.

Perhaps he missed the intelligence reports, because at the time he did not have the clearance. Hillary did have the clearance, although she lied about having actually read the reports. She voted to go to war. Perhaps he even missed current Pentagon reports.

Jay Rockefeller read the pre invasion intelligence reports and he also voted to go to war, although Obama got this fact wrong in his speech when he glowingly accepted his endorsement.

But Obama’s witty exchange is no substitute for a clear foreign policy. If the presence of al Qaeda is reason to return to Iraq isn’t their presence reason to remain? If al Qaeda was in Iraq before our invasion, does that mean our invasion was justified?

If we do withdraw will that help the cause of reducing terrorism? How? Has the killing or capturing of nearly 10,000 al Qaeda operatives been in any way responsible for that lack of terrorist success in America since 9/11?

Perhaps Iraq was a mistake. Does Obama being right on that single vote (though he was not in the Senate to vote at that time) constitute sound foreign policy experience and judgment? How much easier was it for him to be so right when he was not privy to the intelligence, involved in the debates on the floor, or forced to have his vote on the record?

Obama’s sole claim for foreign policy experience was being on the right side of a Congressional decision that occurred before he was in the Congress. His foreign policy is a one trick pony and it is lame.

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