Obama and McCain engage in a war of words over Iraq

Obama mentioned in the recent Democratic debate that he would withdraw quickly from Iraq, but reserve the right to reenter if Al Qaeda formed a base there.  McCain criticized Obama for these remarks:

I have some news…Al Qaeda is in Iraq. It’s called ’Al Qaeda in Iraq.’ My friends, if we left, they wouldn’t be establishing a base. They’d be taking a country, and I’m not going to allow that to happen.

 

Obama’s response:

I do know that al-Qaida is in Iraq and that’s why I have said we should continue to strike al-Qaida targets…But I have some news for John McCain…There was no such thing as al-Qaida in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq…They took their eye off the people who were responsible for 9/11 and that would be al-Qaida in Afghanistan, that is stronger now than at any time since 2001.

For some related analysis, look at this Washington Post op-ed, which describes a new book by a former CIA officer who has done a statistical analysis on the potential terrorist threats to our nation.  He concludes that Iraq has made us worse off given that it has provided a sort of “glorification” for the war on terror and Muslim extremism.