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McCain, Obama Sparring About Iraq

The Associated Press

Published: May 31, 2008

MILWAUKEE - Republican John McCain's estimate of U.S. troop levels in Iraq touched off squabbling with Democrat Barack Obama on Friday, the latest turn in the presidential rivals' escalating disagreement over the war.

The likely GOP nominee told an audience Thursday: "We have drawn down to pre-surge levels. Basra, Mosul and now Sadr City are quiet."

Obama responded: "That's not true, and anyone running for commander in chief should know better."

In fact, U.S. troop levels are not yet down to levels before President Bush's troop increase last year, a strategy shift McCain had pushed for some four years.

There were 15 combat brigades in Iraq before the increase began. Five were added, and the United States has been reducing numbers since December. As of Friday, there are 17 brigades in Iraq, another brigade will depart in June and the plan is to pull out another in July, returning the level to 15.

Before the increase, there were 130,000 to 135,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. As of this week, that number was 155,000, and the Pentagon plans to drop that to 140,000 by the end of July.

The McCain campaign blamed a parsing of verb tense and semantics. But McCain, himself, insisted Friday that he didn't misspeak.

"Of course not. I said we've drawn down," the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee said. "The rest of them will be home at the end of July."

He added: "We have drawn down, we will continue to draw down, and I hope that General David Petraeus will see fit to recommend for the consideration of the president of the United States an additional drawdown after the end of July."

Obama seized on McCain's insistence that he didn't misspeak. "Today, Senator McCain refused to acknowledge that he had made a mistake," Obama said at a rally Friday in Great Falls, Mont. "Just like George Bush, when he was presented with the truth, he just dug in and refused to admit his mistake."

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