Candidates agree on new Afghan focus, split on Iraq

WASHINGTON -- Unveiling a new strategy on Afghanistan, John McCain called for sending thousands more troops there as he clashed with Barack Obama about their divergent foreign policy visions.

McCain, the Republican senator from Arizona, proposed deploying three new brigades and a doubling of the Afghan armed forces. McCain said the plan is based on President Bush's escalation of troops in Iraq that Obama opposed. The Democrat presidential candidate "has it exactly backwards," McCain said.

"It is precisely the success of the surge in Iraq that shows us the way to succeed in Afghanistan," McCain said.

McCain has not previously advocated sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. When a reporter asked June 30 whether the United States had enough resources to fight a resurgent Taliban and al-Qaeda, McCain said yes.

Obama, the Illinois senator, had already pledged to send two new combat brigades to Afghanistan. He described Iraq as a distraction that has sapped money and attention from vital national security interests. "I will end this war as president," Obama said.

McCain focused on Afghanistan in remarks that had initially been scheduled for Thursday. The Arizona senator had planned to discuss the economy at the New Mexico event; a sign behind him read, Jobs For America.

"I know how to win wars," he said.

Asked later by reporters where new troops for Afghanistan would come from, McCain said, "we need to work that out," and it would involve "greater participation from our NATO allies."

Obama outlined his national security priorities just days before a trip to Europe and the Middle East. His address before a Washington audience of more than 600 students and scholars attempted to dispel any questions about whether he has been vacillating on his plans to wind down U.S. military involvement in Iraq.

Ending the Iraq war and reviving the conflict in Afghanistan were two of the five goals Obama laid out in a speech entitled, A New Strategy for a New World. The others: securing nuclear weapons materials across the globe; developing energy alternatives to Middle East oil; and repairing alliances frayed during the Bush administration.

Obama emphasized the importance of international diplomacy and repeated his willingness to meet leaders hostile to the United States, "including, if it will advance our interests, my meeting with the appropriate Iranian leader at a time and place of my choosing."

The candidates repeatedly challenged each other's judgment and experience.

Obama faulted McCain for failing to see the problems in Iraq when he supported the invasion back in 2003. Arguing that Iraq "had absolutely nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks" Obama criticized the war as a wasteful detour from the battle against al-Qaeda. He chided McCain for saying earlier this year, "Afghanistan is not in trouble because of our diversion to Iraq."

For his part, McCain noted that Obama has never "set foot" in Afghanistan, and criticized him for proposing Iraq and Afghanistan plans before Obama's trip to those countries.

"Fact-finding missions usually work best the other way around," he said. "First you assess the facts on the ground, then you present a new strategy."