Quote from Obama taken out of context

By
Mark Memmott, USA TODAY
October 6, 2008, 8:46 PM ET
2 min read

— -- Following through on its plan to get tougher as Election Day draws near, Republican John McCain's presidential campaign released an ad titled "Dangerous" on Monday.

The script

Narrator: "Who is Barack Obama? He says our troops in Afghanistan are …"

Obama: "… just air-raiding villages and killing civilians."

Narrator: "How dishonorable. Congressional liberals voted repeatedly to cut off funding to our active troops, increasing the risk on their lives. How dangerous. Obama and congressional liberals: too risky for America."

The images

The ad begins with rows of photographs of Obama. As the narrator asks, "Who is Barack Obama?" the camera zooms in on one image. Obama is seen saying one snippet from a campaign event. Photos of Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are interspersed with images of U.S. troops. The words "Change is coming" are followed by a McCain photo.

Reality check

The ad uses a quote from Obama taken out of its context. In August 2007 at a New Hampshire campaign event, Obama was asked whether he would move U.S. troops from Iraq so they could be used elsewhere. More troops are needed in Afghanistan, Obama said: "We've got to get the job done there, and that requires us to have enough troops so that we're not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there."

After Obama made that statement, the Associated Press produced a "fact check." It concluded that "Western forces (in Afghanistan) have been killing civilians at a faster rate than the insurgents have been killing civilians."

The McCain campaign points to a 2007 vote by Obama against a bill that put $94 billion into the war effort. Obama has said that he opposed the bill because it did not include a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq — and that McCain had voted against a funding bill that did have a timetable. Obama's argument is that both men support giving troops what they need but disagree with provisions regarding a timetable.

Where it's playing

The McCain campaign plans to air the ad nationally.