Obama won the debate, but he could have scored a knockout. What a missed opportunity. McCain exposed his chin when he said, during the foreign policy debate, "We need to make sure that any time we commit our forces that there will be a "beneficial impact" in doing so." He said it several times. Wow! He left himself wide open. If I was Obama, I would have asked a simple question. "If the McCain doctrine of foreign policy intervention is "There must be a beneficial impact in the region, then what was the beneficial impact of invading Iraq"? Then Obama could have cited the deterimental impacts of invading Iraq.
More than 3,000 Americans killed and 30,000 wounded. $700B and counting spent. Iran more influential and closer to a bomb than before we invaded. Israel more threatened. Oil prices quadrupled. Gas prices doubled. Our national debt doubled. Our economy in shambles. Osama bin Laden still alive. Al Quaeda still a threat. "And yet you still support this war and refuse to admit that you were wrong?"
He could have totally turned the tables on McCain, refuted one of his most oft repeated accusations, and nailed him with his own words. That would have been a knockout. It might have even swayed a few Republicans.
And by the way, the next time McCain stands up on stage and talks about how he will look after the veterans of this country will Obama please expose his voting record on veteran's issues? It's terrible. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America have looked at 155 votes since 9/11 on mililary issues and then graded each Senator on whether they agreed with IAVA's views. 13 Senators, all Democrats, got an A-. Obama got a B plus. McCain got a D! The Disabled Veterans of America (1.3M members) rated all members of Congress on their support for healthcare for disabled Vets. 194 Democrats and 13 Republicans got 100%. McCain got 20%. He talks the talk but he doesn't walk the walk. He has frequently abandoned veterans in favor of supporting conservative ideology and the Republican Party. In this vet's opinion that's not only hypocritical. It's dereliction of duty.
Steve Kanzler. USN 1969-1975. 3 Tours in the Gulf of Tonkin on the USS Enterprise.
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