<div>The parsing of who has more ethical standing, experience or ability in government or business, among the Democratic and Republican presidential and VP candidates, should focus especially on what clearly is one of the top issues in this election: Who pushed for the invasion of Iraq, and the repositioning of US military forces away from the Afghanistan/Pakistan area, where Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Bin Laden and their terror network found haven, leaving "public enemy number one," to quote President W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks, at large?</div>
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<div>The Iraq war has squandered billions in US treasure (talk about unwise budget management in government!), killed hundreds of thousands, many innocent civilians; and as the US economy slides into economic crisis, continues to drain billions of dollars from US taxpayers. The Iraq occupation continues with no clear end in sight, as the Taliban and Al Qaeda have reorganized and emerged as a major continuing threat in the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region. </div>
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<div>Obama opposed the invasion of Iraq. McCain supported invading Iraq immediately after the 9/11 attacks:</div>
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<div><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/us/politics/17mccain.html?_r=1&oref=slogin" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/us/politics/17mccain.html?_r=1&oref=slogin</a></div>
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<div>From URL above:</div>
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<p>Within a month he made clear his priority. "Very obviously Iraq is the first country," he declared on CNN. By Jan. 2, Mr. McCain was on the aircraft carrier <a title="More articles about Theodore Roosevelt." onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/theodore_roosevelt/index.html?inline=nyt-per" target="_blank"><font color="#004276">Theodore Roosevelt</font></a> in the Arabian Sea, yelling to a crowd of sailors and airmen: "Next up, Baghdad!"</p>
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<div>McCain's focus on the invasion of Iraq and massive continuing military involvement has hampered efforts to address the Taliban and Al Qaeda terror network in the Afghanistan/Pakistan area. How many times must it be pointed out that Iraq and Saddam did not contribute to the 9/11 attacks, that these attacks were linked to Bin Laden, Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan?:</div>
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<div><a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/07/06/obama_mccain_split_over_afghan_strategy/">http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/07/06/obama_mccain_split_over_afghan_strategy/</a></div>
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<div>From URL above:</div>
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<div>At the same time, a series of new assessments from top US military leaders have concluded that the Taliban and Al Qaeda are as strong as they have been since the United States invaded Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.</div>
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<div>"Afghanistan should have been our fight," said retired Air Force General Merrill "Tony" McPeak, national cochairman of Obama's campaign. McPeak blamed the Iraq war, where the United States has about 140,000 troops, for diverting the Pentagon's focus on Afghanistan, where only 32,000 American troops are stationed.</div>
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<div>It appears Palin's media hyped VP candidacy is distracting discussion away from what are serious flaws in McCain's decision making in foreign policy regarding Afghanistan and Iraq. I am not saying Obama's positions and actions on these issues are without flaw. But his hesitation to invade Iraq, and his focus on repositioning US forces from Iraq to Afghanistan, suggests more reflection and wisdom in judgement than McCain has revealed. Now McCain, who previously had downplayed the importance of a large scale military focus on Afghanistan, has changed his position to one closer to Obama's.</div>
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<div>How easily the US public was led into the invasion of Iraq (and McCain was a public advocate), with propaganda and distortions of the truth regarding Iraq WMDs and Iraq ties to Al Qaeda, with the resulting marginalizing of a focus on capturing Bin Laden, after the 9/11 attacks! McCain's complicity with these policies should be emphasised in headlines till the election.</div>
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<div>Ted Moffett</div>
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