Obama Weighs A Visit To The Troops In Iraq

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Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
May 29, 2008 By Jeff Zeleny
THORNTON, Colo. — Senator Barack Obama said Wednesday that he was considering visiting American troops and commanders in Iraq this summer.
Mr. Obama declined an invitation from Senator John McCain to take a joint trip to Iraq, saying, “I just don’t want to be involved in a political stunt.”
In a brief interview here, Mr. Obama said he might take a foreign trip after he secured the Democratic presidential nomination. No details have been set, he said.
“Iraq would obviously be at the top of the list of stops,” he added.
Mr. Obama visited Iraq in January 2006 as part of a Congressional delegation to the Middle East. He has not returned since becoming a presidential contender.
Mr. McCain and the Republican National Committee have sought to use the 2006 trip to highlight a lack of foreign policy experience.
For weeks, aides to Mr. Obama have been quietly discussing a foreign trip, but the long Democratic nominating contest delayed concrete plans.
“I think that if I’m going to Iraq, then I’m there to talk to troops and talk to commanders,” Mr. Obama said. “I’m not there to try to score political points or perform. The work they’re doing there is too important.”
Mr. McCain responded to the possible trip by saying he was “glad to hear that Senator Obama is now, quote, considering a trip to Iraq.”
“It’s long overdue,” Mr. McCain told reporters in Los Angeles. “It’s been 871 days since he was there.”
 
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