McCain Says Obama Is Confused About America's Global Standing
Republican Continues To Stress Foreign Policy

By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 27, 2008

PHOENIX, Aug. 26 -- Sen. John McCain on Tuesday accused Sen. Barack Obama of not believing in America's role as a world leader and of being confused about the nation's moral standing, the latest attack on the Democrat's foreign policy credentials.

McCain said Obama has not challenged criticism from other countries about America's greatness, and he ridiculed the Democrat's call for "a world that stands as one" in his Berlin speech last month.

"The Cold War ended not because the world stood 'as one,' but because the great democracies came together, bound together by sustained and decisive American leadership," McCain said to members of the American Legion at their 90th annual national convention here.

An Obama spokesman said it was ridiculous to think the Illinois Democrat does not believe in American world leadership and accused McCain of breaking his vow to run a respectable campaign.

"The 'confusion' here is between John McCain rhetoric that no one's love of country should be questioned and the reality of his campaign's daily, false, personal and detestable attacks on Senator Obama," spokesman Hari Sevugan said. "But it's not a surprising tactic from John McCain, who is offering four more years of Karl Rove's playbook to distract from his plan for four more years of George Bush's failed policies, which have left America far less secure and shredded our alliances in the world."

McCain and his campaign have repeatedly sought to question Obama's foreign policy judgment and experience, even as the candidate insists that he is not challenging his opponent's patriotism. Last month, McCain accused Obama of putting his desire to win in November ahead of the lives of soldiers. "It seems to me that Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign," he said.

Tuesday's speech was an equally tough, if broader, portrayal of Obama's worldview.

In his address to the veterans, McCain said that Obama was "the picture of confidence" in Berlin, but that "confidence itself and confidence in one's country are not the same." His prepared remarks listed the sentence as beginning with "confidence in oneself."

McCain said oppressed nations look to the United States for leadership and hope. "When they talk about our country, it is not with distrust or disdain, but with respect and affection. They do not resent or resist America's democratic influence in the world -- they thank God for it."

McCain also sharply criticized Obama for mentioning the U.S. invasion of Iraq while discussing the Russian incursion into Georgia. McCain quoted Obama's early response to the Russian action, noting that the Democrat said "they can't charge into other countries," but added: "Of course, it helps if we are leading by example on that point."

"If I catch Senator Obama's drift, then, our failure to 'lead by example' was the liberation of Iraq," McCain said. "And if he really thinks that by liberating Iraq from a dangerous tyrant America somehow set a bad example that invited Russia to invade a small, peaceful, and democratic nation, then he should state it outright -- because that is a debate I welcome."

Obama aides rejected the thesis of McCain's speech and pointed to the Berlin address as evidence that the Republican was twisting Obama's words into something they never were meant to be.

The full quote that McCain criticized was: "People of the world -- look at Berlin, where a wall came down, a continent came together, and history proved that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one."

In that speech, Obama also said that "just as American bases built in the last century still help to defend the security of this continent, so does our country still sacrifice greatly for freedom around the globe."

Obama's view of the United States has been a frequent theme in the 2008 campaign. During the primary, adversaries raised questions about why he didn't wear a flag pin and why he had not put his hand over his heart during the national anthem. His wife, Michelle, was criticized for a comment that some took to suggest that she only recently came to love the country.

Even before those incidents, Obama repeatedly expressed his love of country.

And in his Berlin speech, he made a point of it: "I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two centuries, we have strived -- at great cost and great sacrifice -- to form a more perfect union, to seek, with other nations, a more hopeful world."

Sevugan said Obama has "called for strong American leadership and renewing strong alliances to finish the fight against al-Qaeda and press Russia to live up to its obligations."

Obama is scheduled to speak to the American Legion convention Wednesday.