In Speech, Obama Calls Iraq a Distraction

clipped from ap.google.com Obama said his White House rival, Sen. John McCain, "has argued that the gains of the surge mean that I should change my commitment to end the war. But this argument misconstrues what is necessary to succeed in Iraq, and stubbornly ignores the facts of the broader strategic picture that we face." "Senator McCain wants to talk of our tactics in Iraq; I want to focus on a new strategy for Iraq and the wider world," he said. "This war distracts us from every threat that we face and so many opportunities we could seize. This war diminishes our security, our standing in the world, our military, our economy, and the resources that we need to confront the challenges of the 21st century. By any measure, our single-minded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe. "I will end this war as president," he said, speaking from a podium that said "Judgment to Lead." Obama addressed the crowd with a line of American flags behind him.

He's right and he's also right to point out that McCain seems to be running for the position of President of Iraq. For the right, Iraq isn't a pointless sidetrip, but the be-all and end-all of fighting terrorism -- to the detriment of addressing terrorism anywhere else.

At this point, the only real reason we're fighting is to preserve George W. Bush's reputation. That's a pretty crappy cause to ask people to die for.