Cantor Steps Up for McCain

Wed, July 02, 2008 - 2:21 PM

Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., today criticized Barack Obama’s pledge to bring troops home from Iraq within 16 months of Inauguration Day as “disingenuous” or ignorant of the “reality on the ground.”

Cantor, speaking on a conference call with McCain campaign officials and reporters Wednesday afternoon, was responding to a statement made by the co-chair of Obama’s campaign, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., during a Tuesday appearance on MSNBC.

A host asked McCaskill whether Obama would change his war policy before November. “No. No, he will not,” McCaskill said.

Cantor said Obama’s unwillingness to change war policy, “given the facts on the ground and the progress that has been made over the last year,” is “disingenuous” and “ignores the reality on the ground.”

“Claire McCaskill responded emphatically, ‘No,’ that he would not change course. I just believe that raises serious questions as to the sensibility of that position given what’s going on in Iraq right now,” Cantor said.

An Obama foreign policy adviser, Susan Rice, also on MSNBC Tuesday, said Obama’s one-brigade-out-a-month plan was more flexible than McCaskill may have suggested. Rice called it a “timeline” for withdrawal, not a deadline.

“He will listen to his commanders on the ground; he will follow and heed their advice, as he decides how, at the strategic level, we must proceed,” Rice said.

The Obama campaign sent out an immediate reaction to Cantor’s call.

“Barack Obama has been clear and consistent in saying that we need to responsibly end the war in Iraq so that we can restore our military strength, finish the fight in Afghanistan and focus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11," spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement.

--Neil H. Simon