Kurt Nicklas
2008-09-05 00:12:17 UTC
Obama: Surge Succeeded Beyond ‘Wildest Dreams’
by FOXNews.com
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Thursday: Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, sits for
an interview with FOX News' Bill O'Reilly.
The troop surge in Iraq has been more successful than anyone could
have imagined, Barack Obama conceded Thursday in his first-ever
interview on FOX News’ “The O’Reilly Factor.”
As recently as July, the Democratic presidential candidate declined to
rate the surge a success, but said it had helped reduce violence in
the country. On Thursday, Obama acknowledged the 2007 increase in U.S.
troops has benefited the Iraqi people.
“I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody
anticipated,” Obama said while refusing to retract his initial
opposition to the surge. “I’ve already said it’s succeeded beyond our
wildest dreams.”
Watch Barack Obama’s interview with Bill O’Reilly at 8 p.m. ET
Thursday on FOX News Channel. Click here for a preview.
However, he added, the country has not had enough “political
reconciliation” and Iraqis still have not taken responsibility for
their country.
Speaking on other national security matters, Obama said he would not
take military action off the table in dealing with Iran, but diplomacy
and sanctions can’t be overlooked.
The Islamic republic is a “major threat” and it would be
“unacceptable” for the rogue nation to develop a nuclear weapon, he
said.
“It is unacceptable for Iran to possess a nuclear weapon, it would be
a game changer,” Obama said. “It’s sufficient to say I would not take
military action off the table and that I will never hesitate to use
our military force in order to protect the homeland and the United
States’ interests.”
But Obama also warned against the current U.S. administration lumping
radical Islamic groups together.
“They have fueled a whole host of terrorist organizations,” Obama said
of Iran, but “we have to have the ability to distinguish between
groups. … They may not all be part and parcel of the same ideology.”
Obama sat down with O’Reilly in York, Pa., after holding a discussion
on the economy with voters nearby. The Illinois senator has been
campaigning in battleground states since accepting the Democratic
presidential nomination last Thursday at his party’s convention in
Denver.
Obama said he “absolutely” believes the United States is fighting a
War on Terror, with the enemy being, “Al Qaeda, the Taliban, a whole
host of networks that are bent on attacking America, who have a
distorted ideology, who have perverted the faith of Islam.”
He repeated his campaign’s foreign policy position that Afghanistan
must become the “central front” in the War on Terror.
Obama was first asked to come on “The O’Reilly Factor” in early 2007.
The interview will air in three more parts after Thursday, from Monday
through Wednesday next week.
by FOXNews.com
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Thursday: Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, sits for
an interview with FOX News' Bill O'Reilly.
The troop surge in Iraq has been more successful than anyone could
have imagined, Barack Obama conceded Thursday in his first-ever
interview on FOX News’ “The O’Reilly Factor.”
As recently as July, the Democratic presidential candidate declined to
rate the surge a success, but said it had helped reduce violence in
the country. On Thursday, Obama acknowledged the 2007 increase in U.S.
troops has benefited the Iraqi people.
“I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody
anticipated,” Obama said while refusing to retract his initial
opposition to the surge. “I’ve already said it’s succeeded beyond our
wildest dreams.”
Watch Barack Obama’s interview with Bill O’Reilly at 8 p.m. ET
Thursday on FOX News Channel. Click here for a preview.
However, he added, the country has not had enough “political
reconciliation” and Iraqis still have not taken responsibility for
their country.
Speaking on other national security matters, Obama said he would not
take military action off the table in dealing with Iran, but diplomacy
and sanctions can’t be overlooked.
The Islamic republic is a “major threat” and it would be
“unacceptable” for the rogue nation to develop a nuclear weapon, he
said.
“It is unacceptable for Iran to possess a nuclear weapon, it would be
a game changer,” Obama said. “It’s sufficient to say I would not take
military action off the table and that I will never hesitate to use
our military force in order to protect the homeland and the United
States’ interests.”
But Obama also warned against the current U.S. administration lumping
radical Islamic groups together.
“They have fueled a whole host of terrorist organizations,” Obama said
of Iran, but “we have to have the ability to distinguish between
groups. … They may not all be part and parcel of the same ideology.”
Obama sat down with O’Reilly in York, Pa., after holding a discussion
on the economy with voters nearby. The Illinois senator has been
campaigning in battleground states since accepting the Democratic
presidential nomination last Thursday at his party’s convention in
Denver.
Obama said he “absolutely” believes the United States is fighting a
War on Terror, with the enemy being, “Al Qaeda, the Taliban, a whole
host of networks that are bent on attacking America, who have a
distorted ideology, who have perverted the faith of Islam.”
He repeated his campaign’s foreign policy position that Afghanistan
must become the “central front” in the War on Terror.
Obama was first asked to come on “The O’Reilly Factor” in early 2007.
The interview will air in three more parts after Thursday, from Monday
through Wednesday next week.