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Barack Obama
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WASHINGTON - The war in Iraq has distorted America's foreign policy, cost it thousands of lives, tarnished its image and emptied its treasury, Barack Obama said Tuesday.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee pledged that, if elected, he would swiftly end the war and reorient the U.S. approach to the world to address the challenges of terrorism, nuclear proliferation, climate change and energy dependence.
"What's missing in our debate about Iraq, what has been missing since before the war began is a discussion of the strategic consequences of Iraq and its dominance of our foreign policy," Obama said in a speech at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. "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."
Obama acknowledged in what was billed as a major foreign policy address that the addition of tens of thousands of combat troops to Iraq early last year had lowered violence there. But he said that only strengthened his case for a rapid withdrawal, not weakened it, because the surge had increased the strain on U.S. forces, and had cost lives and money as the situation in Afghanistan worsened.
"George Bush and John McCain don't have a strategy for success in Iraq. They have a strategy for staying in Iraq," Obama said. "They said we couldn't leave when violence was up; they say we can't leave when violence is down."
Obama restated his vow to withdraw combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of becoming president. That, he said, would free the resources needed to fight Al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
"Our troops and our NATO allies are performing heroically in Afghanistan, but I have argued for years that we lack the resources to finish the job because of our commitment to Iraq," Obama said. "I will make the fight against Al-Qaida and the Taliban the top priority that it should be. This is a war that we have to win."
Obama said he would send additional troops -- two combat brigades -- to Afghanistan.
Painting a broad approach for foreign relations, Obama also called for securing nuclear weapons from terrorists, achieving energy security and rebuilding alliances.
He plans to make his first overseas trip as a presidential candidate at the end of the week, visiting Iraq and Afghanistan with two like-minded senators, Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. Obama then will go to Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Europe.
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