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Republican presidential hopeful John McCain. (AP)
Last update - 11:52 20/05/2008
McCain blasts Obama for saying Iran poses lesser threat than Soviets
By The Associated Press
Tags: Iran, John Mccain, Israel 

Republican John McCain accused Democrat Barack Obama of inexperience and reckless judgment for saying Iran does not pose the same serious threat to the United States as the Soviet Union did in its day.

The likely Republican presidential nominee made the criticism Monday in Chicago, Obama's home turf.

"Such a statement betrays the depth of Senator Obama's inexperience and reckless judgment. These are very serious deficiencies for an American president to possess," McCain said at the restaurant industry's annual meeting.
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He was referring to comments Obama made Sunday in Pendleton, Oregon: "Iran, Cuba, Venezuela - these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us. And yet we were willing to talk to the Soviet Union at the time when they were saying, 'We're going to wipe you off the planet.'"

McCain's campaign on Monday distributed a video clip of Obama making the comments.

McCain listed the dangers he sees from Iran: "It provides deadly explosive devices used to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq, sponsors insurgents in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East and is committed to Israel's destruction. The threat the government of Iran poses is anything but tiny," McCain said.

Responding to McCain, Obama told a town hall rally later Monday in Billings, Montana, "Let me be absolutely clear: Iran is a grave threat. But the Soviet Union posed an added threat, he said. The Soviet Union had thousands of nuclear weapons, and Iran doesn't have a single one."

Israel and the U.S., among other countries, believe that Iran is covertly pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

Obama said the threat from Iran had grown as a result of the U.S. war in Iraq. "Iran is the biggest single beneficiary of a war in Iraq that should have never been authorized and should have never been waged," he said. "And John McCain wants to double down that failed policy. If McCain is elected, Obama said, We'll keep talking tough in Washington, while countries like Iran ignore our tough talk."

The alternative, Obama said, is to follow the example of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, who negotiated with the Soviet Union. Obama called for tough, disciplined and direct diplomacy.

"That's what Kennedy did; that's what Reagan did," he said.

Obama returned to the theme during a noisy rally before more than 7,000 backers in Bozeman, Montana.

"He and I are in a big argument right now because I said we should talk not just to our friends, but we should talk to our enemies," said Obama. "He wants to pursue the same failed policies of George Bush, talking tough and not getting anything done. We've got to change our foreign policy."

Although the Democratic primary race rolls on, McCain and Obama have criticized each other as if they are in the general election campaign. On Friday, Obama called McCain's foreign policy naive and irresponsible; McCain questioned whether Obama has the strength and judgment to be commander in chief.

At the heart of the dispute between the candidates is Obama's assertion that, as president, he would meet with leaders of these rogue countries without preconditions. Obama insists that direct engagement with the Soviets helped prevent nuclear war and, over time, helped to bring down the Berlin Wall.

McCain strongly disagrees with Obama's position; he argues such a meeting would lend international prestige to U.S. foes.

An unconditional summit meeting with the next American president would confer both international legitimacy on the Iranian president and could strengthen him domestically, when he is very unpopular among the Iranian people, McCain said.

Later Monday, McCain said it makes no sense that Obama would not negotiate with the Islamic terrorist group Hamas but would meet with Iran, a sponsor of Hamas.

"It shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the issues we face, particularly in the Middle East," McCain told reporters in Savannah, Georgia.

In Chicago, McCain's remarks were interrupted for several moments by three protesters from the Code Pink anti-war group, one of whom yelled, "No war in Iran!" as she was hustled from the room.

McCain prefaced his speech to the National Restaurant Association with criticism of Obama but then focused mostly on economic issues. He said Obama and his Democratic rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, would raise taxes and regulate businesses more than ever.

The Arizona senator has been trying to counter the allegation by Democrats that McCain would continue Bush administration policies.

Yet McCain's arguments on Monday - on tax cuts, trade agreements and farm subsidies - mirror those of President Bush.

McCain said letting the Bush tax cuts expire, as the Democrats would do, would raise taxes by a trillion dollars or more. And he said Obama was wrong to oppose the North American Free Trade Agreement, a pact that, though still controversial after more than a decade, resulted in an estimated $17 billion in exports from Illinois alone.

McCain said farm subsidy payments, like those in the farm bill Congress recently sent to Bush, are the biggest obstacle to global trade deals. Like McCain, Bush dislikes the bill and is threatening to veto it.

"Here we are at a time when food prices are at historic highs, and farm income is up by 56 percent in just the past two years," McCain said. "Yet even now, the Congress has voted to give billions of dollars in subsidies to some of the biggest and richest agribusiness corporations in America."

The Illinois Farm Bureau and other farm groups point out that high energy prices have driven up the costs farmers pay to produce their crops.

"Farmers are in the middle of planting the most expensive crop in history," Illinois Farm Bureau President Philip Nelson said last week.

Acknowledging he was in Obama territory, McCain said he agreed with Illinois Democrats that Obama is the right choice to be their senator.

"I couldn't agree more, and I promise to do everything in my power to help him finish his first term in the United States Senate," McCain quipped.



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  • News / McCain, in Israel, lends support to Sderot residents and the IDF
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      1.   Negotiating with your executioner 08:38  |  Yonatan 20/05/08
      2.   Sorry it`s so... 09:21  |  Esther 20/05/08
      3.   McCain is stupid 09:23  |  KA 20/05/08
      4.   And all those Republicans are experienced 09:29  |  El-Birawi 20/05/08
      5.   soviets more dangerous 09:40  |  PAUL FELDMAN 20/05/08
      6.   soviets more dangerous 09:45  |  PAUL PAVEL FELDMAN 20/05/08
      7.   Sheeple in Israel, and America...ENOUGH! 09:54  |  Goldstein 20/05/08
      8.   SOVIETS WERE NOT RELIGIOUS FANATICS! 09:56  |  OLMERT=CRIMINAL 20/05/08
      9.   #2, Esther,"Obama has now clinched his rookie status" 09:56  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 20/05/08
      10.   to Cipora 10:35  |  Anubhav 20/05/08
      11.   IT IS ABUDANTLY CLEAR OBAMA DOESNT KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS ABOUT 10:36  |  v hardman 20/05/08
      12.   "tiny McCain" said.... 10:39  |  Akiva P 20/05/08
      13.   Republicans Morans 10:40  |  El-Birawi 20/05/08
      14.   Yes, we understand Jewish money and votes make a difference 10:48  |  El-Birawi 20/05/08
      15.   Bush Republicans are meeting with Iranians in Bahgdad 10:53  |  El-Birawi 20/05/08
      16.   #KA = Khales Amariyeh of Hebron and al-Jazeera 10:56  |  Yonatan 20/05/08
      17.   barak HUSSEIN obama: wolf in sheeps clothing 11:04  |  Tali 20/05/08
      18.   #13 El-Birawi from "somewhere" 11:06  |  Yonatan 20/05/08
      19.   #10, Anubhav 11:27  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 20/05/08
      20.   KENNEDY HAD ZERO EXPERIENCE WHEN HE WAS ELECTED 11:41  |  indrajaya 20/05/08
      21.   When I was young and Red..... 11:45  |  Keops 20/05/08
      22.   Yonatan. I do give a damn about American more than you do 11:46  |  El-Birawi 20/05/08
      23.   El Birawi and the morans - campaigning against the Jews 11:53  |  x-ray 20/05/08
      24.   #20, "kennedy had zero experience" 11:56  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 20/05/08
      25.   jarkata and Kennedy 12:03  |  Ruby 20/05/08
      26.   # 24, CIPORA 12:11  |  indrajaya 20/05/08
      27.   # 25, RUBY 12:19  |  indrajaya 20/05/08
      28.   X-Ray why then Israel the main issue in the election? 12:20  |  El-Birawi 20/05/08
      29.   el Beer- "morAn" 12:36  |  ankhfnkhonsu 20/05/08
      30.   #22 El-Birawi re Yonatan 12:52  |  H 20/05/08
      31.   McCain blasts Obama 12:59  |  Hadas 20/05/08
      32.   28# El Birawi "Why then Israel the main issue 13:07  |  Akram Zekaria 20/05/08
      33.   #17 Tali 13:23  |  Kapule David Mabuta 20/05/08
      34.   #28 El-Birawi - How Israel aids the US 13:24  |  Yonatan 20/05/08
      35.   #9 and #24 Cipora Kohn, not so bright, immoral, childish 13:28  |  Mark B. 20/05/08
      36.   El Birawi 13:28  |  ChanahS 20/05/08
      37.   Indrajaya Why the hell should people in the USA listen to you 13:35  |  Gil 20/05/08
      38.   The sun rises and sets 13:40  |  Jeremiah 20/05/08
      39.   A Game of Nuance 13:41  |  Ronnie Wolman 20/05/08
      40.   El B of the USA 13:50  |  x-ray 20/05/08
      41.   # 37, GIL 13:55  |  indrajaya 20/05/08
      42.   #28 El-Birawi - I forgot to add 13:55  |  Yonatan 20/05/08
      43.   Are you saying there are one billion Muslim terrorists 13:57  |  El-Birawi 20/05/08
      44.   Something I noticed about supporters of Obama on this list 14:05  |  Yonatan 20/05/08
      45.   #32 Zekeria 14:06  |  Kapule David Mabuta 20/05/08
      46.   Obama is right 14:13  |  JOE 20/05/08
      47.   El-Birawi - How Israel aids the US 14:18  |  Gil 20/05/08
      48.   Mr el know nothing from no where 14:19  |  Ramius 20/05/08
      49.   El-Birawi - How Israel aids the US 14:19  |  Gil 20/05/08
      50.   El Know Nothing from nowhere flys in and crashes 14:21  |  Ramius 20/05/08
      51.   Cipora I wonder if you have enough humility 14:22  |  Ronnie Wolman 20/05/08
      52.   El Birawi 43 14:30  |  ChanahS 20/05/08
      53.   McCain is right 14:30  |  Brod 20/05/08
      54.   TO # 28 EL-Birawi 14:30  |  THE TEACHER/INSTRUCT 20/05/08
      55.   # 44, YONATAN 14:32  |  indrajaya 20/05/08
      56.   Wolmans Memory falters and runs 14:34  |  Ramius 20/05/08
      57.   #41 yes indeed you are good! 14:39  |  Bruni 20/05/08
      58.   #35 Mark B on His Hero 14:45  |  Ramius 20/05/08
      59.   McCain is like a character from Doctor Strangelove 14:47  |  Natallie Durson 20/05/08
      60.   Get OVER it........ 14:52  |  William 20/05/08
      61.   Mccain won`t win 14:53  |  Mary 20/05/08
      62.   #49 Gil 15:00  |  North American 20/05/08
      63.   #43 El Birawi - Islamic terrorism has deep roots 15:09  |  Yonatan 20/05/08
      64.   Jewish folk 15:13  |  laddy 20/05/08
      65.   North American (not likely) - 62 15:18  |  ChanahS 20/05/08
      66.   #Brod 15:18  |  Kapule David Mabuta 20/05/08
      67.   North American 62 cont`d 15:20  |  ChanahS 20/05/08
      68.