McCain hits Obama over surge in front of vets’ group

Republican presidential candidate and former prisoner of war John McCain took off the gloves at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) convention in Florida on Monday, accusing his opponent of putting personal ambition in front of national interest in opposing the troop surge in Iraq.

McCain accused Democratic rival Barack Obama of "shifting positions" on the surge, adding that the Illinois senator's opposition to the surge and subsequent troop funding bills provided a "clarifying moment."

{mosads}"Not content to merely predict failure in Iraq, my opponent tried to legislate failure," McCain said. He added: "It was a moment when political self-interest and the national interest parted ways."

Obama, who is scheduled to address the VFW on Tuesday, addressed the same group last year when VFW officials acknowledged that members were skeptical of a surge that had yet to take hold.

McCain also pointed to the recent developments in Georgia to indicate that Obama is not ready to be commander in chief.

"Behind all of these claims and positions by Sen. Obama lies the ambition to be president," McCain said. "What's less apparent is the judgment to be commander in chief. And in matters of national security, good judgment will be at a premium in the term of the next president — as we were all reminded 10 days ago by events in the nation of Georgia."

The Illinois Democrat's campaign responded that McCain continues to ignore the wishes of the Iraqi government, saying that the Arizona senator is out of touch with what they and the White House are saying about troop withdrawals.

“All his bluster, distortions and negative attacks notwithstanding, it is hard to understand how Sen. McCain can at once proclaim his support for the sovereign government of Iraq, and then stubbornly defy their expressed support for a timeline to remove our combat brigades from their country,” Bill Burton, an Obama spokesman, said in a statement. “The difference in this race is that John McCain is intent on spending $10 billion a month on an open-ended war, while Barack Obama thinks we should bring this war to a responsible end and invest in our pressing needs here at home.”

After Obama addresses the VFW on Tuesday, President Bush is scheduled to speak to the group on Wednesday.