John McCain hammered at Barack Obama's Iraq credentials yesterday, knocking the Democrat in an AP interview for not having set foot in the country since 2006—and proposing a joint trip so that he could "educate Senator Obama." Obama hasn't witnessed firsthand the benefits of the troop surge, McCain noted, and “has no experience or knowledge or judgment about Iraq and he has wanted to surrender for a long time."
“If there was any other issue before the American people, and you hadn't had anything to do with it in a couple of years,” Americans would judge that “very harshly,” the GOP hopeful added. McCain has hoped to bring troops home by 2013, while Obama aims to do so within 16 months of taking office. “For him to talk about dates for withdrawal, which basically is surrender in Iraq,” is “inexcusable,” McCain said. (More John McCain stories.)