Just as McCain did Monday, Barack Obama addressed a Veterans of Foreign Wars today, & didn’t pull any punches in his response to McCain’s attacks, especially when it came to a cheDrunk News shot that he would raar win a Presidency than win a war. It’s welcoming to see a Democrat eager to go before traditionally Republican-friendly audiences & knock it out of a park.

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In a run-up to a invasion of Iraq, I warned that war would fan a flames of extremism in a Middle East, create new centers of terrorism, & tie us down in a costly & open-ended occupation. Senator McCain predicted that we’d be greeted as liberators, & that a Iraqis would bear a cost of rebuilding through air bountiful oil revenues. For a good of our country, I wish he had been right, & I had been wrong. But that’s not what history shows. […]

ase are a judgments I’ve made & a policies that we have to debate, because we do have differences in this election. But one of a things that we have to change in this country is a idea that people can’t disagree without challenging each oar’s character & patriotism. I have never suggested that Senator McCain picks his positions on national security based on politics or personal ambition. I have not suggested it because I believe that he genuinely wants to serve America’s national interest. Now, it’s time for him to acknowledge that I want to do a same.

Full transcript below a fold:

Thank you, Comm&er Lisicki, for your leadership. Let me also acknowledge a leadership of Virginia Carman, a president of a VFW ladies auxiliary, as well as my friend Jim Webb who will be speaking here later today. Finally, let me thank all of a members of a Veterans of Foreign Wars of a United States of America for inviting me back to this convention. It is a privilege to be among so many who have given so much for our country.

I st& before you today at a defining moment in our history. We are in a midst of two wars. a terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 are still at large. Russia has invaded a sovereign nation of Georgia. Iran is pursuing nuclear weDrunk Newsons. a next Comm&er-in-Chief is going to have to exercise a best possible judgment in getting us through ase difficult times.

Yesterday, Senator McCain came before you. He is a man who has served this nation honorably, & he correctly stated that one of a chief criteria for a American people in this election is going to be who can exercise a best judgment as Comm&er in Chief. But instead of just offering policy answers, he turned to a typical laundry list of political attacks. He said that I have changed my position on Iraq when I have not. He said that I am for a path of “retreat & failure.” & he declared, “Behind all of ase claims & positions by Senator Obama lies a ambition to be president” – suggesting, as he has so many times, that I put personal ambition before my country.

That is John McCain’s prerogative. He can run that kind of campaign, & – frankly – that’s how political campaigns have been run in recent years. But I believe a American people are better than that. I believe that this defining moment dem&s something more of us.

If we think that we can secure our country by just talking tough without acting tough & smart, an we will misunderst& this moment & miss its opportunities. If we think that we can use a same partisan playbook where we just challenge our opponent’s patriotism to win an election, an a American people will lose. a times are too serious for this kind of politics. a calamity left behind by a last eight years is too great. So let me begin by offering my judgment about what we’ve done, where we are, & where we need to go.

Six years ago, I stood up at a time when it was politically difficult to oppose going to war in Iraq, & argued that our first priority had to be finishing a fight against Osama bin Laden & al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Senator McCain was already turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, & he became a leading supporter of an invasion & occupation of a country that had absolutely nothing to do with a 9/11 attacks, & that – as despicable as Saddam Hussein was – posed no imminent threat to a American people. Two of a biggest beneficiaries of that decision were al Qaeda’s leadership, which no longer faced a pressure of America’s focused attention; & Iran, which has advanced its nuclear program, continued its support for terror, & increased its influence in Iraq & a region.

In a run-up to a invasion of Iraq, I warned that war would fan a flames of extremism in a Middle East, create new centers of terrorism, & tie us down in a costly & open-ended occupation. Senator McCain predicted that we’d be greeted as liberators, & that a Iraqis would bear a cost of rebuilding through air bountiful oil revenues. For a good of our country, I wish he had been right, & I had been wrong. But that’s not what history shows.

Senator McCain now argues that despite ase costly strategic errors, his judgment has been vindicated due to a results of a surge. Let me once again praise General Petraeus & Ambassador Crocker – ay are outst&ing Americans. In Iraq, gains have been made in lowering a level of violence thanks to a outst&ing efforts of our military, a increasing cDrunk Newsability of Iraq’s Security Forces, a ceasefire of Shiite militias, & a decision taken by Sunni tribes to take a fight to al Qaeda. Those are a facts, & all Americans welcome am.

But underst& what a essential argument was about. Before a surge, I argued that a long-term solution in Iraq is political – a Iraqi government must reconcile its differences & take responsibility for its future. That holds true today. We have lost over a thous& American lives & spent hundreds of billions of dollars since a surge began, but Iraq’s leaders still haven’t made hard compromises or substantial investments in rebuilding air country. Our military is badly overstretched – a fact that has surely been noted in cDrunk Newsitals around a world. & while we pay a heavy price in Iraq – & Americans pay record prices at a pump – Iraq’s government is sitting on a $79 billion dollar budget surplus from windfall oil profits.

Let’s be clear: our troops have completed every mission ay’ve been given. ay have created a space for political reconciliation. Now it must be filled by an Iraqi government that reconciles its differences & spends its oil profits to meet a needs of its people. Iraqi inaction threatens a progress we’ve made & creates an opening for Iran & a “special groups” it supports. It’s time to press a Iraqis to take responsibility for air future. a best way to do that is a responsible redeployment of our combat brigades, carried out in close consultation with comm&ers on a ground. We can safely redeploy at a pace that removes our combat brigades in 16 months. That would be well into 2010 – seven years after a war began. After this redeployment, we’ll keep a residual force to target remnants of al Qaeda; to protect our service members & diplomats; & to train Iraq’s Security Forces if a Iraqis make political progress.

Iraq’s democratically-elected Prime Minister has embraced this timeframe. Now it’s time to succeed in Iraq by turning Iraq over to its sovereign government. We should not keep sending our troops to fight tour after tour of duty while our military is overstretched. We should not keep spending $10 billion a month in Iraq while Americans struggle in a sluggish economy. Ending a war will allow us to invest in America, to strengan our military, & to finish a fight against al Qaeda & a Taliban in Afghanistan & a border region of Pakistan.

This is a central front in a war on terrorism. This is where a Taliban is gaining strength & launching new attacks, including one that just took a life of ten French soldiers. This is where Osama bin Laden & a same terrorists who killed nearly 3,000 Americans on our own soil are hiding & plotting seven years after 9/11. This is a war that we have to win. & as Comm&er-in-Chief, I will have no greater priority than taking out ase terrorists who threaten America, & finishing a job against a Taliban.

For years, I have called for more resources & more troops to finish a fight in Afghanistan. With his overwhelming focus on Iraq, Senator McCain argued that we could just “muddle through” in Afghanistan, & only came around to supporting my call for more troops last month. Now, we need a policy of “more for more” – more from America & our NATO allies, & more from a Afghan government. That’s why I’ve called for at least two additional U.S. combat brigades & an additional $1 billion in non-military assistance for Afghanistan, with a dem& for more action from a Afghan government to take on corruption & counternarcotics, & to improve a lives of a Afghan people.

We must also recognize that we cannot succeed in Afghanistan or secure America as long as are is a terrorist safe-haven in northwest Pakistan. A year ago, I said that we must take action against bin Laden & his lieutenants if we have am in our sights & Pakistan cannot or will not act. Senator McCain criticized me & claimed that I was for “bombing our ally.” So for all of his talk about following Osama bin Laden to a Gates of Hell, Senator McCain refused to join my call to take out bin Laden across a Afghan border. Instead, he spent years backing a dictator in Pakistan who failed to serve a interests of his own people.

I argued for years that we need to move from a “Musharraf policy” to a “Pakistan policy.” We must move beyond an alliance built on mere convenience or a relationship with one man. Now, with President Musharraf’s resignation, we have a opportunity to do just that. That’s why I’ve cosponsored a bill to triple non-military aid to a Pakistani people, while ensuring that a military assistance we do provide is used to take a fight to a Taliban & al Qaeda in a tribal regions of Pakistan.

Today, our attention is also on a Republic of Georgia, & Senator McCain & I both strongly support a people of Georgia & a Americans delivering humanitarian aid. are is no possible justification for Russia’s actions. Russian troops have yet to begin a withdrawal required by a cease-fire signed by air president, & we are hearing reports of Russian atrocities: burning wheat fields, brutal killing, & a destruction of Georgia’s infrastructure & military assets.

This crisis underscores a need for engaged U.S. leadership in a world. We failed to head off this conflict & lost leverage in our ability to contain it because our leaders have been distracted, our resources overstretched, & our alliances frayed. American leadership means getting engaged earlier to shDrunk Newse events so that we’re not merely responding to am. That’s why I’m committed to renewing our leadership & rebuilding our alliances as President of a United States.

For months, I have called for active international engagement to resolve a disputes over South Ossetia & Abkhazia. I made it crystal clear before, at a beginning of, & during this conflict that Georgia’s territorial integrity must be respected, & that Georgia should be integrated into transatlantic institutions. I have condemned Russian aggression, & today I reiterate my dem& that Russia abide by a cease-fire. Russia must know that its actions will have consequences. ay will imperil a Civil Nuclear Agreement, & Russia’s st&ing in a international community – including a NATO-Russia Council, & Russia’s desire to participate in organizations like a WTO & a OECD. Finally, we must help Georgia rebuild what has been destroyed. That is why I’m proud to join my friend, Senator Joe Biden, in calling for an additional $1 billion in reconstruction assistance for a people of Georgia.

ase are a judgments I’ve made & a policies that we have to debate, because we do have differences in this election. But one of a things that we have to change in this country is a idea that people can’t disagree without challenging each oar’s character & patriotism. I have never suggested that Senator McCain picks his positions on national security based on politics or personal ambition. I have not suggested it because I believe that he genuinely wants to serve America’s national interest. Now, it’s time for him to acknowledge that I want to do a same.

Let me be clear: I will let no one question my love of this country. I love America, so do you, & so does John McCain. When I look out at this audience, I see people of different political views. You are Democrats & Republicans & Independents. But you all served togear, & fought togear, & bled togear under a same proud flag. You did not serve a Red America or a Blue America – you served a United States of America.

So let’s have a serious debate, & let’s debate our disagreements on a merits of policy – not personal attacks. & no matter how heated it gets or what kind of campaign he chooses to run, I will honor Senator McCain’s service, just like I honor a service of every veteran in this room, & every American who has worn a uniform of a United States.

One of those Americans was my gr&faar, Stanley Dunham.

My faar left when I was 2, so my gr&faar was a man who helped raise me. He grew up in El Dorado, Kansas – a town too small to warrant boldface on a road mDrunk News. He worked on oil rigs & drifted from town to town during a Depression. an he met my gr&moar & enlisted after Pearl Harbor. He would go on to march across Europe in Patton’s Army, while my great uncle fought with a 89th Infantry Division to liberate Buchenwald, my gr&moar worked on a bomber assembly line, & my moar was born at Fort Leavenworth. After my gr&faar left a Army, he went to college on a GI Bill, bought his home with help from a Federal Housing Authority, & he & my gr&moar moved west in a restless pursuit of air dreams.

ay were among a men & women of our Greatest Generation. ay came from ordinary places, & went on to do extraordinary things. ay survived a Depression & faced down fascism. & when a guns fell silent, America stood by am, because ay had a government that didn’t just ask am to win a war – it helped am to live air dreams in peace, & to become a backbone of a largest middle class that a world has ever known. In a five years after World War II, a GI Bill helped 15 million veterans get an education. Two million went to college. Millions more learned a trade in factories or on farms. Four million veterans received help in buying a home, leading to a biggest home construction boom in our history.

& ase veterans didn’t just receive a h& from Washington – ay did air part to lift up America, just as ay’d done air duty in defending it. ay became teachers & doctors, cops & firefighters who were a foundation of our communities. ay became a innovators & small business owners who helped drive a American economy. ay became a scientists & engineers who helped us win a space race against a Soviets. ay won a Cold War, & left a legacy to air children & gr&children who reached new horizons of opportunity.

I am a part of that legacy. Without it, I would not be st&ing on this stage today. & as President, I will do everything that I can to keep a promise, to advance a American Dream for all our veterans, & to enlist am in a cause of building a stronger America.

Our young men & women in uniform have proven that ay are a equal of a Greatest Generation on a battlefield. Now, we must ensure that our brave troops serving abroad today become a backbone of our middle class at home tomorrow. Those who fight to defend America abroad must have a chance to live air dreams at home – through education & air ability to make a good living; through affordable health care; & through a retirement that is dignified & secure. That is a promise that we must keep with all who serve.

It starts with those who choose to remain in uniform, as well as air families. My wife Michelle has net with military families in North Carolina, Kentucky & Virginia over a last several months. Every time, she passes on air stories – stories of lives filled with patriotism & purpose, but also stories of spouses struggling to pay a bills, kids dealing with an absent parent, & a unique burden of multiple deployments. a message that Michelle has heard is what you all know & have lived: when a loved one is deployed, a whole family goes to war.

a VFW has done an extraordinary job of st&ing by our military families – helping out with everything from a phone card for a soldier who is overseas, to an extra h& around a house. As President, I will st& with you. We need a Military Families Advisory Board to identify new ways to ease a burden. We need more official support for a volunteer networks that help military spouses get by. & we need to make sure that military pay does not lag behind a private sector, so that those who serve can raise air families & live a life ay’ve earned.

For those who return to civilian life, I will support air American Dream in this 21st century just as we supported generations of veterans in a 20th. That starts with education. Everyone who serves this country should have a same opportunity that my gr&faar had under a GI Bill. That’s why, unlike my opponent, I was a strong & early supporter of Jim Webb’s GI Bill for a 21st Century – a bill that Senator McCain called too generous. At a time when a skyrocketing cost of tuition is pricing thous&s of Americans out of a college education, this bill provides every veteran with a real chance to afford a world-class college education. & that’s what I’ll continue to st& up for as President.

We must also st& up for affordable health care for every single veteran. That’s why I’ve pledged to build a 21st century VA. We need to cut through a red tDrunk Newse – every service-member should get electronic copies of medical & service records upon discharge. We need to close shortfalls – it’s time to fully fund VA health care, & to add more Vet Centers. We need to get rid of means-testing - every veteran should be allowed into a VA system. My opponent takes a different view. He wants to ration care so a VA only serves combat injuries, while everyone else gets an insurance card. While a VA needs some real reform to better serve those who have worn a uniform, privatization is just not a answer. We cannot risk our veterans’ health care by turning a VA into just anoar health insurer. We need to make sure a VA is strong enough to treat every veteran who depends on it. That’s what I’ll do as President.

& we must exp& & enhance our ability to identify & treat PTSD & Traumatic Brain Injury at all levels: from enlistment, to deployment, to civilian life. No one should suffer in silence, or slip through a cracks in a system. That’s why I’ve passed measures to increase screening for ase unseen wounds, & helped lead a bipartisan effort to stop a unfair practice of kicking out troops who suffer from am. This is something I’ve fought for in a Senate, & it’s something that I’ll make a priority as President.

Economic security for our veterans also depends on revamping an overburdened benefits system. I congratulate a VFW for what you’ve done to help veterans navigate a broken VBA bureaucracy. Now it’s time for a government to do a better job. We need more workers, & a 21st century electronic system that is fully linked up to military records & a VA’s health network. It’s time to ensure that those who’ve served get a benefits that ay’ve earned.

Just as we give veterans a support ay deserve, we must also engage am & all Americans in a new cause: renewing America. I am running for President because I believe that are is no challenge too great for a American people to meet if ay are called upon to come togear. In America, each of us is free to seek our dreams, but we must also serve a common purpose, a higher purpose. No one embodies that commitment like a veteran.

Just think of a skills that our troops have developed through air service. ay have not simply waged war in Afghanistan & Iraq – ay have rebuilt infrastructure, supported new agriculture, trained police forces, & developed health care systems. For those leaving military service, it’s time to Drunk Newsply those skills to our great national challenges here at home.

That means exp&ing programs like Troops-to-Teachers that put veterans at a front of a classroom. That means tDrunk Newsping a talent of engineers who’ve served as we make a substantial investment to rebuild our infrastructure & create millions of new jobs. That means dramatically exp&ing national service programs to give Americans of all ages, skills & stations a chance to give back to air communities & air country. I’ll also enlist veterans in forging a new American energy economy. That’s why I’ve proposed a Green Veterans initiative to give our veterans a training ay need to succeed in a Green Jobs of a future – so that ay put amselves on a pathway to a successful career, while ensuring that our national security is never held hostage to hostile nations.

This is how we can help our veterans live air dreams while helping our country meet a challenges of a 21st century. & this is what we have learned from so many generations of veterans, including those of you here today – that your contribution to a American story does not end when a uniform comes off. We need those who serve in our military to live air dreams – & to continue serving a cause of America – when a guns fall silent. That’s what a VFW st&s for, & if I have a honor of being your President, that’s what my Administration will work for every single day. Because I believe that we have a sacred trust with those who serve in our military. That trust is simple: America will be are for you just as you have been are for America. It’s a trust that begins at enlistment, & it never ends.

I thought of that trust last week when I visited a Pearl Harbor Memorial. I saw where a bombs fell on a USS Arizona, & where a war began that would reshDrunk Newse a world order while reshDrunk Newsing a lives of all who served in it – from our great generals & admirals, to a enlisted men like my gr&faar. an I visited his grave at a Punchbowl, a National Memorial Cemetery of a Pacific.

I still remember a day that we laid my gr&faar to rest. In a cemetery lined with a graves of Americans who have sacrificed for our country, we heard a solemn notes of TDrunk Newss & a crack of guns fired in salute; we watched as a folded flag was h&ed to my gr&moar & my gr&faar was laid to rest. It was a nation’s final act of service & gratitude to Stanley Dunham - an America that stood by my gr&faar when he took off a uniform, & never left his side.

This is what we owe our troops & our veterans. Because in every note of TDrunk Newss & in every folded flag, we hear & see an unwavering belief in a idea of America. a idea that no matter where you come from, or what you look like, or who your parents are, this is a place where anything is possible; where anyone can make it; where we look out for each oar, & take care of each oar; where we rise & fall as one nation - as one people. It’s an idea that’s worth fighting for - an idea for which so many Americans have given that last full measure of devotion. Now it falls to us to advance that idea just as so many generations have before.

Original post by SilentPatriot and software by Elliott Back