Obama rejects McCain terrorism criticism
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Democrat Barack Obama Tuesday rejected any lectures from his White House rival John McCain on fighting terrorism, in a scornful riposte to a day-long onslaught from the Republican's camp.
"Let's think about this: these are the same guys who helped to engineer the distraction of the war in Iraq at a time when we could have pinned down the people who actually committed 9/11," Obama told reporters on his plane.
"In part because of their failed strategies, we've got (Al-Qaeda chief Osama) bin Laden still sending out audio tapes. So I don't think they have much standing to suggest that they've learned a lot of lessons from 9/11," he said.
McCain supporters had lashed out at a call by Obama for suspected extremists to be prosecuted, in light of a Supreme Court ruling last week allowing Guantanamo Bay detainees to challenge their detention in the courts.
McCain foreign policy aide Randy Scheunemann said militants had to be fought on the battlefield and not in the courts, and accused Obama of "a perfect manifestation of a September 10 mindset" from a day prior to the 2001 attacks.
"If Obama did receive that 3:00 am phone call, I guess his response would be to call lawyers at the Justice Department," Scheunemann added, referencing a campaign ad on national security by Obama's primary opponent Hillary Clinton.
In an interview with ABC News late Monday, Obama noted that the Islamist extremists behind the first bomb attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 were brought to civilian justice and are now behind bars.
Under the Bush administration's policies since 9/11, "not only have we never actually put many of these folks on trial, but we have destroyed our credibility when it comes to rule of law all around the world," Obama said.
The policies had "given a huge boost to terrorist recruitment in countries that say, 'Look, this is how the United States treats Muslims'," he said.
Obama backers said McCain was recycling the ominous rhetoric of President George W. Bush's "war on terror" which had left the United States bereft of allies, embroiled in Iraq and facing new threats in Afghanistan.
Richard Clarke, Bush's former top counter-terrorism aide who is now advising Obama, said he was a "little disgusted" by the McCain campaign's use of "the same old tired tactics ... to frankly frighten Americans."
In any case, polls suggest that this year's election will not be fought on the 2004 theme of who can best keep America safe, but who can best revive its economy and help hard-pressed voters at risk of losing their homes and jobs.
In a new Washington Post-ABC News poll Tuesday, nearly 80 percent said soaring gasoline prices were causing them financial hardship, which the Post said was the highest figure in surveys this decade.
The poll gave Obama a narrow lead of 48 percent to 42 percent over McCain among all voters.
McCain had a slight edge in international affairs and terrorism, but Obama had a 16-point lead as the best candidate for the faltering economy.
The candidates were virtually tied on which was more trusted to handle Iraq, which Obama intends to visit before the November election.
Parallel clashes broke out Tuesday over McCain's demand for the federal government to scrap its 27-year-old moratorium on offshore oil drilling, as the Republican tapped into voters' anxiety about sky-high fuel prices.
Reversing his own previous opposition to offshore exploration, McCain said the United States had "proven oil reserves of at least 21 billion barrels" lying untapped because of federal regulations.
The Arizona senator's call, in a speech in the Texas oil capital of Houston, was mocked by Obama as "political posturing" that would do nothing to cut gasoline prices and might do much to ruin the coastal environment.
McCain's economic adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin turned the oil drilling row into an attack on Obama's promise to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
"We have good neighbors in Mexico and Canada that are stable sources of oil. Those are relations that a knowledgeable and sophisticated president will nurture and not disrupt," he told reporters.
