ABC cropped Obama, falsely suggesting he "admit[ted] that he was wrong to oppose the surge"
Summary: After airing a video clip of Sen. Barack Obama saying of the "the surge of U.S. troops in Iraq," "I've already said, it's succeeded beyond our wildest dreams," ABC's David Wright stated, "The McCain campaign has been pushing Obama for weeks to admit that he was wrong to oppose the surge, a policy McCain championed early on," falsely suggesting that Obama said during his interview that he was wrong to oppose the surge.
During the September 5 edition of ABC's World News, after ABC News correspondent David Wright asserted that Gov. Sarah Palin "attacked [Sen. Barack] Obama for what he told Bill O'Reilly last night about the surge of U.S. troops in Iraq," Wright aired a quote from Obama's interview on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, saying, "I've already said, it's succeeded beyond our wildest dreams." Wright then stated, "The McCain campaign has been pushing Obama for weeks to admit that he was wrong to oppose the surge, a policy McCain championed early on," falsely suggesting that Obama said during his interview that he was wrong to oppose the surge. In fact, during the interview on the September 4 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, after Obama said, "I've already said it succeeded beyond our wildest dreams," host Bill O'Reilly asked, "So why can't you say, 'I was right in the beginning, and I was wrong about the surge?'" Obama responded, "Because there's an underlying problem with what have we done. We have reduced the violence, but the Iraqis still haven't taken responsibility, and we still don't have the kind of political reconciliation. We are still spending, Bill, $10 to $12 billion a month."
From the September 4 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
O'REILLY: I think you were desperately wrong on the surge, and I think you should admit it to the nation that now, we have defeated the terrorists in Iraq, and the Al Qaeda came there after we invaded, as you know. OK? We've defeated them.
O'REILLY: If we didn't, they would have used it as a staging ground. We've also inhibited Iran from controlling the southern part of Iraq by the surge, which you did not support. So why won't you say, "I was right in the beginning. I was wrong about that"?
OBAMA: You know, if you listen to what I've said, and I'll repeat it right here on this show, I think that there's no doubt that the violence is down. I believe that that is a testimony to the troops that were sent and General [David] Petraeus and Ambassador [Ryan] Crocker. I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated, by the way, including President Bush and the other supporters. It has gone very well, partly because of the Anbar situation --
O'REILLY: The awakening. Right.
OBAMA: -- and the Sunni awakening, partly because of the Shia military. Look --
O'REILLY: But if were up to you, there wouldn't have been a surge.
OBAMA: No, no, no, no, no, no, no --
O'REILLY: If it were up to you, there wouldn't have been a surge.
OBAMA: No, no, no, no. Hold on.
O'REILLY: You and Joe Biden, no surge.
OBAMA: Hold on a second, Bill. If you look at the debate that was taking place, we had gone through five years of mismanagement of this war that I thought was disastrous. And the president wanted to double down and continue on an open-ended policy that did not create the kinds of pressure on the Iraqis to take responsibility and reconcile.
O'REILLY: But it worked. It worked. Come on.
OBAMA: Bill, what I said is -- I've already said it succeed beyond our wildest dreams.
O'REILLY: Right. So why can't you say, "I was right in the beginning, and I was wrong about the surge"?
OBAMA: Because there's an underlying problem with what we've done. We have reduced the violence --
OBAMA: -- but the Iraqis still haven't taken responsibility, and we still don't have the kind of political reconciliation. We are still spending, Bill, $10 to $12 billion a month.
From the September 5 edition of ABC's World News with Charles Gibson:
WRIGHT: Governor Palin seems to be warming to her role as the campaign pitbull. Today she attacked Obama for what he told Bill O'Reilly last night about the surge of U.S. troops in Iraq.
OBAMA [video clip]: I've already said, it's succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.
WRIGHT: The McCain campaign has been pushing Obama for weeks to admit he was wrong to oppose the surge, a policy McCain championed early on.
PALIN [video clip]: I guess when you turn out to be profoundly wrong on a vital national security issue, maybe it's comforting to pretend that everyone else was wrong, too.
WRIGHT: If you could articulate what the strategy is for the homestretch.
—J.H.
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