Obama underlines diplomacy while McCain guns for missile shield in dealing with Iran

www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-10 00:17:49

WASHINGTON, July 9 (Xinhua) --

The two U.S. presidential candidates on Wednesday voiced their different policies on dealing with threats from Iran, with Barack Obama emphasizing diplomacy and sanctions, while John McCain underlined the establishment of a missile shield in Europe.

In an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America", presumptive Democratic nominee Obama said Iran's reported missile tests justify the need to conduct direct diplomacy with the country and impose tougher economic sanctions, combined with strong incentives to change Tehran's behavior.

The Illinois senator was responding to a report earlier in the day that said the Iranian government had tested nine long and medium-range missiles, an act that intended to show Iran's "enemies" its "resolve and might", as an Iranian military official put it.

Obama said he would listen to his national security team to decide whether "this indicates any new capabilities on Iran's part."

In response to another report released Tuesday that said U.S. exports to Iran rose more than tenfold under President George W. Bush despite hostility between the two countries, Obama criticized the Republican government for using bellicose language against Tehran while at the same time increasing exports to the country.

"It's that kind of mixed signal that has led to the kind of situation that we're in right now," he said.

Meanwhile, presumptive Republican presidential nominee McCain said in a prepared statement that the Iranian missile tests were proof of the need to build a missile defense system in Europe.

"Working with our European and regional allies is the best way to meet the threat posed by Iran, not unilateral concessions that undermine multilateral diplomacy," he said.

The Vietnam veteran has criticized Obama's stated policy of engaging Iran through direct talks as "naive."

After prolonged negotiations, the U.S. government on Tuesday finally signed an agreement with the Czech Republic on the installation of a radar base on Czech soil as part of a U.S. missile defense system in the region.

The United States has also claimed a "tentative agreement" with Poland on the deployment of a missile defense shield there. But Poland said an agreement has not been finalized yet.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

U.S. presidential candidates debate over Iraq's demand for withdrawal timetable

www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-09 03:44:00

WASHINGTON, July 8 (Xinhua) --

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's public demand for the U.S. troops withdrawal timetable from the country fueled on Tuesday the debate between Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his Republican rival John McCain on Iraq policy.

McCain insisted that any further withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq should be based on security situation on the ground.

"I have always said we will come home with honor and with victory and not through a set timetable," he said in an interview with MSNBC, adding that Iraqis would act in their own national interests and so does the United States.

The Arizona senator warned that despite recent security gains, "the victory we have achieved so far is fragile and (the redeployment) has to be dictated by events and on the ground."

Al-Maliki told Arab ambassadors to the United Arab Emirates on Monday that he has pressed for a withdrawal timetable when negotiating with the United States on an agreement about American forces status beyond 2008.

It was the first time for the Iraqi leader to publicly announced that he had demanded a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal.

For his part, Obama told reporters in St. Louis, Missouri, that Maliki's remarks was in line with his own policy on Iraq.

"I think that his statement is consistent with my view about how withdrawals should proceed," the Illinois senator said. "I think it's encouraging ... that the prime minister himself now acknowledges that in cooperation with Iraq, it's time for American forces to start sending out a timeframe for the withdrawal.

He urged the current government and McCain who was considered echoing President George W. Bush's Iraq policy to listen to the Iraqi leader.

However, Obama, who has vowed to begin withdrawing all U.S. combat troops in Iraq in the first 16 months after he takes the White House, noted last week that he might redefine the Iraq policy after he listens to the military commanders in Iraq when traveling to the country later this month.

In response to Maliki, the White House said on Monday that the Iraqi government was not negotiating a "hard date" for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq but it did not rule out discussions on "time-frames" with Baghdad.

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