Obama to visit Iraq, Afghanistan before November elections

Source: Xinhua | 06-17-2008 15:00

WASHINGTON, June 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Monday that he would visit Iraq and Afghanistan before the November presidential elections.

The Illinois Senator made the announcement when he spoke over the phone with the visiting Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, saying he would like meet him in Baghdad before November.

"I emphasized to him how encouraged I was by the reductions in violence in Iraq, but also insisted that it is important for us to begin the process of withdrawing U.S. troops, making clear that we have no interest in permanent bases in Iraq," Obama told reporters after the talks in Michigan.

Obama also noted that the Iraqi government are concerned about their country's sovereignty and are not seeking a long-term occupation by the United States.

He assured the Iraqi foreign minister that should he be elected, his administration would make sure that "we continue with the progress that's been made in Iraq, that we won't act precipitously."

The visit would be the first for Obama since he made his only trip to Iraq in January 2006 as part of a congressional delegation.

On the other hand, his Republican rival, Arizona Senator John McCain, has paid eight visit to the war-torn country, including the latest one in March.

During a meeting with Zebari on Sunday, McCain boasted the security success achieved by the U.S. troops surge in Iraq and noted the need to sustain the progress.

"The situation on the ground is that we have made enormous success and the surge has worked," McCain said in response. "Senator Obama was wrong when he said it would fail."

The Iraq war, as one of the issues that American voters care about most, has become a focus of the debates between Obama and McCain with the former promising to begin a troop pullout shortly after taking office, while the latter claiming conditions are improving there and vowing to bring home most troops by 2013 after the United States wins the war by his watch.

Editor:Du Xiaodan