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WASHINGTON : Republican White House candidate John McCain said Tuesday his Democratic foe Barack Obama was "wrong" on Iraq, and guilty of "bluster" and "idle threats" about striking Al-Qaeda in Pakistan.
But Democrats accused McCain of performing a political flip-flop and adopting Obama's plan to send more troops to Afghanistan, which has been hit by a recent upsurge in insurgent violence and terror attacks.
McCain scathingly responded to a major foreign policy address by Obama, by declaring the "status quo" in Afghanistan as not acceptable, and accused his rival of wanting to lose the war in Iraq.
"Today we know Senator Obama was wrong. The surge has succeeded and because of its success, the next president will inherit a situation in Iraq in which America's enemies are on the run," McCain said in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Arizona senator, who had long called for a troop escalation strategy in Iraq which was finally introduced last year, said the surge was a model for how to defeat insurgents and radicals in Afghanistan.
"The status quo in Afghanistan is not acceptable. Security in Afghanistan has deteriorated and our enemies are on the offensive," McCain said.
"Senator Obama will tell you we can't win in Afghanistan without losing in Iraq," McCain said, referring to the Illinois senator's plan to withdraw most US combat troops from Iraq within 16 months and send two extra combat brigades to the Afghan war.
"In fact, he has it exactly backwards, it is precisely the success of the surge in Iraq that shows us the way to succeed in Afghanistan.
"With the right strategy and the right forces, we can succeed in both Iraq and Afghanistan. I know how to win wars."
McCain said he would ensure that US commanders would get three more combat brigades they need in Afghanistan -- up to 15,000 men including support and headquarters troops.
Last month, McCain had responded to Obama's calls by saying that improving security in Afghanistan was not just a matter of more troops.
McCain also said that it was time to double the size of the Afghan army to 160,000 troops, and warned US allies would have to help pay for the increase.
The Arizona senator also pledged to appoint a presidential envoy to navigate the geopolitical "chessboard" in Afghanistan, where the country's neighbours jostle for influence.
McCain also backed efforts to help Pakistan's civilian government to defeat radicalism, but also hit out at Obama's threats to act against Al-Qaeda in Pakistan if the government in Islamabad would not.
"Senator Obama has spoken in public about taking unilateral military action in Pakistan," McCain said.
"In trying to sound tough, he has made it harder for the people whose support we most need to provide it. I will not bluster, and I will not make idle threats.
"But understand this: when I am commander-in-chief, there will be nowhere the terrorists can run, and nowhere they can hide.
"I will get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice, I will do that for the crimes he has committed against the people of this nation," he said, sparking cheers from his audience at the town-hall meeting in New Mexico.
- AFP /ls
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