McCain, Obama spar on Iraq judgment
DENVER, July 25 (UPI) -- Presumptive Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Barack Obama fired back Friday after an attack by his GOP rival on Iraq war policy.
Sen. John McCain, speaking Friday at the 2008 American GI Forum of the United States National Convention in Denver, said when it was time to vote to send surge troops to Iraq, he embraced the new strategy while "Senator Obama made a different choice," the Arizona Republican said Friday.
"He not only opposed the new strategy, but actually tried to prevent us from implementing it," McCain said of the Illinois Democrat. "He didn't just advocate defeat, he tried to legislate it."
The comment echoed McCain's recent charge that Obama was willing to "lose a war in order to win a political campaign."
Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton issued a statement saying Americans "are looking for a serious debate about the way forward in Iraq and Afghanistan, and angry, false accusations will do nothing to accomplish that goal," The New York Times said.
"Barack Obama and John McCain may differ over our strategy in Iraq, but they are united in their support for our brave troops and their desire to protect this nation," the statement said. "Senator McCain's constant suggestion otherwise is not worthy of the campaign he claimed he would run or the magnitude of the challenges this nation faces."
McCain said Senate votes authorizing the surge and emergency war funding provided "a real-time test for a future commander in chief … I believe my judgment passed that test. And I believe Senator Obama's failed."
The surge was successful, McCain said, and "the audacity of hopelessness" was rejected, he said, poking fun at the title of Obama's book, "The Audacity of Hope."
McCain would OK 'Nuremberg' for bin Laden
WASHINGTON, July 25 (UPI) -- U.S. Republican presidential hopeful John McCain told CNN Friday if Osama bin Laden is caught he would consider a Nuremberg-like trial for the al-Qaida leader.
"We have various options," McCain said in an interview with CNN. "The Nuremberg Trials are certainly an example of the kind of tribunal that we could move forward with. I don't think we'd have any difficulty in devising an international -- internationally supported mechanism that would mete out justice."
McCain repeated his charge that likely Democratic nominee Barack Obama would rather "lose a war in order to win a political campaign." He said he doesn't question Obama's patriotism.
"I'm sure that he's a very patriotic American," McCain said from Denver prior to his meeting with the Dalai Lama. "I question his judgment because he lacks experience and knowledge, and I questioned his judgment."
McCain repeated his criticism of Obama's proposal to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq during a 16-month period, but he said the United States "will withdraw."
"We have succeeded," he said. "The surge has succeeded, and we're on the road to victory. And we will be out of there and may have a residual presence of some kind."
Kucinich broaches impeachment at hearing
WASHINGTON, July 25 (UPI) -- Rep. Dennis Kucinich Friday asked the House Judiciary Committee to consider his proposal to impeach U.S. President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
The Ohio Democrat is holding hearings on the "constitutional limitations" of the executive branch that were not to include Kucinich's impeachment resolutions, The Hill reported Friday.
The newspaper reported that Kucinich, who was prohibited from "utilizing familiar terms" related to impeachment, asked that his three separate impeachment resolutions to be entered into the Judiciary Committee record.
"I request that each member read the three bills I have authored, bills which are now awaiting consideration by the Judiciary Committee," Kucinich said. "I am confident the reader will reach the same conclusions that I have about culpability."
Opening the meeting, Kucinich lashed out at the Bush administration over the Iraq war.
"The primary justifications for going to war, outlined in the legislation which the White House sent to Congress in October of 2002, have been determined conclusively to be untrue," Kucinich said.
Calif. first U.S. state to ban trans fats
SACRAMENTO, July 25 (UPI) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says a bill banning trans fats in restaurant food by 2010 will lead to a "healthier future for California."
"Consuming trans fat is linked to coronary heart disease, and today we are taking a strong step toward creating a healthier future for California," the former bodybuilder said Friday as he signed the bill in Sacramento.
The measure is the first of its kind in the nation and bans restaurants from cooking with artificial trans fats starting in 2010 and from baked goods the following year.
Trans fats have been popular in the restaurant business due to their long shelf life; however customer sentiment in recent years has had them on the decline, the Los Angeles Times said.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest said in a written statement that it hoped the measure would encourage the federal government to ban trans fats nationwide.
