Obama: George W. Bush is the reason foreign enemies will test next president

Democrat Barack Obama today blamed George W. Bush's foreign policy for ensuring that whoever is next elected president, he will be vulnerable to being tested by a foreign enemy. At a news conference in Richmond, Va., he said:

For the last eight years we've had a bad policy -- a bad set of policies that have resulted in two unresolved wars, Bin Laden and Al Qaeda communicating regularly and training folks to potentially attack America, and an economy that has been in a free fall. ... The president's going to be tested. And the question is, will the next president meet that test by moving America is a new direction, by sending a clear signal to the rest of the world that we are no longer about bluster and unilateralism and ideology.

Three days ago, Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, said the 47-year-old presidential candidate would be tested within the first six months of his administration, much as John Kennedy was tested by the Soviets in the Cuban missile crisis. John McCain's campaign jumped on the comment.

"Thank you for reminding us the way the world is," quipped McCain's sidekick, South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham, thanking Biden for reminding voters that "there's never been a candidate for president of the United States more tested than John McCain." Even the first-term governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, weighed in, saying the White House is no place for "on-the-job training."

Obama, conceding that Biden "sometimes engages in rhetorical flourishes," said whoever wins on Nov. 4 is going to be tested because he will be "inheriting a whole host of really big problems." Noting that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff made similar comments recently, Obama added that "a period of transition in a new administration is always one in which we have to be vigilant, we have to be careful, we have to be mindful that as we pass the baton in this democracy, that others don't take advantage of it."

Obama made his comments after meeting with his national security advisors. Biden was not at his side, but joined by conference call.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Staff Sgt. Shane Glowcheski of Rapid City, S.D., stands with a member of the Iraqi army, part of President Bush's surge strategy to quell sectarian violence in Iraq. Credit: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[David Velarde Jr]

Yes, we Democrats gotta clean the mess the Republicans have gotten us into. Two wars and a ten trillion dollar national debt awaits us but we've never faltered. Barack Obama will repair the damage done to our foreign policy and will be in the White House for eight years just like Bill Clinton. I have no doubt, America will be a better place because of Barack Obama.