Barack Obama

"She made a similar argument when she said her vote for war was based on her experience on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. But here's the stark reality: There's a security gap in this country. A gap in rhetoric of those who claim to be tough on national security and the reality of growing insecurity caused by their decisions. A gap between Washington experience and the wisdom of Washington's judgments. A gap between the rhetoric of those who tout their support for our troops and the over burdened state of our military and the enormous stresses of our military families.

"It is time to have a debate with John McCain about the future of our national security. And the way to win that debate is not to compete with John McCain over who has more experience in Washington because that's contest he will win. The way to win a debate with John McCain is not to talk, act, or vote like him on national security because then we all lose. The way to win that debate and to keep America safe is to offer a clear contrast. And that's what I will do when I am the nominee of the Democratic Party because since before this war in Iraq I'd make different judgments. I have a different vision. And I will offer a clean break from the failed policies and politics of the past.

"Now, we know what we'll hear from those like John McCain who support open ended war, They will argue that leaving Iraq is surrender, that we are emboldening the enemy. These are the mistaken and misleading arguments we hear from those who have failed to demonstrate how the war in Iraq has made us safer. Just yesterday we heard Senator McCain confuse Sunni and Shia, Iran and Al Qaida. Maybe that is why he voted to go to war with a country that had no Al Qaida ties. Maybe that is why he completely fails to understand that the war in Iraq has done more to embolden America's enemies than any strategic choice that we have made in decades..."