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Romney Criticizes Obama For Visiting Iraq Only Once, Despite Having Visited Iraq Only Once Himself

For over a week now, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and his right-wing allies have been criticizing Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) over the fact that he hasn’t visited Iraq since Jan. 2006. On Hugh Hewitt’s radio show last Friday, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney joined the attack, saying that he can’t believe that “a United States senator who is looking to be the nominee of his party” could “simply avoid going to Iraq.”

Hewitt tried to prod Romney into further criticizing Obama by asking him, “you’ve been to Iraq after the surge began, what do you learn from that kind of a trip?” But Hewitt got a surprise when Romney said he hadn’t visited Iraq as a presidential candidate:

HEWITT: Oh, I was under the impression you had made a trip to Iraq, governor. I’m sorry I got that wrong.

ROMNEY: No, I have…I have been to Iraq, but I’d like to go more frequently than I’ve been able to go. I’ve only been one time and I think, well, I don’t know what year that was. It was probably 2006.

HEWITT: Yeah, I think it was after the surge, I’m glad I wasn’t completely wrong about that.

Listen here:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2008/06/RomneyHewittSurge.320.40.flv]

In fact, Hewitt did get it “completely wrong.” While Romney’s only trip to Iraq occurred in May 2006, President Bush didn’t announce his plan for a surge until Jan. 10, 2007.

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Additionally, Romney isn’t the only McCain attack dog whose lack of Iraq trips undermines the conservative critique of Obama.

McCain’s “right arm” in the war on terror, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, has never visited Iraq. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), who blasted Obama recently “for not having the first-hand knowledge of the success of Americans troops,” hasn’t visited Iraq since Feb. 2007, months before “surge” troops were sent to the country.

Transcript:

HEWITT: Uhh, let’s move on to the fact that came out this week that Barack Obama has not been to Iraq except once and that two day trip occurred in January of 2006. That was discovered by Vets for Freedom, they made a web ad about that. Were you surprised to learn that Governor Romney?

ROMNEY: I must admit I was very very surprised to learn that. I don’t see how a United States senator who is looking to be the nominee of his party and create policy with regards to terrorism and policy with regards to Iraq could simply avoid going to Iraq and learning about how the surge was working. I mean the surge was working, it’s too bad he missed it.

HEWITT: What do you learn from being on the ground actually? I know you’ve been to Iraq after the surge began, what do you learn from that kind of a trip?

ROMNEY: Well, you get the chance of course to be briefed by people who are seeing first hand what’s occuring there and you also speak, if you so desire, with Iraqis. You get the opportunity to go into city centers and to see what’s happening there, whether people are working in jobs, whether the economy is working again. You frankly get a sense of whether things are happening or not. Let me tell you, you learn a lot by being somewhere. And that’s why, you know as I was leaving the governor’s office, I went off to Asia and to China, to Korea, to Japan. Soon after leaving office I went to Israel. I wanted to get to Iraq, but as a private citizen, they don’t make that possible. But as a senator, Barack Obama can go, you know, as often as he would like. I frankly was shocked he’s saying the things he’s said without having been there.

HEWITT: Oh, I was under the impression you had made a trip to Iraq, governor. I’m sorry I got that wrong.

ROMNEY: No, I have…I have been to Iraq, but I’d like to go more frequently than I’ve been able to go. I’ve only been one time and I think, well, I don’t know what year that was. It was probably 2006.

HEWITT: Yeah, I think it was after the surge, I’m glad I wasn’t completely wrong about that.