Obama Denies Reversing Stance On Iraq As GOP, Liberals Attack

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The firestorm of criticisms against Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) alleged move to the political center went up a notch on Thursday after he held two press conferences to insist that his stance on Iraq has not changed.

"I have always said that the pace of withdrawal would be dictated by the safety and security of our troops and the need to maintain stability," Obama said, according to the Washington Post. "That assessment has not changed. When I go to Iraq and have time to talk to the commanders on the ground, I'm sure I'll have more information and will continue to refine my policies."

Still in North Dakota, the presumptive Democratic nominee later held another press conference. He is quoted by CNN as saying, "We're going to try this again. Apparently I wasn't clear enough... I have said throughout this campaign that this war was ill-conceived... that we would bring our troops home at a pace of one to two brigades per month and that at that pace we would have our combat troops out in 16 months. That position has not changed."

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) had been hammering Obama throughout the week for "ignor[ing] the realities on the ground" in Iraq and pushing the same plan for withdrawal that he proposed a year ago.

After his first statements saying he would "continue to refine" his Iraq policy, McCain pounced and criticized as well as congratulated him for adopting his rival's position.

"Now that Barack Obama has changed course and proven his past positions to be just empty words, we would like to congratulate him for accepting John McCain's principled stand on this critical national security issue. If he had visited Iraq sooner or actually had a one-on-one meeting with General Petraeus, he would have changed his position long ago," read the emailed statement from McCain.

The Republican National Committee has lashed out at Obama's "Iraq guessing game" and said the Illinois senator's advisors have been issuing "confusing" statements, one of which was Foreign Policy advisor Susan Rice's statement to MSN on Tuesday saying, "Our best estimate is that that could be accomplished in roughly 16 months... he will listen to his commanders on the ground, he will follow and heed their advice as he decides how at the strategic level we must proceed."

The issue about Obama's Iraq policy comes amid strong criticisms about his stance on other key issues. He refused to criticize Supreme Court ruling declaring the D.C. gun ban unconstitutional but expressed opposition to another ruling prohibiting the death penalty for child rapists.

Obama has also suddenly announced support for a bill giving retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies enlisted by the White House for its wiretapping program after 9/11, triggering an online campaign by liberal bloggers to appeal to him to vote against the measure.