Barack Obama and Fred Thompson at the VFW convention

Today Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. Fred Thompson took turn to address the veterans in Kansas City.

On Tuesday Barack Obama and Fred Thompson stepped up to the podium to address the VFW convention attendees, following Clinton and McCain, who spoke yesterday.

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, who is yet to announce his candidacy, was first to talk to the veterans at the VFW convention in Kansas City on Tuesday. He took a swipe at both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for their views on how the Iraqi situation should be handled. Fred Thompson called for rebuilding of the U.S. military, which he deemed weakened after the end of the Cold War and during the Clinton Administration, and Thompson also argued against a withdraw from Iraq.

"Some people in this country think if we can pull out of Iraq, our problems will be over. You and I know better than that," Fred Thompson told the VFW. The former Senator said that progress was being made in Iraq and that a divided opinions on the war is only emboldening the American enemies.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama asserted his commitment to withdrawal of the troop in Iraq, although recognizing that the recent increase in American troops in Iraq may well have helped tamp down violence. But troop surge is not the long-term solution to the problem, according to the Democrat.

"All of our top military commanders recognize that there is no military solution in Iraq. No military surge can succeed without political reconciliation and a surge of diplomacy in Iraq and the region. Iraq's leaders are not reconciling. They are not achieving political benchmarks. The only thing they seem to have agreed on is to take a vacation," Barack Obama said to the veterans, an opinion quite similar to the one his party-rival Hillary Clinton expressed yesterday. Barack Obama vowed to deliver political and diplomatic solutions to the problems in Iraq. "One reason to stop fighting the wrong war is so that we can fight the right war against terrorism and extremism," Sen. Barack Obama concluded.

President George W. Bush will also address the Veterans of Foreign Wars on Wednesday.

Published on 08/21/2007