Lost in translation

ADWATCH | JOHN McCAIN

(Youtube.com screengrab)

SPOT: "The Obama Iraq Documentary"

AIRING ON: John McCain's campaign website

SCRIPT (excerpts): Barack Obama (10/22/06): "Given the deteriorating situation, it is clear at this point that we cannot, through putting in more troops or maintaining the presence that we have, expect that somehow the situation is going to improve."

Obama (7/18/07): "My assessment is that the surge has not worked and we will not see a different report eight weeks from now."

Obama (11/11/07): "Finally, in 2006-2007, we started to see that, even after an election, George Bush continued to want to pursue a course that didn't withdraw troops from Iraq but actually doubled them and initiated a surge and at that stage I said very clearly, not only have we not seen improvements, but we're actually worsening, potentially, a situation there."

TEXT ON SCREEN: "Now Says It's Working."

Obama (2/21/08): "I think it is indisputable that we've seen violence reduced in Iraq."

IMAGES: Video of Obama speaking about Iraq since 2003 is interspersed with the McCain campaign's "translation" of what Obama is saying.

FACT-CHECKER: All of Obama's quotes about Iraq are taken from video of him speaking. However, the context of the quotes often is not included. The McCain campaign's "translation" of Obama's words is intended to be disparaging. For example, one translation is that Obama "changes his position to fit the election" - an interpretation that Obama obviously would dispute. Among the many assertions in the Internet ad, which runs nearly eight minutes, is that Obama took conflicting positions on whether to withdraw troops. The ad quotes Obama as saying in 2004 that "I've never said that troops should be withdrawn" and in 2007 as saying "I introduced a plan in January that would have already started bringing our troops home by now, with the goal of bringing all combat brigades home by March 31st, 2008." By pulling quotes from numerous debates over a period of several years on this and other Iraq issues, the McCain campaign seeks to give the impression that Obama is constantly changing his mind to fit the politics of the moment. Obama has said that his views reflect the worsening conditions in Iraq as he became convinced that Iraqi politicians would not make progress unless they knew American troops would depart. Obama now says that most troops should be withdrawn gradually over a 16-month period, leaving behind a force to protect US diplomats, train the Iraqi military, and pursue remaining insurgents.

ANALYSIS: The ad portrays Obama as a flip-flopper on foreign policy, an area in which polls show that voters are concerned about his experience and expertise. The video probably will be effective among those who support the Iraq war and believe Obama is unprepared to be a commander-in-chief. However, those who think the Iraq war was a mistake are likely to empathize with Obama as he seeks to develop a strategy for withdrawing troops from Iraq without making things worse, while they are reminded that Obama opposed the war and McCain supported it.

MICHAEL KRANISH