Please print the entire article. We need to get the "surge" in context quickly. It's not the surge - it's the WAR

OMAHA, Neb. — Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, fresh from an Iraq trip with Democrat Barack Obama, said the presidential candidates should focus on the war's future and stop arguing over the success of last year's troop surge.

Hagel mentioned both candidates, but his comments seemed directed at Republican John McCain. McCain, while Obama traveled the Middle East, attacked Obama for opposing the military escalation last year that increased security in Iraq.

"Quit talking about, 'Did the surge work or not work,' or, 'Did you vote for this or support this,'" Hagel said Thursday on a conference call with reporters.

"Get out of that. We're done with that. How are we going to project forward?" the Nebraska senator said. "What are we going to do for the next four years to protect the interest of America and our allies and restructure a new order in the world. ... That's what America needs to hear from these two candidates. And that's where I am."

Hagel, too, opposed the troop increase strategy, though he acknowledged Thursday it brought about positive changes. "When you flood the zone with superior American military firepower, and you put 30,000 of the world's best troops in a country, there's going to be a result there," Hagel said.

Whether the surge worked, though, can't be measured, Hagel said, arguing the small gains came at a high price. He said President Bush's decision last year to dispatch an additional 30,000 troops to Iraq has cost more than 1,000 American lives and billions of dollars.

Though Hagel is a Republican, his name has been floated as a potential vice presidential running mate for Obama. Like McCain, he is a Vietnam war veteran, but Hagel is a fierce critic of the war in Iraq. He has said he would consider running with Obama on the Democratic ticket but that he doesn't expect to be asked. He is not running for reelection.

Hagel joined Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island in traveling with Obama to the Middle East. Reed said the trip was productive. "It wasn't just a photo op and social chit chat," Reed said in a telephone interview.

Reed said the group pressed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to have the Iraqi government do more.

"Unless the government of Iraq can start delivering _ delivering jobs, delivering funds, performing _ then the gains that have been made will be quickly erased," Reed said. "I think that is a point that we all stressed, particularly Senator Obama, with the prime minister

Maybe?

stop talking about the surge!!!! isn't obama the candidate who's still talking about the vote that the senate gave to allow gwb to enter the war? are you on the same planet with these conflicting statements. the present and the past matter. we cannot afford to just look forward, but we must also be accountable for what we said a few months ago, no? perhaps it is you who should stop talking.

Noun, verb, surge.

Noun, verb, surge.

Noun, verb, surge.

Noun, verb, surge.

All the congress wants to protect America's 'interests' in Iraq. They mean OIL of course. How sickening that they, not we, they, are sending our sons and daughters to die for gasoline? Evidently not sickening at all. When facism really takes hold after the election(doesn't matter who is elected), I'll wear my brown shirt proudly. You better do the same. Halliburton is not building all those detention centers for immagrants alone you know.

"Get out of that. We're done with that. How are we going to project forward?" the Nebraska senator said. "What are we going to do for the next four years to protect the interest of America and our allies and restructure a new order in the world. ... That's what America needs to hear from these two candidates. And that's where I am." -Sen. Chuck Hagel

John McCain was wrong to vote for the war in 2003.

Barack Obama was wrong to oppose the surge in 2007, and has been wrong to call for immediate pullouts of our forces from Iraq over the past few years.

Both have shown bad judgement when it comes to Iraq.

Just like Sen. Hagel, I believe that we should stop fighting the last political battle, and chose the candidate with the best plan to bring peace to Iraq (and to the US & the rest of the world, by extension). Can Obama's immediate draw-down, to be completed within 16 months, accomplish this? I'm not sold, but I am listening.

thing Obama has had to a surrogate for a long time now. I don't know where they've all gone, but they need to get out of their bunkers and start pushing back. They may think it's better to let mccain hang himself, but they must realize that there are a lot of people out there who are even less informed than mccain and willing to believe what he says.

Let's stop talking about who voted for this or opposed that? That didn't seem to be the strategy in the primary when Sen. Clinton's vote on the Iraq resolution was used to destroy her candidacy.