Reuters reports one-sided criticism of war funding votes

Summary: A Reuters article included Sen. John McCain's charge that Sen. Barack Obama "tried to prevent funding for troops that carried out the surge." In fact, Obama, who has repeatedly voted for bills that include funds for the Iraq war, voted against a troop funding bill in May 2007, he said, because it did not include a timeline for withdrawal. Reuters reporter Alister Bull did not correct the falsehood, nor did he note that McCain himself has voted against war funding legislation.

A Reuters article about Sen. John McCain's August 9 speech to disabled veterans included his charge that Sen. Barack Obama "tried to prevent funding for troops that carried out the surge." In fact, Obama did not try "to prevent funding for troops that carried out the surge"; he voted against a troop funding bill in May 2007, he said, because it did not include a timeline for withdrawal. Moreover, Obama has repeatedly voted for bills that include funds for the Iraq war. The August 11 article by reporter Alister Bull did not correct the falsehood, nor did Bull note that McCain himself has voted against war funding legislation.

The article quoted McCain saying of Obama: "First he opposed the surge, and then he confidently predicted it would fail, and then he tried to prevent funding for the troops that carried out the surge." Bull then wrote that McCain has "used the same line attack for several weeks now," and went on to describe McCain as an "ardent supporter of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein," without noting that Obama has voted in favor of war funding in the past and that McCain himself has voted against war funding legislation.

According to a May 24, 2007, press release, Obama said he voted against an appropriations bill that included funding because it was "a choice between validating the same failed policy in Iraq that has cost us so many lives and demanding a new one." He continued: "We must fund our troops. But we owe them something more. We owe them a clear, prudent plan to relieve them of the burden of policing someone else's civil war. We need a plan to compel the Iraqi people to reach a political accommodation and to take responsibility for their own future. It's time to change course."

—D.C.P.