Purporting to assess accuracy of Obama ad, AP truncated Obama quote on Iraq

Written by Simon Maloy

Published

In its analysis of a televised advertisement stating that Sen. Barack Obama “opposed [the] Iraq war from the start,” the Associated Press reported that Obama, when asked by The New York Times in 2004 how he would have voted on the resolution to use force against Iraq, “not[ed] he had not seen intelligence reports that fellow Democrats had seen” and then replied, “What would I have done? I don't know.” In fact, Obama's full statement as reported in the Times was: "'But, I'm not privy to Senate intelligence reports,' Mr. Obama said. 'What would I have done? I don't know. What I know is that from my vantage point the case was not made' "

In a January 17 "analysis" of a televised advertisement from Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) presidential campaign stating that “Obama opposed [the] Iraq war from the start,” the Associated Press truncated a quote from Obama reported in a 2004 New York Times article, which the AP cited in assessing the accuracy of the ad. The AP reported: “Obama did speak out against the war in 2002, before he was in the U.S. Senate, and has been a critic of President Bush's policies in Iraq. But asked by the New York Times in 2004 how he would have voted on the use of force resolution, Obama demurred, noting he had not seen intelligence reports that fellow Democrats had seen. 'What would I have done? I don't know,' he replied.” In fact, Obama's full statement as reported in the July 26, 2004, New York Times article cited by the AP was: "'But, I'm not privy to Senate intelligence reports,' Mr. Obama said. 'What would I have done? I don't know. What I know is that from my vantage point the case was not made' " (emphasis added).

From the AP's January 17 "analysis" of Obama's advertisement:

Iraq: Obama did speak out against the war in 2002, before he was in the U.S. Senate, and has been a critic of President bush's policies in Iraq. But asked by the New York Times in 2004 how he would have voted on the use of force resolution, Obama demurred, noting he had not seen intelligence reports that fellow Democrats had seen. “What would I have done? I don't know,” he replied. In 2006, he backed a nonbinding resolution to pull troops out of Iraq, but sided with Republicans and a majority of Democrats in rejecting legislation that would have required the troops to come home by a specific date.

From the July 26, 2004, New York Times article:

He opposed the war in Iraq, and spoke against it during a rally in Chicago in the fall of 2002. He said then that he saw no evidence that Iraq had unconventional weapons that posed a threat, or of any link between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda.

In a recent interview, he declined to criticize Senators Kerry and Edwards for voting to authorize the war, although he said he would not have done the same based on the information he had at the time.

''But, I'm not privy to Senate intelligence reports,'' Mr. Obama said. ''What would I have done? I don't know. What I know is that from my vantage point the case was not made.''

But Mr. Obama said he did fault Democratic leaders for failing to ask enough tough questions of the Bush administration to force it to prove its case for war. ''What I don't think was appropriate was the degree to which Congress gave the president a pass on this,'' he said.