McCain challenges Democratic rivals on Iraq war

By Andy Sullivan

NORFOLK, Virginia (Reuters) - Sen. John McCain, his victory as Republican nominee for the U.S. presidency virtually assured, turned his sights on his Democratic challengers on Friday, saying they were weak on national security and their Iraq stance would hand al Qaeda a victory.

McCain's remarks, and the response from Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, pushed Iraq war policy back to center stage in the presidential race after weeks of focus on the faltering U.S. economy.

Speaking to reporters after a security round-table meeting in Norfolk, Virginia, the home of a major U.S. naval base, McCain accused Obama and Clinton of wanting to set a date for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

"I believe that would have catastrophic consequences," said the Arizona senator, a former Navy pilot and prisoner of war in Vietnam. "I believe that al Qaeda would trumpet to the world that they had defeated the United States of America, and I believe that therefore they would try to follow us home."

He said the two Democrats, who have both pledged to quickly begin removing troops from Iraq if they are elected, had a "fundamental misunderstanding" of the issues at stake and would not admit the U.S. strategy to reduce violence had worked.

"They even refuse to acknowledge that. That I think is going to be a major issue in this campaign," said McCain, who criticized the military cutbacks under the past two administrations and said the armed forces needed to be expanded dramatically to ease the burden on those serving now.

McCain was virtually assured the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday after his chief rival withdrew, leaving former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is trailing far behind, as his main challenger.

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