why does obama say he opposes the war in iraq???

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0804/16/gb.01.html

from tonights glenn beck:

Hey, T.J., allow me to play for you a short piece of audio. This is what Barack Obama said to me on this issue. It`s what I wish I`d hear more from Hillary in a similar fashion. Roll it.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That`s part of the reason that I`ve been a critic from the start of the war in Iraq. It`s not that I was opposed to war. It`s that I felt we had a war that we had not finished. And al Qaeda is stronger now than at any time since 2001. And we`ve got to do something about that, because those guys have a safe haven there, and they are still planning to do Americans harm. But if they don`t, we shouldn`t need permission to go after some of these folks that killed 3,000 Americans.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SMERCONISH: I agree with him. And when he said it, you know, he was ridiculed from both the Clinton quarters and from John McCain. What`s your thought?

T.J. ROONEY, CHAIRMAN OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN PENNSYLVANIA: You know, I certainly know that Senator Clinton is as committed to bringing bin Laden and al-Zawahiri to justice as anybody else.

So -- so, I understand, Michael, that you have strong feelings on the issue and you`ve had an opportunity to have a dialogue with Senator Obama. But make no mistake: Senator Clinton is as anxious as anybody else in America. We`re all anxious to see that justice is served.

SMERCONISH: Congressman Fattah, why doesn`t this get discussions in the debates? Why is there not discourse? I mean the short time the three of us are going to spend together will exceed the amount of time that this issue has been raised in any of the presidential debates so far.

REP. CHAKA FATTAH (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Well, look, when Barack Obama, Senator Obama, said that he would go after bin Laden, he was ridiculed. He was criticized by many of the pundits and the fellow Democrats, all of whom were in the race at the time, saying that, how could you go and attack an ally or this and that.

First of all, he never said that he`ll attack an ally. But he would act to get bin Laden wherever he might be, especially if he was in Pakistan. And we lost young people and not so young right here from Philadelphia, in this attack on 9/11.

But, I think what the important point is, is that because Barack Obama opposed the war in Iraq, some people perceive him to be, you know, a dove. What he has said consistently from day one, is he opposes the war in Iraq, ***because he thinks that the real enemy is in Afghanistan and in Pakistan. And that`s the war where we should be putting our focus and our resources.***

The joint command has said, factually, on the record, that we don`t have enough troops in Afghanistan, and we can`t put more in unless we can get them out of Iraq.


******and afghanistan and pakistan is exactly where the troops from iraq will go!

so he's saying he only opposed the war in iraq b/c we hadn't finished the other war we were in??


to put his quote in some more context i did a search and found a bigger part of the discussion from the audio clip at the start of the post

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/news/article.asp?docKey=600-200803241621KRTRIB__BUSNEWS_41500-1F2LCM0L7ARE2OHH31L8BADJUO&timestamp=03/24/2008%204:21%20PM%20ET&headline=Obama%2C%20Smerconish%20talk%20church%2C%20bin%20Laden%20%5BThe%20Philadelphia%20Inquirer%5D&docSource=Knight%20Ridder/Tribune&provider=ACQUIREMEDIA&symbol=GE

Smerconish: "Pakistan . . . it looks like for six-and-a-half years we've been outsourcing the hunt for bin Laden to a guy [President Musharraf of Pakistan] with no motivation to get him. Do you agree with my assessment?"

Obama: "Absolutely. You may be aware of the fact that I made a speech in August, you remember that I got criticized . . .

Smerconish: "Not by me, Senator, I applauded you."

Obama: "I know. Sen. Clinton, Sen. McCain and George Bush all suggested that I said something wrong when I said we should be going after bin Laden, in high-value targets, and if we've got him in our sites, we should ask for Pakistan's cooperation, we should ask Pakistan to take him out. But if they don't, we shouldn't need permission to go after folks that killed 3,000 Americans.

"In fact, ironically, I think you may know, that several weeks ago we took out the third-ranking al- Qaeda member and we implemented exactly that strategy that I have been criticized for. We used one of those drones. We got the guy in our targets, in our sights, we informed the Pakistan government, we didn't wait for them. . . ."

"That's part of the reason I've been a critic from the start of the war in Iraq. It's not that I was opposed to war, it's that I felt that we had a war that we had not finished. Al-Qaeda is stronger now than at any point since 2001, and we've got to do something about it because those guys have a safe haven there and they are still planning to do Americans harm, and my job as commander in chief is to going to be to protect Americans."

Smerconish: "John McCain says he'd follow him to the gates of hell. I just want him followed to the border of Pakistan."

Obama: "I'm not sure whether you stole my line or I stole yours, because that's exactly what I said in a speech on Thursday. If you're going to follow him to the gates of hell, why don't you just start by going to where he is right now?"