7-25-08, 7:26 pm

A new hammers John McCain on his previous statements about the Iraq war. In it, Brandon Woods, a veteran of the Iraq war, reminds viewers that John McCain told the public that he would support troop withdrawal if the Iraqis asked us to leave.

The ad is titled 'Freedom,' and it opens with Woods asking, 'What do we fight for in Iraq?'

Woods goes on, 'I have some idea.'

The aim was to fight for freedom, he suggests.

'Freedom means that when the Iraqi people and their prime minister ask us to make a plan to leave, we do,' he says.

Woods then points to the contradiction in John McCain's policy on Iraq. 'But Sen. McCain would occupy Iraq indefinitely against their wishes,' he adds.

'That's not what freedom means; that's not what we fought for,' Woods decides.

'Senator, I thought you would know better,' Woods concludes.

The ad refers to recent comments by Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki expressing support for Barack Obama's plan to end the war in 16 months. Although he backed away from these comments under direct pressure from the Bush administration, an Iraqi government spokesperson subsequently described withdrawal by 2010 as 'an Iraqi dream' during Barack Obama's recent trip to Baghdad.

John McCain's flippant statement during the campaign that he'd want us to stay in Iraq for as much as 100 years contrasts sharply with his own earlier statements that the occupation should not last longer than Iraqis want.

McCain needs to make a decision, says VoteVets.org, on what his real views on the occupation of Iraq are.

--Joel Wendland can be reached at

See the video here...