2008 first presidential debate, at Ole Miss: on Homeland Security

Barack Obama: Strategic issue is where to send & how to fund our troops

OBAMA: McCain opposed funding for troops in legislation that had a timetable, because he didn’t believe in a timetable. I opposed funding a mission that had no timetable, and was open- ended, giving a blank check to George Bush. I understand the difference between tactics & strategy. And the strategic question that the president has to ask is not whether or not we are employing a particular approach in the country once we have made the decision to be there. The question is, was this wise? We have seen Afghanistan deteriorate. We need more troops there. We should end [the Iraq] war responsibly. We should do it in phases. In 16 months we should be able to reduce our combat troops and bolster our efforts in Afghanistan so that we can capture and kill bin Laden and crush al Qaeda

John McCain: Make all defense contracts fixed-cost; costs out of control

John McCain: Experience has taught me: the US military must not fail

A: I have a record of being involved in national security issues which involve the toughest decisions that any president can make, and that is to send our young men and women into harm’s way. I had a town hall meeting and a woman stood up and she said, “Senator McCain, I want you to do me the honor of wearing a bracelet with my son’s name on it.” He was 22 years old and he was killed in combat outside of Baghdad. Then she said, “Senator McCain, promise me one thing, that you’ll do everything in your power to make sure that my son’s death was not in vain.“ That means that that mission succeeds.

A war that I was in, where we had an Army, that it wasn’t through any fault of their own, but they were defeated. And I know how hard it is for a military to recover from that. And it did and we will win this one and we won’t come home in defeat and dishonor.