Barack Obama On "The O'Reilly Factor": Surge Has "Succeeded Beyond Our Wildest Dreams"

Barack Obama made his long-anticipated debut on Fox News' "O'Reilly Factor" Thursday night, where he talked about the Iraq war and national security.

"I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated," Obama told O'Reilly in an interview taped Thursday in York, PA. "It's succeeded beyond our wildest dreams."

In the excerpt shown Thursday night, Obama also listed the United States' enemies for O'Reilly: "Al Qaeda, the Taliban, a whole host of networks that are bent on attacking America who have a distorted ideology who have perverted the faith of Islam and so we have to go after them."

In regards to a nuclear Iran, Obama said it would be "unacceptable for Iran to possess a nuclear weapon; it would be a game changer" and he assured both O'Reilly and the Fox News audience that he "would never take military action off the table."

Watch:

More excerpts from O'Reilly's interview with Obama will air next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday on "The O'Reilly Factor."

Comments

[CGI]

CAN YOU IMAGINE JOHN MCCAIN ON COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN?!?!

[Stopandthink]

Some thoughts;

Obama: "The Souffle" = huge quantities of hot air and very little substance. Looks appealing but leaves you feeling empty. Espouses “Change!" but into what? History indicates he’s a radical aching to swing the country into a hard left. Pledges to steal from the evil rich and give unto the poor. Ideologically tied to American terrorist William Ayres and Black Liberation Theology spewer Jeremiah Wright, but few details of the relationships from CNN.

Palin: Interesting lack of feminist support for Sarah Palin. Palin is principled, powerful, competitive with men, a proven leader, balances family and work demands, and she's beautiful. Palin is more qualified than Obama or McCain - and she's 2nd on the ticket!

Bush: Painted as a bumbler by the press. His tenacity resulted in the elimination of the bloodthirsty tyrant who ran Iraq and the establishment of a democratic government there.
After 9/11, the Dow tanked but Bush's leadership caused it to rebound and achieve its highest highs ever. Oil prices dropped after Bush lifted the ban on offshore domestic drilling in July 2008.

Economy: Anybody stupid enough to buy real estate at the height of the boom then finance the purchase with "creative" ARMs, deserves to lose their home. They bought too much house and now want to blame the “predatory” lenders who allowed them to live there until interest rates came back up.

In closing, I find the nitwits on this site very entertaining and I wish you all good health and happiness.

[mjc]

Juan, Freelance and Reno, absolutely right that Obama would never say anything like that. It is such an emotional issue, having nuclear weapons, and definitely not the sort of thing you want out there for conservative idiots to attack, but it is nevertheless true. But thinking outside of the box these days seems to be a lost technique.

[cufflynk]

If Oreillly had treated Obama with more respect he wouldhave gotten a better interview. But Oreilly doesnt really want to hear anything but his big fat mouth working. Oreilly is an idiot, and although I applaud Obama for taking it to Fox and staring them in the face, I wouldnt have dignified their airwaves with my presence. Oreilly and all the other retards on Fox are a bunch of transparent racists who appeal to the ignorant and uninformed of which there are many in this country.

[ExileOC]

I WANT to believe that O'Rielly is simply a devils advocate but the man sits so far to the right it's apparent in the questions he asks. All this did was solidify my views even more.

Faux news + O'Reilly = uber right wing.

They could start with ANY topic, and immediately they jump right into the wars. Just shows where the republicans are the most scared. Not about loosing the war, but about loosing control and having someone else do the right thing with it.

[Marnie1]

I have spent most of my voting life, I'm 63, having to vote for the "least objectionable candidate" and trying not to throw up on the way out of the poling place.
I don't see that either of the candidates for President is less objectionable.

[research]

Obama is pandering to win. Don't get confused. The GOP must be removed from government.

Obama is infinity less objectionable than McBush Palin.

[rachelwebster]

does that mean you will take the easy way out and vote for the white guy? and give us 4 more years of this BS? if they are both too objectionable just stay home please.

[mojojanglesjoe]

Am I the only one who thinks Bill o'Riley is full of S#(%. The man cailms to be a news host but is basically a puppet for the far right.

[smag]

Takes S#(% to know S#(% (doubt this will be approved by Kiethie's folks)

[11907281]

Are you 5?

[research]

I think most people agree with you.

The question is: Is Oh'Really stupid?...

...Or corrupt?

[neetsie37]

Appearing with O'Really? is just another example of how ineffective Barack Obama has become. He's caved in to the right wing on EVERY issue and was afraid BillO was going to be mad at him too. Who the hell cares what that Loofa Lover thinks? I'm fed up with Barack and I think he should step aside while there is still time. Otherwise we might as well face what's coming.

[ritah]

Why should Obama step aside,because you do not like confidence in someone who does not think like you.

[rachelwebster]

I think he looked way better than Bill O in that interview, certainly a lot more professional and not so rude. maybe Bill should step aside

[toochie50]

ALL WE NEED TO KNOW GUYS:

Electoral vote today
fivethirtyeight.com updated daily - best website for accurate polls/predictions - read all about how it's done:

9/8/08
OBAMA: 303.9
mc: 234.1

that's all we need to count on - 270 needed to win!

[rachelwebster]

all Obama needs to do is win all the Kerry states and a couple more- no matter what the polls say the electoral college that gave us 8 years of Bush/Cheney is working in the democrats favor this year.

[tiger2471]

Why is it that the ONLY thing John McCain keeps bringing up is the SURGE? I mean before the Iraq War started top Generals told the President that more troops were needed, but this IDIOTIC Bush Administration didn't think we needed more troops and I remember the President being asked about casualties and him saying "We're not going to have any casualties", and I'm sure I'm not the only one that remembers this. Then once the Generals were proven correct, these JERKS send in 30,000 additional troops and call it the surge and have the AUDACITY to take the credit and then ATTEMPT to use it to win an election!!!!!! Republicans and their IDEOLOGY are the reasons why this country is in the SH** we are in today! These people have no morals and will do ANYTHING to win, that includes putting an INEXPERIENCED woman on the ticket to win votes. John McCain is no maverick, he's a show pony and that's it!

[nestacal]

You don't think that it took some guts to say "NO" to the enemies, even when you were tortured for days on end, starved, and put into a little hole in the ground, alone with only God to save you? And You don't think that it takes GUTS to say "NO" to the leaders of all of the nations that are against us?

And you are saying that Obama's not voting on the Abortion issue was right when all 96 voted to sustain the life of a newborn, if it survived the shock of the death killing doctors who want to kill the most innocent of all of God's Children??? Then you are voting against Hillary Clinton, JFK, Ed Kennedy, Dr. Matin Luther King,Senator John Kerry, Pope John Paul II. They have all voted for Life!

[Dlukes]

Bill is a nutcase. He is not looking out for the American people. Who believes that?

[research]

Good God!

When are we going to STOP accepting the Shameless lie that:

"violence is down"?????­??!?!?!?!?­!?!?!?!?!!­?!?!?!?!??­!?!?!?!?!?­!?

Iraqi Deaths Surged, then staying higher than before the SURGE!!!!!!!@%$@#

We have created more terrorists WORLDWIDE!!$*^#$%

The Surge is a Disaster FAILURE!!!!!

[mezz1962]

Ummmm Hellllloooooooo
Obama said it worked

[takeabreak]

Not exactly. He said it worked better than anyone imagined. While the violence was somewhat reduced, the leaders have not taken the lead. The Surge was a four-part project of which only one aspect produced the desired result.

[LeftRight]

No, he didn't. He said that the surge has succeeded MILITARILY, but that it has FAILED in its primary goal of providing "breathing space" to the Iraqi govt, which has failed to accomplish ONE of the goals set!

[terentz]

Sarah Palin Son Track Palin Going To Iraq To Avoid Jail Time? -

Sarah Palin’s son Track Palin has joined the army to avoid going to prison.Track Palin is not going to Iraq because he is patriotic but because he was arrested,for vandalizing the brakes of a school bus,in order to avoid jail he enlisted himself in the army.Track Palin will be performing security duties for his brigade’s top officers in Iraq starting on September 11, 2008.

[awcbuddy8]

I love the smell of bs in the evening.

[hotwire]

Since when do you do jail time for vandalizing the brakes on a school bus for Gods sake? This isn't the 1800s, you can't hide from the law by joining the Military. Where do you guys come up with tis stuff?

[KEESA]

OK ORAILLY OBAMA ADMITE THE SURGE WORK, IF I WAS OBAMA I WOULD TOLD HIM WHAT ABOUT THE ECONOMY FALLEN SCHOOL SYSTEM JOB LOSES WHAT ABOUT THAT SUEGE CAN THAT HASNT WORK. COME ON PEOPLE ANYONE WITH COMMONE SENSE NO THE SURGE HASNT WORK I CAN BET MY MONEY ON THIS AFTER THE ELECTION IS OVER OUR TROOPS OR GONNA BE BACK AT IT AGAIN FIGHTING AN DYING IN IRAQ. THEY SAID THE SAMETHING WHEN BUSH WAS RUNNING REMEMBER MISSION ACCOMPLISH AN AFTER BUSH WON OUR TROOPS WAS BACK AT IT AGAIN. JUST LIKE OBAMA SAID THEY MUST THINK WE ARE STUPID

[Feisty1960]

WOW KEESA! What an enlightening liberal post! :)

[Playinjured]

Keep your head up KEESA! We are gonna win this one. Keep the faith.

[Stopandthink]

Keesa. Peace be with you.

[blueskybigstar]

What was with the camera putting O'reilly above Obama? What was with the constant interruptions? O'reilly is one rude son of a gun. Will he be so impolite to John McCain? O'reilly is a propagandist in league and in payroll to the people who put Bush in power. Boycott Fox and all of their sponsors.

[tigs]

obama probably didnt get a chance to say ,the surge worked well at clearing up some of the mess
made by bush, bush made the mess ,the troops cleaned it up ,not mc cain ,if mc cain is taking credit for the surge why isnt he taking blame for the war and the resulting death and distruction to say nothing of the financial cost to america ,like the song says , "you cant have one without the other".

[JuanDimensional]

It works this way. McCain doesn't need to take blame for the mishandling of the war because early on he was critical of the way Rumsfeld ran it. Just because he supported the war doesn't mean he supported the way it was run. In wanting to win he was "more Catholic than the Pope." When the Surge was being proclaimed as a worthless idea by everyone from Obama to Arianna, and more than half the country was against the war, McCain put his already moribund campaign on the line and backed it and took a serious political hit in the process. Now, even by Obama's standards the Surge succeded. McCain was right. That's a very good reason for "having one without the other."

[awcbuddy8]

But keep watching Keith-O, he's looking out for evvvvvvvvv­vvvvvvvver­ybody!

[Playinjured]

OK. Cancel out the two. O Reilly for Olbermann. Now what? Let's work together to compromise on the issues we gravely disagree with each other about, please. For the children of our world, we must learn to disagree while remaining, at the same time, possessors of negotiation. Give in to your opponents just enough to live in this world together without killing each other. I'm sure the same will soon be done for you.