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

[Topfeeder]

Why do Repubs think the surge is so dang important? At this point it does not matter. Everyone is on board with withdrawing our troops, everyone, even McCain.

[Countdown09]

If there had never been an "illegal invasion" there would have never been a 'surge" lets not forget that little bit of reality.

[zippywpinhead]

I love the way the repubs conflate the notion that finding a successful band aid to fix the mess they created with thinking that they did the right thing in the first place...

[Gary47]

Noun, verb, surge. Noun, verb, surge. Noun, verb, surge. And POW.

By the way, it wasn't a surge. It was an escalation of the war. Let's call it what it was, even if they don't.

[blondbrain]

That wasn't an interview, that was a typical self -righteous, know-it -all repugnant lunatic trying to intimidate our next President!!! I don't see anything Godly about these so called conservatives...scary bunch.

OBAMA/BIDEN 2008!!!

[AZBunny]

Wow! I thought Bill O spanked O'Bama!
I was very ashamed of O'Bama's responses, he came off looking weak and intimidated by Bill-O. I was very upset all day long after watching the segement. I even told my hubby when he got home "It's all over now. I can't beleive O'Bama ever went on that show!"
You can bet all the Repugs watching thought "SEE O'Bama even admitted he was wrong about the Surge! That man knows nothing and is not fit to lead"

[marymansour]

What stood out in this interview is the bullying ignorance of Bill O'Reilly. I never watch him but now know what the buzz is about. He's a fool. Obama held his own. I would suggest he avoid right wing fanatics after this. .

[TheProverbialMan]

Damned HuffPo sensational headlines. If you listen to the tape Obama was right on target...

[johnfv]

How could Obama leave attack or invasion of Iran on the table?

That is ridiculous! Iran is threating the flow of oil and attacking Isreal. These are threats only. Saddam was actually killing his own people. The invasion of Iraq was wrong. Therefore even discussing what is on the table in regards to Iran is ridiculous many times over.

It just goes to show you how quick every politician is power hungry and a war fanatic.

If killing is wrong then it is wrong under all conditions. It is better that we die living a pure life and not raising our hand against others than to justify killing when it suits us.

What is the difference between Obama and Bush?

[NYC07]

I saw the original airing and O'Reilly after the interview and while talking to his two guests O Reilly said something to the effect : I can tell you this man is not a wimp , I looked into his eyes and saw a lot of strength.

[ginogreat]

He sure did. I saw it too. I e-mailed the comment to Keith Olbermann. Obama had won him over.

[AnthonyVolpe]

Barack Obama handled himself extremely well. A lot better than McCain would have on Larry King. Bill-O kinda behaved himself too.

Oh, and congratulations to Sarah Palin on taking Obama's words out of context. Let's see if she's able to handle interviews like this on Oprah.

Oh, I'm sorry. Oprah doesn't want her. And Palin's not giving interviews anyway.

Scumbags.

[barackobama4prez]

The only poll you'll need is the one on Nov. 4th:

O b a m a/Biden 59%

John Bush/Sarah Cheney 33%

Barr 4%

Nader 2%

[Maka]

I just gritted my teeth and went ahead and watched the Bill O' piece - I thought Obama did an excellent job.

I have NO doubt Bill O's regular viewers will say Obama was an epic failure, but I don't give a flying fig.

I LOVED how Obama put his foot down about Bill O's insistence that he commit to saying he'd invade Iran. Obama's answer was perfect, it IS completely inappropriate for a potential US President to speak in What Ifs about invading another country! It breeds fear and distrust in that region and just makes the diplomatic process all the more difficult. And I thank Obama for recognizing that and refusing to get on TV and rattle sabers at a fringe nation.

Obama is most definitely the right candidate for the job, no matter how much screaming Bill O' throws at him.

[AK1]

Obama needs to tell Bill to be quiet and listen to what he has to say. No more of this letting Bill dominate the dialogue. Enough!

[eden4barack08]

Obama did GREAT as always, but Bill'O did NOT deserve to be treated with the respect Obama reserves for everybody. The man is too good for garbage like BillO.

[starfox25]

I thought he did well. Bet O'Really never looked at the Pakistan issue the way O put it.

[caywen]

F'CK IT!! WE'LL DO IT LIVE!!

F'IN THING F'IN SUCKS!!

[blondbrain]

GIGGLES!!! I saw that clip also!!! Isn't brillo a charmer???(gushing)

OBAMA/BIDEN 2008!!!

[jhoughton1]

I don't get this immediate focus on terrorism, nuclear Iran. My generation grew up being reminded ON A DAILY BASIS, that the Soviets had the power to push a few buttons, launch THOUSANDS of nukes, and turn our major cities into a smoldering wasteland in a matter of minutes. This is what we grew up with, the certainty that at any moments not just we but millions upon millions of our fellow Americans plus everything we'd built could be atomized in seconds -- without necessarily any warning. We lived through this, managed to go about our daily lives and not be paralyzed with fear. Sure, it helped to know that our country had the equal ability to atomize THEIR citizens, but somehow that didn't make up for the possibility of everyone being dead.
So now, we come to the Terrorist Threat, people with the ability to kill a few hundred -- or in a very lucky confluence of very particular circumstances, a few thousand -- and we are paralyzed. We can talk of little else. We are choosing leaders based on their ability to protect (or at least to say convincingly that they will protect) us from this horrible menace.
As someone who lived through the Cold War, all I can do is yawn and wish that we were picking our leaders based on their ability to work constructively with our neighbors, build the economy, etc. The terrorists hold no big power over me. Not after The Bomb.

[ObamanextPresident]

Born in 52, I'm with you. Thank you for expressing the republicult cry "terrorist threat" so realistically.