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

[margardner]

All I know is that Obama doesn't run and hide from the media to evade questioning. Unlike Boohoo McCain last week when he canceled out on CNN when his widdle feewings got hurt.
This says a lot about a man's character.

OBAMA/BIDEN 08'/12'

[Jess27]

If O'Really-O'Reilly is actually "fair and balanced," he would give McCainosaurus just as hard of a time that he is giving Obama. He kept cutting Obama off and would not let him finish his answer before trying to jump on him. I almost had hope that O'Really would give Obama a fair shake, but so far it is not happening. Luckily, Obama is holding his ground firm and not letting this chump bully him.

[theblueAmerican]

I get the impression that Rupert Murdoch had a little talk behind the wood shed with Papa Bear about how to interview Barack Obama. Too many intelligent questions (at least for Billo) asked of Obama. Who by the way handled himself very well. How can you not want this man to be President of the United States. If Barack Obama is elected President I will be able to sleep very well at 3:00 AM in the morning.

[RememberTheAlamo]

Hi All,

Must be a slow news day . . . not much activity on these posts.

But . . . the only news from this interview was "Obama caves to O'Reilly intimidation".

Otherwise, Obama just had another interview . . . and O'Reilly was just O'Reilly

No real breaking news here . . . O'Reilly had taunted the senator for months and the senator had a few moments available.

I rushed home to watch this epic clash . . . and it was just a civil discourse . . . pretty much a yawner

oh well . . .

[BillForObama]

My aren't you the feeble-minded one?

Senator Obama is damned if he does and damned if he does!!! While this is not a win-win for Senator Obama, it is a win-win for the next Democratic Presidential nominee. BTW, I am certain that Senator Obama is going to be elected the next President of the United States.

Senator Obama has shown the nation how to run for President. He has set a high standard. Don't believe for one minute that someone else is not looking at Senator Obama and saying "I can do that." Why do you think that Senator Obama is running the way he is running? His actions are enabling the next generation of strong leaders.

Obama is not just doing this to become President, he is ALSO doing it this way to SHOW others the WAY!!!

[shearm]

The surge is working. If you call the cops and they come to the house, Dad stops beating up Mom.

[LightSword]

Actually, using your analogy, the cops killed daddy, or atleast brought him to jail for trail with regards to the surge.

---
Step away Washington elites, the Mavericks John McCain and Sarah Palin are in the house! You guys are so scared! You cannot mess with those Mavericks, because they're gonna shake you up! LOOK OUT! LOOK OUT!

[BillForObama]

I like your saracasm :=) Great point!!!

[Darthwave]

According to http://icasualties.org 23 brave women and men died last month fighting in Iraq. I love Obama, but I have to strongly disagree with Mr. Obama that the Surge is a success. Soldiers dieing in Iraq for a war that should have never been started is hardly my definition of a success. I was a soldier under Clinton and think god he never put us in harms way unnecessarily. Why in world is he even wasting his time going on O' Riley anyways? Do he really think he is going to convert O'Reilly factor viewers. Why isn't John McCain going on Countdown to try and court Keith's viewers. Because clearly it would be a waste of time. I'm sorry Obama but giving ratings and legitimacy to Fox News with the slight hope of getting a handful of swing voters is not politically wise.

[Kerris]

You're right. And Obama should have just said to him about the Surge 'working' that, Hell you can't wreck a house, then sending in the cleaning crew, and then say look how great it was we are cleaning up this mess. You simply have to admit you never belonged in the house in first place.

But I don' think he is doing it for a few voters. I believe all politicians, even Obama has a cynical side, they are politicians. But in this instance, I think the notion that a few die-hard rednecks may be swayed is trumped by the firmly held Obama belief that he is really running to unite all Americans. The die-hard right are still Americans, and he wants to reach them as well.

[realpolitic]

I agree. I think Democrats should ignore O'Reilly and Fox. O'Reilly, in particular, shows little respect to interview subjects who differ from ideologically.

[bryansmith]

The sad fact of the matter, is that there are a lot of conservative Democrats that watch that show. There are also some Independents, albeit conservative ones, that view the show with a questioning eye. I think Obama was trying to do something that would give him a chance to gain some attention back from the Republican convention and quell some of the negative perceptions about him. He may not persuade many O'really viewers, but he might be able to diminish some of the arguments they use against him among co-workers at the water cooler. I think this is a smart move, he will get three days of trickling coverage that shows he is not afraid of the lions den (more like carboard box full of kittens) and that he will make a strong leader.

[Alonso Quijano]

Obama, you need to realize that the American people expect their President to fight back when attacked. If you don't fight back, if you take the high road, you'll lose. Answering O'Reilly politely, no matter how firmly, is the WRONG TACTIC. Would you answer Bin Laden politely when he attacks you? If you don't fight back instantly, angrily, when attacked during the campaign, you give the impression that you would not fight back instantly, angrily, as President.

You should attack viciously but without outright lies.

(1) Tell McCain that being tortured as a POW is not a qualification for President -- that he is using his POW torture history as a substitute for what matters NOW.

(2) Tell Palin that lying in a speech to the American people is what brought Nixon down. Tell her the record shows she hired a City Manager because she couldn't manage to be mayor of her tiny town of 7000 without help. So who had the experience, she or her city manager?

(3) Tell O'Reilly to shut up, because free speech isn't FREE if he interrupts constantly when he doesn't want the listeners to hear the other person's ideas or answers.

You can word these things better than I can.

[bruffin]

O'Reilly is so ridiculous. There aren't many unbiased political hosts on tv these days, but he could at least let the person finish answering the question,instead of huffing and puffing and throwing them death stares. He's so immature.

[realpolitic]

O'Reilly is like a fifth grade bully who always wants to get his way. I agree completely. O'Reilly threw death stares at Obama, he huffed and puffed and tried to blow the house down, and acted like a child. Because of these childish bullying tactics, Republicans are on their way out.

[toochie50]

FLYERS:
BUSH IT!
O'reilly was his usual, pompous, arrogant self. Obama knew that and figured him out - specially i saw OBAMA smile at him and saw that BILL O THE CLOWN was not going to be respectful so he turned into all seriousness. Bill O cannot let ANYONE finish a comment - he's a self-serving PIG. Loved it when Obama told him that as a person who may become president - he didn't need to give BILL O THE CLOWN all details for his thoughts on Iran or what he would do in the future as far as the war and deploying our military goes and RIGHTLY SO.

Obama only went on there to help his candidacy - no other reason. AND there are people like me and my husband out there that tune in once in a while to see what the other half is saying and doing - people like us see that kind of stuff and voters like us do too. BILL O THE CLOWN is not half the intelligence of OBAMA - it's called "thoughtfulness before answering a question" he didn't have to put his finger in the Clown's face and answer in 10 seconds - that is not the person OBAMA is and we love him for that!

[eddiebly]

Obama, tell them what they want to hear to pick up the Independent voters lost by the Caribou Queen this week.

[blackmouth]

You mean Caribou Barbi. That's the name Stephanie Miller came up with for poor Sara.

[stepintothelight]

I prefer Sarahcuda ...

[nubret2008]

O'REilly is uppity! What he suggest? put the whole world on fire? nuke iran? this guy really is a doofus...

[CaptainVideo]

Obama, in saying that ""I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated, It's succeeded beyond our wildest dreams." Made a serious error.

The reality is that the surge was only one factor, and not the most important factor, in the improvement of the military situation. The other factors are:

1. The Sunni awakening, which occurred before the surge.

2. The U.S. military has finally relearned how to fight a guerilla war. They had just begun to lern that at the end of 'Nam and then proptly forgot because they were determined never to get involved in that kind of war again. Woodward is pointing this out in his new book. This is probably the most important factor in the improvement in the situation.

3. Sadr, decided that instead of fighting us and taking heavy casualties, he would wait us out until we leave.

[stepintothelight]

He said this. Did you watch???

[bryansmith]

its all about audience. Wehn the McCain camp tries to use this agaisnt him and call it a flip, they will open themselves to various attacks. If you know a lot of moderate conservatives like I do, they are upset by the fact that Obama doesn't aknowlege the success of the surge. This will help with them. And when the ultra conservatives attack him for it, they will look petty to those same moderate conservatives and hawkish independents. If you are Obama, you want the subject back on Iraq and Afghanistan, it is a week point for palin (a gaffe factory I am sure), and it remains an issue on which the American people are disatisfied Republicans. I don't agree that McCain holds the stronger position here.

[LeftLeanWing]

Bob Woodward's book.

In his fourth book on Bush, Woodward reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and others in his government have been the subject of extensive U.S. spying operations, and that new techniques allowing the United States to find and kill insurgent leaders, not primarily the surge in troops, led to the drop in violence in Iraq.

The book is scheduled for release Monday; The Post reported on it today after Fox News obtained a copy and published a story on its website last night.

In his earlier books and reporting, Woodward has delved into the internal workings of the Bush White House, often portraying a deeply divided administration.

The most recent book is based on more than 150 interviews and two on-the-record meetings with Bush in May. Woodward does not disclose the details of the intelligence operations that allowed the targeting of insurgent leaders, reporting that administration officials asked him to withhold specifics because of national security concerns.

The most recent book is based on more than 150 interviews and two on-the-record meetings with Bush in May. Woodward does not disclose the details of the intelligence operations that allowed the targeting of insurgent leaders, reporting that administration officials asked him to withhold specifics because of national security concerns.

[CharlesJ]

The surge did work in its own way. Did it work in the ways we had hoped for? NO as it did not get rid of the Al Queida, they just moved back to Afganistan, which forced us to refocus our attentions where we should have been in the first place. I do not like Obama's stand on the surge, but then he has to do what he has to do, he should have stood his ground with O Riley, the republican supporter that he is. The surge did not in my opinion do what it was supose to do, and that was to end the war and destroy Al Queida, that was the main intent, so it failed in my book.

[leahsmommy]

The success of the Surge depends on the goal. It was later determined after the Surge that the goal was to decrease violence. How could they have won a war on destroyed al qaeda with a war in Iraq? Alqaeda's base is afghanistan.

[kite38]

Let's be fair. Obama is right. The surge has succeeded beyond our expectations. Give credit where it's due. Throwing a lot of money and troops at the problem worked. No mystery there. However, Obama is right again when he refuses to admit that the surge was a total success and that he and Biden were wrong about the surge. Not entirely. We've paid for any improvements in dollars, lost lives and lost time. Keep in mind that Iraq was a distraction manufactured by the Bush administration.
It's time for the Iraqis to fight their own battles. Our troops need to be redeployed to where the real enemy who attacked us without provocation plots anew.

Good interview for O. O'Reilly should shut up and let the subject being interviewed answer the questions. It's irritating.

[CrzyRussell]

And 15 of the 18 benchmarks have been met to date.

[stepintothelight]

Please share your source!

[wak84]

Oh--and as far as the surge "working", sure it's decreased the violence that WE initially caused by opening up the Pandora's box of Iraq. So now we're praising actually trying to clean up our own messes? Puleeze, my teenagers know better than that. The surge has resulted in Al Qaeda regrouping, recruiting and becoming stronger in Afghanistan. While Obama may have been wrong about the surge results, he is absolutely correct to say a military solution alone will not work. Heavy, heavy diplomacy is needed for quite a while. We can't stay there forever (or even 100 years Mr.McCain)­, our soldiers need to come home and the cost is breaking our economy. Anybody remember the USSR in Afghanistan in the 80's? The cost was enormous.

[gez]

Bill O'Reilly has two interviewing techniques. Against Democrats it's usually all out attack. Against Republicans he gives the appearance of attack but is quite often giving advice against Democrats. If you don't believe me go back to the Hillary and McCain interviews. Or watch the remainder of the Obama interviews, then compare them any up and coming Palin interview. The Palin interview will be full of advice on how to defeat Obama but disguised as a tough interview.

[hughbetcha]

Yeah, not like Olbermann who is fair, balanced and gives both sides a fair hearing!

[realpolitic]

Olbermann never uses childish bullying techniques like O'Reilly. Olbermann even lets people finish their sentences. O'Reilly is a fool. I am a liberal, but if Olbermann acted like O'reilly I would not watch him. Olbermann criticizes with humor.