Obama Ad Attacks Mitt Romney On Iraq And Afghanistan

Ahead of Monday night's presidential debate on foreign policy, President Barack Obama's campaign released an ad attacking Mitt Romney over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and praising Obama for his response to them.

"A decade of war that cost us dearly. And now, for president, a clear choice," a narrator says. "President Obama ended the Iraq War, Mitt Romney would have left 30,000 troops there ... and called bringing them home 'tragic.'"

"Obama’s brought 30,000 soldiers back from Afghanistan. And has a responsible plan to end the war. Romney calls it Obama’s 'biggest mistake,'" the narrator says.

"It’s time to stop fighting over there, and start rebuilding here."

What the ad doesn't mention is that Obama decided to add 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan in 2009, and that the so-called surge has since ended. The New York Times reports that American officials think the Taliban will regain the territory the troops fought to control.

Romney has said that he support's Obama's 2014 withdrawal timeline for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but that he would rely more on military commanders' judgment. Despite Vice President Joe Biden's statement in a recent debate that "we are leaving in 2014, period," Foreign Policy reported that negotiations are starting soon to govern an agreement for troops past the deadline.

Unlike Afghanistan, Iraq has not been a major part of the campaign. In a foreign policy speech earlier this month, Romney criticized Obama for an "abrupt withdrawal" of troops from Iraq. The war ended under Obama's watch, but President George W. Bush signed the Status Of Forces Agreement in 2008 to withdraw the troops.