KOA's Newman echoed misleading assertion that Obama said he would "brutally attack [] ally country" Pakistan "with bombing raids"

Summary: On his February 28 broadcast, Newsradio 850 KOA's "Gunny" Bob Newman misrepresented a remark by Sen. Barack Obama to assert that Obama had suggested he would "openly and brutally attack" Pakistan "with bombing raids." Newman's distortion of the Democratic presidential candidate's statement in an August 2007 speech parroted that of other conservative commentators; in fact, Obama had said, "If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and [Pakistani] President [Pervez] Musharraf won't act, we will."

Echoing a line of false and misleading conservative commentary, "Gunny" Bob Newman asserted on his February 28 Newsradio 850 KOA broadcast that Sen. Barack Obama (IL) "would like to bomb Pakistan," adding that Obama had made the "suggestion to openly and brutally attack an ally country with bombing raids."

In fact, as Media Matters for America has noted repeatedly, during an August 1, 2007, foreign policy speech, Obama stated: "If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and [Pakistani] President [Pervez] Musharraf won't act, we will." Obama made any actions conditional, not definite, and did not specify what actions he would take. Moreover, Newman failed to note that several media outlets, including The Washington Post, have reported that the United States recently used a CIA Predator aircraft to launch missile strikes at terrorist targets inside Pakistan and that "the U.S. spy agency did not seek approval" from the Pakistani government.

From the February 28 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Gunny Bob Show:

NEWMAN: Barack Obama has brought up how he would like to bomb Pakistan. Why can't Barack Obama grasp that when you are considering military action, you must weigh all the hoped-for positive results against the possible negative results? In his stunning arrogance, Obama feels his judgment is vastly superior to that of the military and intelligence communities -- which, by the way, were mortified at his suggestion to openly and brutally attack an ally country with bombing raids. This from a man who couldn't tell a B-1 from a Piper Cub! It was amazing to hear him call for a bombing campaign on villages where children live among the terrorists without so much as batting an eye regarding civilian casualties!

—E.B. & J.F.B.