Town Hall Debate - Humanitarian Deployments: Would you us...

SEN. OBAMA: Well, we may not always have national security

issues at stake, but we have moral issues stake. I mean, if -- if --

if we could have intervened effectively in the Holocaust, who among us

would say that we had a moral obligation not to go in? If we could

have stopped Rwanda, surely if we had the ability that would be

something that we would have to strongly consider and act.

So you know, when genocide is happening, when ethnic cleansing is

happening somewhere around the world, and we stand idly by, that

diminishes us. And so I do believe that we have to consider as part

of our interest, our national interest, in intervening where possible.

But understand that there's a lot of cruelty around the world.

We're not going to be able to be everywhere all the time. That's why

it's so important for us to be able to work in concert with our

allies.

Let's take the example of Darfur just for a moment. Right now

there is a peacekeeping force that has been set up and we have African

Union troops in Darfur to stop a genocide that has killed hundreds of

thousands of people. We could be providing logistical support,

setting up a no-fly zone, at relatively little cost to us, but we can

only do it if we can help mobilize the international community and

lead.

And that's what I intend to do when I'm president.

MR. BROKAW: Senator McCain, the McCain doctrine, if you will.

SEN. MCCAIN: Well, let me just follow up, my friends. If we had

done what Senator Obama wanted done in Iraq, and that was set a date

for withdrawal, which General Petraeus and our chief of -- chairman

(and/in