The Democratic Party's presidential nominee, writing in The New York Times yesterday, said that while US troops had performed "heroically" in Iraq, Afghanistan was the real frontline in the battle against al-Qa'eda.

The comments came a day after nine US soldiers were killed in a gun battle when al-Qa'eda-Taliban forces attacked a base in eastern Afghanistan, the deadliest attack they have suffered in three years.

Mr Obama added that the conditions that led him to oppose the war in Iraq and last year's "surge" of US forces had not altered.

"The strain on our military has grown, the situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated and we've spent nearly $200 billion more in Iraq than we had budgeted," he wrote.

The article will be followed by a major foreign policy speech today in which the candidate will lay out his vision for his presidency.

As Chairman Of The Subcommittee With NATO Oversight, Obama Has Failed To Hold Any Hearings On Afghanistan:

Obama Has Served As Chairman Of The Subcommittee On European Affairs From 2007 - 2008. (U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Website, www.senate.gov, Accessed 7/10/08)

The Subcommittee On European Affairs Has Jurisdiction Over The Countries Of Europe As Well As NATO Activities. "Jurisdiction: The subcommittee deals with all matters concerning U.S. relations with the countries on the continent of Europe...and with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe." (U.S. Senate Committee On Foreign Relations Website, foreign.senate.gov, Accessed 2/27/07)

As Chairman Of The Subcommittee On European Affairs, Obama Could Have Held Hearings On The Role Of NATO In Afghanistan. "[A]mbassador John Ritch, who served for two decades as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's senior staffer on European affairs and East-West relations...[P]oints out that as subcommittee chair, Obama could have examined a wide variety of urgent matters, from the role of NATO in Afghanistan and Iraq to European energy policy and European responses to climate change..." (Joe Conason, "Obama's European Problem," www.salon.com, 12/29/07)

Obama Has Never Been To Afghanistan; Skipped The Opportunity To Go In 2006...

KABUL, Afghanistan — The United States needs permanent military bases in Afghanistan to protect its "vital national security interests" in the region, Arizona Sen. John McCain (search) said Tuesday after talks with the Afghan president.

McCain's remarks were the latest indication of American and British aspirations to cement their influence in this former Al Qaeda (search) stronghold on the doorstep of Iran (search), China and nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan (search) and India.

McCain, part of a five-member Senate delegation that met President Hamid Karzai (search) at his palace in the Afghan capital, said he was committed to a "strategic partnership that we believe must endure for many, many years."

"Not only because of our appreciation of Afghanistan, but also we believe there will be vital national security interests in this region for a long time," McCain said.

Asked by reporters what such a partnership would entail, he identified "economic assistance, technical assistance, military partnership including — and this is a personal view — joint military permanent bases and also cultural exchanges."

McCain, the No. 2 Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, did not elaborate on what kind of American military presence he was advocating.

Karzai did not address the issue at a joint news conference, limiting himself to expressing thanks.

"It is because of help from the United States that Afghanistan has what it has today, be it in reconstruction, be it in economy, in elections, in the very fact that this is a country that is now owning itself."

Asked about McCain's comments regarding permanent U.S. bases in Afghanistan, Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said, "It's premature to even consider something like that." He said there are no such discussions under way with the Afghan government.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. troops on Monday reinforced a remote military outpost after well-armed militants got inside and killed nine American soldiers in the deadliest assault on U.S. forces in Afghanistan in three years.

Sunday's assault has deepened doubts about the U.S. military's ability to contain Islamic militants. Attacks in Afghanistan are becoming more complex, intense and better coordinated than a year ago, U.S. officials say.

Militants with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars attacked the remote base in the village of Wanat in the mountainous northeastern province of Kunar at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday, with insurgents firing from homes and a mosque.

It was a "concerted attempt" to overrun the small base near the Pakistan border that was built only about three days ago, said an official with NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information, estimated the attacking force was several hundred.

An unknown number of militants got inside the outpost, the reason the fighters were able to inflict such high casualties, said a second military official who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

After the breach, U.S. troops pushed back against the invading militants, and attack helicopters swooped in. The second official said more than 40 insurgents were killed in the fighting. Fifteen U.S. soldiers also were wounded.

"Instead of looking at it necessarily from the perspective of the Taliban or terrorists being more aggressive in coming after NATO or U.S. forces or Afghan forces, in this particular case it was an example of NATO, U.S. and Afghan forces being aggressive in combatting cross-border infiltration," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

The latest assault came at a time of rising violence in Afghanistan.

Monthly death tolls of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan surpassed U.S. military deaths in Iraq in May and June. And last Monday, a suicide bomber attacked the Indian Embassy in Kabul, killing 58 people in the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since 2001.