Michelle Obama visits Santa Fe

BARRY MASSEY | The Associated Press

9/4/2008 - 9/4/08

A former head of the New Mexico National Guard lashed out Thursday at Republican presidential candidate John McCain for his support of the Iraq war and suggested that McCain's policies stemmed from a "lack of adequate psychological care" after his service in Vietnam.

The comments by retired Air Force Gen. Melvyn Montano drew cheers and applause from a crowd attending a campaign appearance by Michelle Obama, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Montano appeared on stage with Michelle Obama as she met with wives of servicemen who have served in Iraq. Montano recalled a statement by McCain that there could be a U.S. troop presence in Iraq for 100 years.

"I don't understand his position. I can attribute it probably to some of the things we've talked about here — lack of adequate psychological care," said Montano.

McCain was a Navy pilot and spent nearly six years as a Vietnam prisoner of war after he was shot down. The Arizona senator has speculated there ultimately could be a non-combat U.S. troop presence in Iraq similar to that in South Korea, potentially lasting for many years.

Montano, who served in Vietnam and was adjutant general of the New Mexico National Guard from 1994 to 1999, described the fighting in Iraq as "pure carnage."

"The war is over. We did achieve victory. What we have now is occupation," said Montano. "We have achieved victory. And it's not a football game. You don't have to win ... at all costs. There are lives at stake and it's pure carnage."

His comments were the sharpest criticism of McCain during Michelle Obama's campaign stop in Santa Fe, a liberal community with an active anti-war movement.

Obama held a roundtable discussion with five women whose spouses had been deployed overseas. She pledged that her husband, if elected, would improve services for military families, including mental health treatment for those suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

Natasha Padilla said her husband, a police officer in Las Vegas, N.M., struggled to adjust after returning from Iraq with the National Guard.

"You're lying in bed across from the person you love but it's not him," she said, crying.

Padilla recommended mandatory psychological evaluations for returning veterans.

Obama said the difficulites Padilla and others faced were "part of the cost of the war" and she suggested many Americans were unaware of the problems confronting military families.

"I would bet you that the vast majority of the families out there who are not part of the military have no idea of what you all are going through, but would be sympathetic ... if they knew," she said.