In a conference call with reporters today, the Obama campaign turned McCain adviser Charlie Black's questionable comments into a request for a national security policy debate, rather than one on politics.

"Charlie Black's statement...provides a candid and very disappointing glimpse into the thinking of one of Senator McCain's closest advisers," said 9/11 Commission member Richard Ben-Veniste. "It is important that the candidates debate their vision for America's national security free from the politics of fear that for so long has dominated and distorted the discussion."

Black was quoted in a Fortune magazine piece saying that a terrorist attack would be a "big advantage" to McCain in the general election. Black later apologized, and McCain said the statement was "not true."

"The American people are tired of the politics that have divided this country to scare up a few votes and that see the threat of terrorism as something to use as political gain," said Obama foreign policy adviser Denis McDonough. "It appears that Mr. Black views terror through a political lens. That is not our view."

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