Obama attacks McCain while accepting historic nomination

NEW YORK - Forty-five years after Martin Luther King's dramatic call for racial equality in America, Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination to become the first African-American presidential candidate of a major political party.

At a huge rally on Thursday night in Denver, Colorado, Obama offered his candidacy as an antidote to the "broken politics in Washington," and repeatedly drew contrasts with Republican John McCain, describing him as an extension of President George W. Bush and calling on the country to say: "Eight is enough."

"America, we are better than these last eight years," said Obama, 47, a first-term Democratic senator from Illinois. "We are a better country than this."

AFGHANISTAN

Obama, who has vowed to use military force against al-Qaeda operatives in tribal areas if Pakistan doesn't act, pledged change, saying he would end the Iraq war and finish the fight against terrorists in Afghanistan.

He promised tough diplomacy in dealing with Iran and Russia and build new partnerships to defeat threats of the 21st century as he faulted the Bush administration in the fight against terrorism and criticized Senator  McCain's position on Iraq war and counterterrorism.

IRAN

"I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression, referring to Moscow's intervention in Georgia.