Click here to watch "Some In Washington."

Iraq has taken some of the limelight back from the weak economy this week as both Barack Obama and John McCain have talked up the topic on the presidential trail. Two third-party groups, meanwhile, are up with new ads calling out certain lawmakers on the war.

Vets For Freedom continues its campaign highlighting the success of the surge strategy in Iraq with its latest ad (subscription), launching today in five battleground states. MoveOn.org Political Action, meanwhile, is chastising (subscription) McCain on national cable for not supporting a timetable to withdraw troops from the region.

In the Vets For Freedom spot, called “Some In Washington,” seven veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan call out Washington critics -- specifically Obama and Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. -- for saying early on that the surge would fail. "Some in Washington told us the war was lost," one veteran says. “Others said the surge would fail,” another asserts. "Today, even the harshest critics agree: The surge worked," another one says. The ad concludes by reiterating the message of the group's first ad (subscription): "Finish the job" in Iraq.

MoveOn.org Political Action, on the other hand, isn't too happy about McCain’s rejection of a timetable. In “Timetable,” a narrator says that the Arizona senator is at odds with everyone -- both at home and abroad -- on this issue. "In Chicago, in St. Louis and in Seattle, the American people are demanding a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq," the narrator says. "In Baghdad and Basra and Tikrit, the Iraqi people -- and now the Iraqi prime minister -- are also demanding a timetable. But John McCain doesn't want a timetable."

Vets For Freedom chairman Pete Hegseth said his group’s ad is intended to take issue with the policy positions of doubters rather than back the surge’s consistent supporters, namely McCain. He said, however, that the Arizona senator was one of the biggest proponents of increasing U.S. presence in Iraq and, up until the election started, the group "worked alongside" him to support similar policies.

In response to Obama’s recent speech on Iraq, Hegseth said he welcomed the Illinois senator’s shift, particularly his recognition that the surge has had some success. "The fact that his approach now reflects more so, in some ways, the reality on the ground, to use words like victory in his speech, shows that indeed success and victory are possible," Hegseth said. He was still wary, however, of the Democrat's commitment to a specific timetable for withdrawing troops. "We wish Sen. Obama would not be… politically wedded to a timeline," he said.

MoveOn.org Political Action spokeswoman Nita Chaudhary said her group’s ad is capitalizing on recent "game-changing developments" concerning the Iraq war, such as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's call for a timetable to withdraw troops. Chaudhary said that this and similar news suggests troops need to come home. "So far, all McCain can do is stand by his same old policy," she said. "That he has no answer for the American people asking for a withdrawal plan."

In response to the Vets For Freedom spot, Chaudhary said it "misses the point largely." The surge, she said, is irrelevant to voters at this point: "They want the troops home. That’s the operative question in this election."