McCain triangulates and accepts a timeline for troop withdrawals from Iraq
Was The Surge® a Success? GAO Says Not So Much
Posted by AZBlueMeanie:
John McCain has opted to become a Johnny-one-note candidate, asserting that he alone is qualified to be president because he alone had the knowledge, experience and foresight to insist upon The Surge® when all others about him were losing their heads. Only McCain in his superior wisdom knows what is best both for the American people and the Iraqis, despite what the people of these countries may think best. Sounds like a man with a Napoleon complex, doesn’t it?
McCain and his loyal allies in the McMedia have been baiting Barack Obama for weeks, demanding Obama should admit that McCain was right and he was wrong about the success of The Surge®. Said McCain, "I hope he will have a chance to admit that he badly misjudged the situation, and that he was wrong when he said the surge wouldn’t work, and admit that the surge has succeeded and that we are winning the war."
This is the real McCain, the school yard bully who no doubt earned his childhood nickname "McNasty." He is still the same schoolyard bully who wants to get the new kid in school down on the ground in a headlock and give him noogies demanding that he say "you’re the best." Well, Barack Obama has withstood this childish assault from McCain and his McMedia allies, giving a nuanced and correct answer that The Surge® was among several elements to come together in a complex Iraq society which reduced the level of violence. Obama has consistently praised our troops for their sacrifice and service.
Of course, McNasty insists that it was his insistence upon the tactical maneuver of adding more troops which alone reduced the level of violence, and if Obama will not concede to him that "you’re the best" for insisting that the tactical maneuver of adding more troops alone was the reason for reducing the level of violence, then McNasty will say Obama is dishonoring the service of our troops. Even though Obama praises the service of our troops. This guy is just a dick.
There is also a very real danger in a simple mind like his that believes military power alone is the solution to every problem. He is more inclined to resort to military power to solve problems. A vote for McCain is a vote for more war.
Even McCain in his rare lucid moments has stated that The Surge® was not just the tactical military maneuver of adding an additional 30,000 troops in Iraq to quell the violence, but was one element of a strategic plan called "The New Way Forward," which was intended to quell the violence to allow for ethnic and sectarian reconciliation that would then lead to a government capable of governing, defending and sustaining itself. With a functioning government, reconstruction of the infrastructure and economy of Iraq could begin to return life in Iraq to normal.
So how successful was The Surge® in achieving its broader strategic goals? The Government Accounting Office (GAO) has just released its report "Securing, Stabilizing, and Rebuilding Iraq: Progress Report: Some Gains Made, Updated Strategy Needed" (July 23, 2008). You didn’t know? Of course you didn’t because the McMedia never reported it. They are too busy parroting McCain’s favorite attack lines against Obama because politics is just fun and games to them, to be reported like a sporting event, who scored, who is ahead, and who is behind. Their simple minds would explode if they ever exerted themselves with actual fact checking and political analysis.
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The McCain Crack-up: He’s Come Undone
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
McMedia whores like David Gregory and Tweety Matthews were all twitter-pattered earlier this week on news that John McCain would name his Vee-Pee this week (based upon a rumor reported by the Dark Prince, Robert Novak) in a desperate attempt to step on the media coverage of Barack Obama’s excellent adventure overseas. But Novak later told Fox News that "I since have been told by certain people that this was a dodge, trying to get a little publicity to rain on Obama’s campaign," he said. "That’s pretty reprehensible if it’s true. But we’ll find out in a few days."
Rather than concern himself with oneupmanship with the Obama campaign this week, McCain would have been better served to have scheduled a vacation this week and simply disappeared for awhile.
Instead, he has seen his campaign overtaken by events beyond his control and his own incoherent attempts to spin these events in his favor. The McCain campaign is in disaster mode.
The Bush administration’s recent policy reversals from hard line Neoconservative positions to more centrist positions favored by Democrats has undermined the very foundation of McCain’s campaign. Bush foreign policy moves shock rivals – The Boston Globe (With his moves last week involving Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, President Bush accelerated a shift toward centrist foreign policies, a change that has cheered Democrats, angered some Republicans, and roiled the presidential campaign.)
McCain has been transformed into a Johnny-one-note candidate: he is betting his entire presidential campaign on the "success" of The Surge® (which officially ended last week in case anyone missed it Troop surge is over but 150,000 U.S. troops still in Iraq | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle). McCain, however, is a Neoconservative who defines "success" in Iraq as staying in Iraq – "for 100 years" if necessary under long-term basing agreements similar to what the U.S. has with Germany, Japan and South Korea.
Last Friday, President Bush agreed to an "aspirational time horizon" for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq (the linguistic gymnastics to avoid "timelines" for withdrawal is an impossibility under the laws of physics – the horizon is always ahead of you and is never reached, which is probably what Bush intended. Remember, "success" in Iraq is defined as staying in Iraq). Despite this linguistic gymnastics, this marked a significant shift in Iraq policy for the Bush administration. Bush, in a Shift, Accepts Concept of Iraq Timeline – NYTimes.com
Bush was forced to make concessions to Iraqi demands in negotiating a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) currently under negotiation. The Iraqis do not want any permanent U.S. bases, and they want a timeline for withdrawal of U.S. combat forces. Remember, "success" in Iraq is defined as staying in Iraq. George Bush just threw McCain under his bus for political expediency. This move dramatically alters the debate over the war in Iraq.
Previously, anyone who even suggested a "timeline" for troop withdrawals had their patriotism and loyalty questioned by McCain for "embracing the policy of surrender" and "waving a white flag to al Qaeda." John McCain 2008 – John McCain for President This dangerous demagogue was so indiscriminate in his attacks that he included his Republican rivals in the GOP primary, particularly Mitt Romney.
Barack Obama arrived at the first stop of his overseas tour in Afghanistan on Saturday. McCain had beforehand moved to Obama’s position on Afghanistan, being forced to acknowledge that the Taliban and al Qaeda were resurgent and on the offensive, and that U.S. commanders had requested more troops needed to confront the central front in the war on terror in Afghanistan (but did not have any additional troops because they are all committed to Iraq).
Obama has long proposed removing an additional two combat brigades from Iraq to send them to Afghanistan. So McCain upped the ante and said that he would send three combat brigades. This from a man who has previously refused to recognize that Afghanistan has been what I have heard military personnel refer to as "Forgottenstan," and who has always held the opposite position, opposing the deployment of more U.S. troops, and arguing that any additional troops come from NATO. This was a major flip-flop for McCain. Crooks and Liars » McCain reverses course on Afghanistan policy, follows Obama’s lead.
The McCain campaign even tried to flog the dead horse that Barack Obama has not chaired a hearing of his subcommittee about Afghanistan. Obama did attend one hearing of the full Senate Foreign Relations Committee in March 2007. It turns out that it was John McCain who has attended ZERO hearings on Afghanistan over the past two years. Political Radar: Hearing-Gate Exposed! McCain Has Worse Afghanistan Hearing Record Than Obama You had better be a saint before accusing your opponent of being a sinner.
It was reported over the weekend that Iraqi President Nouri al Maliki told German magazine Der Spiegel in an interview that he wanted U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible. Iraqi PM backs Obama troop exit plan: report | Reuters It was actually the White House that tipped off reporters to the Der Spiegel interview. White House Tips Press Off to Maliki Interview – The Caucus – Politics – New York Times Blog. President al Maliki was quoted as saying:
"U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."
Maliki went on to say "Whoever is thinking about the shorter term is closer to reality. Artificially extending the stay of U.S. troops would cause problems."
After this attempt to discredit al Maliki’s comments by the White House, on Monday Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Baghdad’s goal was for foreign combat forces to leave by the end of 2010 if security conditions allowed. Dabbagh did not provide a specific timetable for a U.S. pullout but declared that they were working "on a real timetable which Iraqis set," and the 2010 deadline was "an Iraqi vision. We can’t give any schedules or dates, but the Iraqi government sees the suitable date for withdrawal of the U.S. forces is by the end of 2010," Dabbagh told reporters. Iraq Points to Pullout in 2010 – washingtonpost.com
For the first time in the national security debate, McCain is now on the defensive, since his reluctance to support a “time horizon” now differs not only with the position of his Democratic opponent but also with those of the White House and the Iraqi prime minister. McCain is odd man out on ‘time horizon’ – David Paul Kuhn – Politico.com The cheese stands alone in his Neoconservative desire to stay in Iraq indefinitely.
“It’s a devastating blow to the McCain campaign — not just that Maliki moved to Obama’s position but that Bush did as well,” said Richard Holbrooke, a former United States ambassador to the United Nations.
McCain previously answered a question about what he would do if “a so-called sovereign Iraqi government asks us to leave, even if we are unhappy about the security situation there” by saying, “If it was an elected government of Iraq … I don’t see how we could stay when our whole emphasis and policy has been based on turning the Iraqi government over to the Iraqi people.”
Well, Johnny, the Iraqi government has left little doubt that it favors a withdrawal plan for U.S. combat troops similar to what Barack Obama has proposed.
The debate over whether "should we stay or should we go?" is now over. McCain’s Neoconservative definition of "success" in Iraq as staying in Iraq lost the debate. The very foundation of McCain’s campaign has been blown away. His Johnny-one-note campaign no longer has any purpose or reason for being. As one McCain spokesman succinctly observed, "We’re f—ed." On Iraq, Game Over For McCain? – The Washington Independent – U.S. news and politics – washingtonindependent.com
McCain is now forced to articulate his Neoconservative agenda for staying in Iraq, despite what the sovereign Iraqis want. In a previous post I discussed how McCain was an early patron of Ahmed Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress, and a sponsor of the 1998 resolution supporting regime change in Iraq. Chalabi and his acolyte "curveball"provided the bogus intelligence that served as the rationale for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. McCain was a proponent for "rogue state roll back" long before George Bush’s "preemption doctrine." McCain was a vocal advocate for war with Iraq since 1998. George Bush may have ordered this country into war with Iraq, but it was John McCain who was standing beside him whispering in his ear "war."
McCain more than anyone else is responsible for Bush’s strategic failure in taking our eye off the ball in Afghanistan for an unnecessary war in Iraq that is America’s greatest foreign policy disaster. The Consortiumnews.com (McCain’s Afghan Strategic Blunder, by Robert Parry).
McCain more than anyone else is responsible for this illegal war of aggression against a country that posed no imminent threat to the U.S., nor had any weapons of mass destruction. It was a war built upon a web of lies and deceit fabricated by the Neocoservative advisers with whom McCain has surrounded himself. McCain is responsible for destroying Iraq with the wave of sectarian violence and ethnic cleansing unleashed as a direct result of the U.S. invasion and occupation. The invasion and occupation has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, mostly innocent noncombatant civilians. The invasion and occupation has resulted in the partition of Iraqi cities and towns behind blast walls in a country that was once secular and cosmopolitan. McCain is responsible for more than 4 million displaced Iraqi refugees who can no longer return home. McCain is responsible for the deaths of more than 4,000 U.S. soldiers, and the injuries of more than 30,000 U.S. casualties. McCain is responsible for pissing away billions of dollars on an unnecessary war, with billions more yet to come due.
This is the record of McCain’s so-called foreign policy "judgment" on Iraq. He was always wrong from the beginning, blindly driven by ideological extremism. McCain’s hands are forever stained with the blood of innocents and American soldiers as his eternal damnation for his blood lust for war with Iraq. This is his crime against humanity for which McCain and his Neoconservative advisers will be held accountable before the eyes of God, if not the American public this November.
Hangin’ with Mr. 28%
