McCain Contrasts Himself With Obama on Iraq
July 16th, 2008 at 09:28am Mark Noonan
Can’t say it any clearer than this:
Over the last year, Senator Obama and I were part of a great debate about the war in Iraq. Both of us agreed the Bush administration had pursued a failed strategy there and that we had to change course. Where Senator Obama and I disagreed, fundamentally, was what course we should take. I called for a comprehensive new strategy — a surge of troops and counterinsurgency to win the war. Senator Obama disagreed. He opposed the surge, predicted it would increase sectarian violence, and called for our troops to retreat as quickly as possible.
Today we know Senator Obama was wrong. The surge has succeeded. And because of its success, the next President will inherit a situation in Iraq in which America’s enemies are on the run, and our soldiers are beginning to come home. Senator Obama is departing soon on a trip abroad that will include a fact-finding mission to Iraq and Afghanistan. And I note that he is speaking today about his plans for Iraq and Afghanistan before he has even left, before he has talked to General Petraeus, before he has seen the progress in Iraq, and before he has set foot in Afghanistan for the first time. In my experience, fact-finding missions usually work best the other way around: first you assess the facts on the ground, then you present a new strategy…
…In wartime, judgment and experience matter. In a time of war, the commander-in-chief doesn’t get a learning curve. If I have that privilege, I will bring to the job many years of military and political experience; experience that gave me the judgment necessary to make the right call in Iraq a year and half ago. I supported the surge because I believed it was our only realistic chance to reverse the disaster our previous strategy had caused, and the right thing to do for our country. And although events have proven me right, my position wasn’t popular at the time, and I risked my own political ambitions when I took it. When I tell you, I will put our country’s interests — your interests — before party; before any special interest; before my own interests, every hour of every day I’m in office, you can believe me. Because for my entire adult life, in war and peace, nothing has ever been more important to me than the se curity and well-being of the country I love. Thank you.
Obama was wrong about the surge - there is no way around that. More than his being wrong, however, there is now his rank dishonesty - his claims that he didn’t say the surge would fail, his Orwellian excising of his old Iraq position from his website, his attempts to spin himself into an architect of victory when he was singing the siren song of defeatism for the past 18 months. A dishonest man who can’t come up with the right solution - this is not the sort of man we want as President.
John McCain promises us that he’ll put country before everything - and we have the absolute proof that he’ll do that. He really did jump out in front of nearly everyone - including the President - in advocating one of the most unpopular acts our government has ever undertaken, and it worked…and our nation, and the world, is better off for it. All honor to those who saw the way clearly - and let us leave those who wanted to surrender in the dark recesses of our national memory, not elevated to the most powerful office in the world.
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Democrats, Republicans, War on Terror
18 Comments Add your own
1. Aztec | July 16th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
So are you agreeing with Mccain that Bush was pursuing failed strategy? And how is supporting the surge a change in strategy from the present.
2. Magnum Serpentine | July 16th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
McCain contrasts himself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnb2IrsU1Cg
Just say no to McSame and a third term for george.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs7kvN7CITo
3. Chuckasaurus | July 16th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
The liberals have no response to what John McCain has done, except for their mindless “McSame” rhetoric.
Barack Obama was wrong, and he refuses to admit it. I’m sure his “fact finding” mission will only find negativity.
I’m not a big fan of McCain, but he is clearly the better candidate.
If Edwards was running, I would probably vote for him over McCain. But Obama????? No freakin way!
4. Xavier Cugat | July 16th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
I have a linguist friend who says the words “winning” and “losing” are meaningless, because you’re only winning if you ultimately win.
And similarly - under the risk of being labeled a treasonous pessimist - the Surge has not yet “worked” because it has not yet accomplished all its objectives.
The reality remains that the Iraqi “calm” you folks are now celebrating would, as one person has said, “still count as calamity almost anywhere on earth but Darfur or Zimbabwe”.
Is today’s level of violence and political stability really the benchmarks you folks were aiming for? And it seems equally quixotic to say it has “worked” and yet still say the troops must stay at high levels. It either has “worked” or it hasn’t.
5. neocon | July 16th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Xavier,
Did you have a point? Or are you just trying to immaturely parse the meanings of words until you convince yourself you’re not completely wrong?
Incidentally, you stated the other day that I simply insult people instead of backing up my posts with facts and stats. Tell me what proof you have of your assertion in post #4.
Would that be your linguistic friend?
Yes we can!
neocon
6. InDaVa | July 16th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Whatever scrappleface.com
7. neocon | July 16th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
InDaVa,
I’ve turned you into a monosyllabic fool. Although I guess that will largely go unnoticed.
scrapple that
merci beaucoup
neocon
8. neocon | July 16th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
InDaVa,
Honestly I hadn’t even heard of scrappleface before I grabbed that quote, and I didn’t even pay much attention to it then. But since you objected so vehemently to it, I knew it had to be good, and I was right. I love that site, it’s hysterical.
Thank you for for your endorsement.
hope and change
neocon
9. Little Tim | July 16th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Iraq and the surge were complete failures.
Saying it was not does not make it true.
Obama proved right yet again.
Old Man Grumpy McSame needs to take his senile PTSD ass to the nearest retirement village.
10. neocon | July 16th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Tim,
We now know what part of your anatomy is little.
de nada
neocon
11. Magnum Serpentine | July 17th, 2008 at 1:15 am
I agree with you Little Tim. george’s war in iraq is a disaster
12. The New Conservative | July 17th, 2008 at 1:38 am
The surge in Iraq has worked. Saying it hasn’t just shows an abliity to ignore the facts. Violence is down, Iraq’s economy is up, new businesses are poping up everywhere. I’m trying to keep up with all the good news coming out of Iraq on my blog.
http://thenewconservatives.blogspot.com/
feel free to check it out.
13. James Dukes | July 17th, 2008 at 7:43 am
On 10/21/2001 McCain said the US needed to settle Afghanistan BEFORE invading Iraq.
At one time Obama and McCain were on the same page when it came to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Obama never changed his opinion, but McCain did.
And recent events in Afghanistan show that Obama was right all along. Why did McCain change his tune?
See the transcript below.
RUSSERT: Would you have any problem expanding President Bush’s orders to the CIA to go after Osama bin Laden to include Saddam Hussein?
LIEBERMAN: Well, I leave that to the president. But as a matter of principle and morality, of course not.
RUSSERT: Senator McCain?
MCCAIN: I think Joe’s right.
And I would just like to add one additional point. I believe that we will succeed. We will endure in Afghanistan. We will take out bin Laden, and we will take out the Taliban. And then we’ve got a major challenge of a stable government, but…
RUSSERT: How long will that take?
MCCAIN: I think the longer we give the impression that we’re there for, the shorter it’ll be. Because, as you quoted from articles earlier, they think they can outlast us. I don’t think they can this time.
RUSSERT: Do you believe the American people will continue to stay with that campaign?
MCCAIN: Absolutely, and I think the president is doing a great job in leading America and making us aware of the challenge we face.
But I think the real crunch is going to come after Afghanistan is settled and then we have to address the other countries, including Iraq. That’s where the coalition may not be so strong. That’s where people like the Saudis and the French and many others may have real reservations.
And so, we’re going to have to be steadfast. And again, the president will continue and, I think, very eloquently stated, countries that harbor these terrorist organizations will be held responsible, so it’ll be their choice, not ours. It’ll be their choice.
RUSSERT: But after Afghanistan, you’d have no problem going after Saddam Hussein?
14. InDaVa | July 17th, 2008 at 9:12 am
neocon,
Thank you for finally admitting your source and quote were complete crap. You grabbed the quote and didn’t bother to check it, I understand. I know it takes alot coming from you.
peace and have a nice day.
InDaVa
15. neocon | July 17th, 2008 at 9:29 am
The source turns out to be a very witty, satirical, intellectually superior site that is simply beyond your capacity to understand.
Hence your crap comment. It’s ok to acknowledge things that we don’t understand. This would be one for you.
have a hellac day
and scrapple on
neocon
16. xaviercugat | July 17th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Neocon,
Let me explain it again. I’ll type more slowly this time. Trying moving your lips as you read - I’ve observed others of your intellectual strata doing that; it may improve comprehension.
I was challenging the assertion that the surge “worked”. It may be “working” but it hasn’t “worked”. If it worked, the stability that was the objective of the surge would exist, and we wouldn’t be talking about keeping 100K+ troops there.
The stability doesn’t exist. It may be better, but as Little Tim points out, that’s equally explainable by the “religious cleansing” of Bagdad neighborhoods, and co-opting insurgents into US-paid “security forces”.
It’s like Obama said in his speech Tuesday; the prevailing Republican logic is circular. Everything is an excuse to keep troops there. First, troop levels must be maintained because things are so bad. Now, troop levels must be maintained because things are so good.
And before I go, I’ve failed to see *any* of you attack McCain for his heresy. In Noonan’s original post, McCain attacks Bush’s strategy. I quote McCain
Why ain’t you guys attacking this liberal treason?
17. InDaVa | July 18th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Nice try. I thank you again neocon for admitting your quote and source are ’satirical’ and should not be considered as fact. Apparently, you missed the whole satirical part when I pointed it out to you. I’m glad you see it now. Always check your sources….
18. Anti Obama.net | July 30th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Obama was wrong on the surge. That, along with gas prices I think are his two biggest weaknesses for the election.
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