John McCain gets it wrong
January 23rd, 2008, 7:27 am · Post a Comment · posted by fsherman
According to the Daily News this morning, Sen. McCain, during his Okaloosa Island appearance stated the following:
•As president, he would continue to back the surge tactics now being used by Gen. Petraeus.
•Democrats are wrong to set a date for withdrawl because “the only one who can decide that date is Gen. Petraeus.”
As to the first point, how does McCain imagine we can continue the surge in 2009? Our military is already stretched to the breaking point and it’s been generally acknowledged that we can’t keep troops in Iraq at this level.
As to the second, tommyrot. Deciding whether we should pull out or stay isn’t a tactical military decision, it’s a policy.
Remember, the surge was supposed to buy time for the Iraqi government to get its act together and pass the benchmarks that Bush and Congress agreed to a year ago. It has failed almost completely. Regardless of how well Petraeus thinks we’re doing in the field, shouldn’t that be a factor? If not, why bother with benchmarks at all?
And Bush’s frequent assertions that he’s going to be guided by what the military tells him is best are untrue: Remember when Gen. Shinseki said we didn’t have enough troops to maintain a peaceful occupation? Did Bush listen then? Did McCain raise a huge hue and cry?
Saying it’s all out of Congress hands and up to Petraeus is nothing more than passing the buck.
