Within the next two weeks, the number of American troops killed in Iraq is likely to reach 4,000, assuming that the average number of fatal casualties per day remains steady. It is an arbitrary number, given meaning by the fact that the nation may briefly take notice, but a day will come in this presidential campaign when Sen. John McCain must explain what he thinks we have gained by the sacrifice of those men and women.
Anticipating that prospect must make McCain uneasy. Speaking to reporters on his campaign bus the other day, he worried aloud that unless he can persuade voters that current policy is succeeding in Iraq, “then I lose. I lose.”
Almost immediately he regretted his candor and asked for a quick rewrite. “If I may, I’d like to retract ‘I’ll lose.’ But I don’t think there’s any doubt that how they judge Iraq will have a direct relation to their judgment of me, my support of the surge,” he said. As the presumptive Republican nominee-representing the continuation of a presidency that has fallen from favor with as many as eight out of 10 Americans-McCain has ample reason to worry. His forthright support of President Bush, the war and the escalation of the past year is unlikely to endear him to independent voters who otherwise admire his maverick image and reform record. They still feel betrayed by the exaggerations and lies that led us into war. They don’t want to spend any more lives or money on this misadventure.
Against that overwhelming public sentiment, McCain insists that he can see “a clear path to success in Iraq,” with American and civilian casualties declining and Iraqis assuming responsibility for their own security. The Arizona senator evidently realizes that his recent prediction of a century-long American occupation did not go over well. “All of us want out of Iraq,” he told the Associated Press on Feb. 25. “The question is how do we want out of Iraq.”
Yet, even while he uttered those soothing words, the Pentagon was preparing a new deployment schedule that proves the path to success is far from clear. The “surge” in U.S. combat forces has not led to stability, but to a terrible dilemma for American commanders in Iraq. The current level of combat troops is not sustainable, but reducing that level is likely to provoke increased violence. For the moment, the White House hopes to maintain enough force strength to forestall the inevitable reckoning until some time after Election Day.
Certainly the troop escalation helped to revive McCain’s fortunes in the Republican primary contest, quelling any dissent among his rivals (except for the indefatigable, unelectable Rep. Ron Paul). Yet the escalation appears to have had little political impact outside the GOP, despite all the promotional hype. If McCain is truly depending on the surge to elect him in November, he won’t find the data reassuring.
In national surveys, many Americans agree that sending more troops has improved conditions in Iraq. But those same surveys show that the temporary improvement has not changed their opinions about the war. A substantial majority believes that invading Iraq was a mistake, that we should bring the troops home within a year and that the Bush administration has handled the war badly, or very badly.
For months we have heard little discussion of the war, as the primaries diverted us with the ephemera of push polls, plagiarism and Fred Thompson. Sooner or later, the debate over the war will intensify again, offering its leading senatorial advocate an opportunity to tell us: why the invasion was justified, given the absence of weapons of mass destruction; what he expects the continuing occupation to accomplish; when those objectives will be achieved; and why the installation of a Shia regime so closely linked with the mullahs in Iran is worth the sacrifices that we all mourn.
So far, McCain has preferred angry sound bites to substantive argument. He regularly accuses Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and the Democratic leadership in Congress of wanting to “wave the white flag of surrender,” a demagogic cliche that ought to be beneath him.
But it is important to remember that on the subject of military conflict, the venerable veteran is not always rational. He has said we should have pursued “victory” in Vietnam, although we lost 10 times as many Americans there as we have to date in Iraq. Perhaps someone will eventually ask him a simple question: How many dead is too many in this war?
Joe Conason writes for the New York Observer.
© 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
McCain’s Vietnam war scars make him a hero. Unfortunately, there’s a lot fewer Viet vets left. Many of us appreciate his valor, but have great disdain for that war and those who continue to apologize for it - like McCain.
He makes a big mistake in his continued “blind” support for a surge that isn’t working; it’s merely holding its own. There are no measurable improvements in Iraq. The electricity is still down; good water remains a problem and all that the walls and soldiers have done is create a Iraq partitioned into three separate areas. Politically, I see no advancement.
The American people see clearly that we are in deep economic dodo. The Investors Business Daily had a summation of Bernake’s dilemma, which is our dilemma:
“The Fed expects GDP to expand about 1.7% this year, 2.4% in 2009 and 2.8% in 2010. That last number seems like an improvement, but it isn’t much of one.
Moreover, the Fed’s policy-makers expect unemployment to rise from last year’s average 4.6% to as high as 5.3% this year and next before settling back to 5.1% in 2010.
These Fed forecasts pretty much describe what economists call a “growth recession” — that is, an economy that grows, but not fast enough to keep unemployment from rising. New entrants to the work force now average 130,000 a month. They’ll find it hard to get good-paying jobs in such an economy — as will those laid off.”
Time for McCain to realize where the pain is, and it isn’t in his aching shoulders, its in the pocketbook of the average American.
The “white flag of surrender” comment nauseates me. Two million Vietnamese deaths, and a continuing three-generational battle to combat the after effects of a nation poisoned by Agent Orange.
I believe Gandhi said something like this (paraphrase); it will matter little to the innocents whether the killing comes in the name of totalitarianism or in democracy - the suffering of the people is the same.
I am not proud of my country - I am ashamed of it. We can keep killing others to insure the short-term benefits of our corporations, or we can become citizens of the world and give some credibililty to what we once (although marginally) stood for. The time is now. There may not be another.
odoco
it will matter little to the innocents whether the killing comes in the name of totalitarianism or in democracy - the suffering of the people is the same.
that’s real.
Seems McCain is as big a college legacy playboy party animal as GWB - heavy partying and womanizing left little time for study - he graduated 894th out of 899 in his USNA class, but his name (dad and grandpa both Admirals) moved him to the head of the line for flight training (sound familiar?) He lost one aircraft in training, hit power lines with another while “buzzing” the ground, and ejected from a third returning from an Army-Navy game, but that still couldn’t ground the admiral’s son. Had medals shoveled at him despite only flying 20 hours of combat in VietNam [maybe the Swiftboaters will take up that cause liked they questioned Kerry’s awards - NOT!] His legacy apparently even gave him special treatment in Hanoi, especially after he admitted to bombing civilians. Not as noble a man of the people as he makes himself out to be.
The 100 year claim was no faux pas.
The mega US “embassy” in Bagdad and the Iraq bases the US has constructed during the past 5 years are built to 100 year construction standards. McCain is just buttering up the electorate to support a 100 + year Iraq occupation.
The big question is: How long will the US’ creditors continue to finance the coccupation ?
He will get the military vote because the military is the propaganda arm of authoritarians, torturers, jingoists, religionists, racists and other conservatives that prey on young minds for profit and power.
I recall an American Indian who was once asked how he liked the white mans civilization, and without having to think about it replied immediately ” I would favor it if that ever happened.” It is not likely to happen any time soon.
All the remaining candidates, both Democrat and Republican, except for Ron Paul, intend to fulfill the PNAC vision for Iraq, moving the troops into the embassy compound as a forward basing stage for action in the Persian Gulf – a necessity to maintain access to the oil needed to fuel the military pursuit of resources all over the globe. We are shackled to occupation of Iraq for the foreseeable future no matter who wins the election.
I fail to see how dropping high explosives from high altitude on civilians, having your aircraft shot out from under you, being retrieved by peasants from a lake in Hanoi, and then rotting away in the Hanoi Hilton is “heroic” or “glorious” as even many liberal bloggers describe it.
I wish someone (maybe Obama) will ask McCain just what his pig-headed stubborness on Iraq implies for our troops, many of whom are doing 3 or 4 tours there. Will McCain require 7 or 8? How is he going to break this news to their families?
bob h -
Thanks for saying that. While the term ‘hero’ has been cheapened beyond repair these days, it still can’t apply to McCain. If suffering imprisonment and torture makes him a hero, then the United States has created hundreds, if not thousands of heros in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, Bagram, Abu Ghraib, and so on. He rode his father’s coattails, he bombed civilians, he has delusions at least as bad as Bush about the workings of the world and the place of the United States in it. He was tortured and now he advocates that the United States use torture. Apparently he believes it works, so he should man up and confess to the information he gave to the North Vietnamese to betray his fellow soldiers and his country. He must have done, right, since torture works, right?
He’s a sleazy, right-wing conservative who has bent and twisted the system to suit his needs whenever he had the chance, including the Keating 5 crime and his current attempt to manipulate and distort the public financing requirements. He’s demonstrated that in his quest for power he has no integrity, no character. He belongs on the ash heap, along with the Republican party.
McCain is waving the white Depends of senility
ricq -
Found this recently:
‘1973 New York Daily News labeled POW McCain III a “PW Songbird”’
Combat pilot McCain III lost a fifth plane three months later (Oct. 26, 1967) during his 23rd mission over North Vietnam when he failed to avoid a surface-to-air missile. McCain III ejected from the plane breaking both arms and a leg in the process and subsequently parachuted into Truc Bach Lake near Hanoi. After being pulled from the lake by the North Vietnamese, McCain III was bayoneted in his left foot and shoulder and struck by a rifle butt. He was then transported to the Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the Hanoi Hilton. On McCain III’s fourth day of being denied medical treatment, slapped, and threatened with death by the communist (they were demanding military information in exchange for medical treatment), McCain III broke and told his interrogator, ”O.K., I’ll give you military information if you will take me to the hospital.” (U.S. News and World Report, May 14, 1973 article written by former POW John McCain.) It was then that the communist learned that McCain III’s father was Admiral John S. McCain, the soon-to-be commander of all U.S. Forces in the Pacific. The Vietnamese rushed McCain III to Gai Lam military hospital (U.S. government documents), a medical facility normally unavailable for U.S. POWs.
By Nov. 9, 1967 (U.S. government documents) Hanoi press was quoting McCain III describing his mission including the number of aircraft in his flight, information about rescue ships, and the
order of which U.S. attacks would take place.
While in still in North Vietnam’s military hospital, McCain III gave an interview to prominent French television reporter Francois Chalais for a series titled Life in Hanoi. Chalais’ interview with McCain III was aired in Europe. Vietnamese doctors operated on McCain’s Leg in early December, 1967.
Six weeks after he was shot down, McCain was taken from the hospital and delivered to a U.S. POW camp, In May of 1968, McCain III allowed himself to be interviewed by two North Vietnamese generals at separate times.” (May 14, 1973 article written by former POW John McCain.)
In August 1968, other POWs learned for the first time that John McCain III had been taken prisoner. On June 5, 1969, the New York Daily News reported in a article headlined ‘Reds Say PW Songbird Is Pilot Son of Admiral’, “ …Hanoi has aired a broadcast in which the pilot son of United States Commander in the Pacific, Adm. John McCain, purportedly admits to having bombed civilian targets in North Vietnam and praises medical treatment he has received since being taken prisoner…” The Washington Post explained McCain III’s broadcast: “The English-language broadcast beamed at South Vietnam was one of a series using American prisoners. It was in response to a plea by Defense Secretary Melvin S. Laird, May 19, that North Vietnam treat prisoners according to the humanitarian standards set forth by the Geneva Convention.”
In 1970, McCain III agreed to an interview with Dr. Fernando Barral, a Spanish psychiatrist who was living in Cuba at the time. The meeting between Barral and McCain III (which was photographed by the Vietnamese) took place away from the prison at the office of the Committee for Foreign Cultural Relations in Hanoi (declassified government document). During the meeting, POW McCain sipped coffee and ate oranges and cakes with the Cuban. While talking with Barral, McCain III further seriously violated the military Code of Conduct by failing to evade answering questions ”to the utmost of his ability” when he, according government documents, helped Barral by answering questions in Spanish, a language McCain had learned in school. The interview was published in the in January 1970. McCain III was released from North Vietnam March 15, 1973.
In 1993, during one of his many trips back to Hanoi, McCain asked the Vietnamese not to make public any records they hold pertaining to returned U.S. POWs. McCain III claims, that while a POW, he tried to kill himself. McCain III was awarded “medals for valor” equal to nearly a medal-and-a-half for each hour he spent in combat. For 23 combat missions (an estimated 20 hours over enemy territory), the U.S. Navy awarded McCain III, the son of a famous admiral, a Silver Star, a Legion of Merit for Valor, a Distinguished Flying Cross, three Bronze Stars, two Commendation medals plus two Purple Hearts and a dozen service medals.
“McCain had roughly 20 hours in combat,” explains Bill Bell, a veteran of Vietnam and former chief of the U.S. Office for POW/MIA Affairs — the first official U.S. representative in Vietnam since the 1973 fall of Saigon.
“Since McCain got 28 medals,” Bell continued, “that equals to about a medal-and-a-half for each hour he spent in combat. There were infantry guys — grunts on the ground — who had more than 7,000 hours in combat and I can tell you that there were times and situations where I’m sure
a prison cell would have looked pretty good to them by comparison. The question really is how
many guys got that number of medals for not being shot down.”
For years, McCain has been an unchecked master at manipulating an overly friendly and biased news media. The former POW turned Congressman, turned U.S. Senator, has managed to gloss over his failures as a pilot and his collaborations with the enemy to become America’s POW-hero presidential candidate.
Someone should point out that we surrendered Vietnam to the Vietnamese and are none the worse for it. Why not surrender Iraq to the Iraqis?
WCDevins, thanks for posting that info on McCain. I had read some of it before, but not the detail of your posting.
McCain’s campaign is being run by entrenched lobbyists like Charles Black who claim they are ‘volunteering’ their time just to help their good friend. Bullshit. Who has ever heard of a lobbyist helping a politician for free unless there is something in it for them down the road? Except for the Washington Post, the Big Media has yet to delve into this story, but I hope his Dem opponent does.
But even if McCain isn’t caught out on his close ties to lobbyists, Iraq by itself will do him in.
In Iraq, as part of the ’surge,’ we have been bribing the Sunni insurgents — our former enemies — with guns and money. They have now built up an 80,000-man organization that is nearly ready to challenge the Shia majority. We have also, for the second time, sold out our friends the Kurds in Northern Iraq, letting Turkish troops slaughter them at will. (The first was when Poppy Bush violated his promise in 1991 that the Kurds would have autonomy, and then let Saddam force them back under his thumb.) The top is not going to stay on this boiling pot long, and we are not only going to be fighting well-armed Sunnis, the Shia Madhi Army, but the Kurds, as well. It’s going to be pure hell, and I’ll guess that the whole thing will break before the November election. Goodbye, Johnny.
Joe Conason is a gentleman and in this case, entirely too kind when he says that McCain’s appallingly cheap and cowardly comment about “the white flag of surrender” is beneath him. WCdevin’s comments above are quite illuminating, but even if we knew nothing about that (I didn’t until just now), we know that John McCain was Charles Keating’s chief errand boy and quarterback for the “Keating 5″. Keating was famous for Phoenix building boondoggles which amounted to pyramid schemes and for looting his own S and L, the Lincoln Savings and Loan. McCain’s job was to keep Congress and federal prosecutors off Keating’s ass for as long as it took to re-patriot the Lincoln millions into untraceable offshore havens. Was the essentially toothless “McCain-Feingold” bill in its final form supposed to make feel better about Keating?
Anybody who votes for this clown shouldn’t be surprised to feel his cronies hands in their pockets, pulling the cash out of their wallets.
Noticde please that there is not one word about 1.200,000 murdered Iraqis. Not one word. What the American people think about the war depends exclusively on how many AMERICANS are killed.
1.2 million. MILLION!
Someone on the board said “he’ll get the military vote because….
I beg you to not lump us all in one category. google votevet. Some of us are organizing to counter McCain’s beauty contest with America. We are stuck in this hell hole, some of 4 and 5 tours, our families are suffering. Some of us will return PTSD. When we pass you in the street and are acting weird please do not spit in our faces. If you want to help, help fix the VA hospitals. Votevet!
Lizard and Lost My Tribe, both good points.
It may be as many as 3 million Iraqis have died, and many more Americans than have been counted by the Pentagon. It has been a tragic blood bath and I hope McCain, as well as Bush and Cheney, are held accountable for their roles in promulgating this horror.
LMT, an acquaintance who went to Iraq as a huah Bush conservative and was converted by his two tours there to an antiwar liberal who reads Chomsky, tells me that, these days, even the most gung-ho of the troops are ready to ditch Dune and come home. When McCain spews that nonsense baout waving a white flag of surrender, most of the guys he knows say, “Yes, please, wave that m*therf*cker — the sooner the better!” Nobody wants to die for Flyboy Johnny’s idea of victory, especially because they think he’s just trying to refight the Vietnam War with their blood.
As a Viet combat vet, I honor McCain but he is no Hero just for surviving. Our nation needs to get the Hell out of Iraq. Tell them, here’s the time line, get your s–t together, we’re outta here. Won’t happen with the old and brain dead in Washington. Maybe we need a surge purge directed toward D C!
Why is McCain designated a war hero?
He bombed defenseless 3rd World civilians and when his plane was downed, he was imprisoned as a prisoner of war. (Luckily he wasn’t lynched by the civilians he bombed.)
While he was a prisoner of war, he simply sat around waiting to be released: no heroics, no escape attempts…nada.
I believe his father and grandfather also had histories of killing 3rd World civiliams. Maybe its genetic.
With that family history, McCain would, of course, want to spend years killing,torturing and impoverishing Iraqi civilians.
They don’t know their place.
What more do we need to know about Repuks other than they sold their souls? The more frightening thing is fifty to a hundred million taxpayers were pushed into funding an illegal imperial expansion/occupation into Iraq. Where will they be pushed next?