The Iraq Occupation and John McCain

Desperation and Distortion from America's Straight Talkin' Maverick

Having backed himself into a corner with his support of the so-called security "surge" in Iraq, Presidential hopeful Senator John McCain has spent time on publicity stunts and various attempts to verbally weasel out of totally off base remarks concerning "progress" in Iraq. Not surprisingly, his most recent speech was no exception, and illustrates just how wrong and dishonest he is being about the Iraq occupation.

In his speech before the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), McCain spun together a mix of false and illogical statements to support his case for continuing the unpopular, brutal and fruitless occupation of Iraq.

McCain stated that "For the first time in my visits to Iraq, our delegation was able to drive - not fly by helicopter - from the airport to downtown Baghdad." A few sentences later, McCain stated that US forces are now able to "maintain a presence in a neighborhood cleared of militias and terrorists, and hold the ground they have retaken rather than return to base, after which the enemy returns to impose its will again on a defenseless population."

McCain also said the following:

"America has a vital interest in preventing the emergence of Iraq as a Wild West for terrorists, similar to Afghanistan before 9/11. By leaving Iraq before there is a stable Iraqi governing authority we risk precisely this, and the potential consequence of allowing terrorists sanctuary in Iraq is another 9/11 or worse."

If you thought that McCain didn't have time to baselessly smear Democrats, you would be wrong. McCain said:

"Democrats who voted to authorize this war, and criticized the failed strategy that has led us to this perilous moment, have the same responsibility I do, to offer support when that failure is recognized and the right strategy is proposed and the right commanders take the field to implement it or, at the least, to offer an alternative strategy that has some relationship to reality."

McCain then derided Democrats for their satisfaction at having passed the latest Iraq supplemental spending bill with dates for withdrawal included-McCain said, "What were they celebrating? Defeat? Surrender?"