McCain hits report as 'recipe' for defeat

[sabra]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20061208-122235-1918r.htm

McCain hits report as 'recipe' for defeat

Sen. John McCain, joining a growing list of critics, yesterday said the Iraq Study Group's widely touted book of proposals for settling the war in Iraq is a recipe for defeat.

"There's only one thing worse than an overstressed Army and Marine Corps, and that's a defeated Army and Marine Corps," said Mr. McCain, the Arizona Republican who sits on the Armed Services Committee.

"We saw that in 1973. And I believe that this is a recipe that will lead to, sooner or later, our defeat in Iraq."

...

Observed Mr. McCain: "I don't believe that a peace conference with people who are dedicated to your extinction has much short-term gain."

[bluerum]

1. The fear card, being played early on. Hopefully this will backfire on him. nt

[Virginia Dare]

2. Either McCain needs to put down the pipe...

or this is some kind of crazy good cop/bad cop routine..:crazy: :shrug:

[saigon68]

27. John McCain spent too much time in the Hanoi Hilton

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

3. What we saw in Vietnam

was the culmination of a war that was never in the United States' security interest, one that was being fought for political purposes with no realistically achievable military objectives. What we saw in Vietnam was the U.S. military being placed squarely in the middle of a civil war, with the side we chose to support seemingly disinterested in winning. What we saw in Vietnam is being replayed in Iraq, only this time the part of Bob McNamara is being played by a dissipated Senator from Arizona.

[HereSince1628]

4. McCain obviously suffers from "sunk-cost" syndrome.

He should'a thought about what losing the gamble would mean before he sat at the table and placed his bets. Now he's in too deep to stop gambling.

I think we can write his candidacy off as lost as long as he stays on this message.

[Warren Stupidity]

5. There is one thing worse than a defeated army.

And that is a delusional government in charge of a defeated army. We went to war through fraud and deception, we fought the wrong war as our leaders never understood the reality on the ground, and predictably we lost. Now we are stuck there, bleeding dying destroying and killing, unable to win and unable to leave, because our delusional leaders are unwilling or unable to come to terms with the simple fact that we lost, its over, its time to go home.

[MannyGoldstein]

6. He's Correct - But What's The Alternative?

He may just be saying what he's saying for political reasons - but he happens to be absolutely correct. However, unless we raise, train, and deploy a few hundred thousand more troops - which would mean a draft and a lot of casualties - then we really don't have a choice.

McCain and the rest of Congress (save a handful of responsible adults) should have thought of this when they aided and abetted Bush in going to war in a dysfunctional manner, and continuing that dysfunctional course even though it was clear within days of the fall of Baghdad that we had a big, big problem that was only getting worse.

This Congress has been awful, awful. They should be held to account.

[Kellyiswise]

7. "people dedicated to [our] extinction" Wonder why they feel that way?

Couold it be Desert Storm and the Iraqi invasion make them believe that we are dedicated to their extinction?

[aquart]

11. "People dedicated to our extinction" ... perfect description of BushCo.

[Beausoleil]

8. 'recipe' for defeat

Unfortunately, Mr. McCain, the goose is just about cooked. Stick a fork in it. It's about time to take it out of the oven, otherwise you'll burn it.

[Drifter]

9. The Recipe for defeat ...

was established when the AWOL cowboy made the decision to invade Iraq without regard to the most likely outcome (which we see today).

Cheers
Drifter

[pinniped]

10. They alway give this nutjob a mic to spout his BS.

This assclown is a recipe for defeat.

[aquart]

12. Nah. He's an admirable, viable candidate.

Just about the best they have.

Eewww.

[lancdem]

15. And a "straight talker," too

lol

[Norquist Nemesis]

13. Keep it up, J-Mac!!! Stay the course you're on!

Because once he has that 30% firmly in his political playground vowing support, he's going to realize just how deep a hole it is in the big picture.

I can't wait to see break down and beg, "Please don't elect me. I really, really don't want that job!"

[Solly Mack]

14. Oh, I think America already has defeat all sewn up

But you keep dreaming, McCain...you keep pushing the lies.

[Betty]

16. What we're doing now is a recipe for victory??????

Well, join the 9% of Americans who think so, John.

[donkeyotay]

17. We got this war because of the false choice between victory and defeat,

toughness and weakness. If you didn't want to bomb somebody, anybody, you were a surrender monkey. Well, there are alternatives to perpetual war, and the ISG mentioned a few of them. For example, we negotiated with the Soviet Union when they had nuclear weapons pointed at us. But George has taken a page from Israel's playbook and insisted that he can't talk to anyone until they do what he wants them to do, thereby negating the need to talk in the first place. If he can't talk, he guarantees that the issues dividing us will not be resolved. Mission accomplished. To talk, to negotiate is not the same as surrender. But to have a policy of not talking to anyone precludes finding a settlement that isn't a military one.

And all these issues like the nuclear proliferation - good in India and Pakistan, but bad in Iran - who profits? Who benefits? Who is the defense contractor who is going to make the billions off this policy?

Our policies are nuts. I don't think our country can survive 2 more years of this.

[opihimoimoi]

18. McCain got it WRONG...OUR ARMY IS NOT BEING DEFEATED...THE POLICY IS

Bush and his failed POLICY is what the disaster is all about...

Bush has no diplomatic skills hence the probs facing us today....he doesn't understand shit with re to the culture/history/mood of the ME Nations..

His PNACer/NeoCon friends are also in the dark...and yet they make policy .....

One of the biggest mistakes was to let the Christians in right after the Fall of Baghdad to promote Christianity...that set off the initial resistence to Americans and has grown to what we see today...despite a pull back on them evangelicals

Our Army folks are doing a good job...its the policy/direction that is flawed....it has become a clusterfuck

[zara]

19. No. The cake is already baked. The real recipe was by Bush and GOP:

1) lying administration
2) spineless beaureaucrats
3) fool commander
4) derelict congress
5) a big heap o' hubris and arrogance, in fact a quadruple portion!
6) imperial designs
&7) (lest we forget the grease that holds the mess together:) oil, a whole lotta oil!

[pokercat999]

26. You forgot a big one.

Compliant/absent press/media.

[wryter2000]

20. I hope this is his campaign slogan in 2008

"Stay the course! John McCain for President." That ought to serve him well. :sarcasm:

[saigon68]

28. As he follows his CHIMPANZEE Mentor

[0rganism]

21. attack his freakin' premise -- the military is NOT defeated by withdrawing!

That's like saying your hammer is defeated because it's time to use a screwdriver. :crazy:

There is a point at which having troops deployed somewhere does more harm than good. We probably reached it after the first 6 months of occupation, given how badly bush's civilian command botched the post-Saddam transition.

[cap]

22. if we are really fighting people dedicated to our extinction, then

why dont we have a draft? Why dont we have ration cards? Why not Victory Gardens? We are not winning, so why arent we fully mobilizing?

This makes no sense. We cant win in Iraq. We have lost. We are in the middle of a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The Saudis dont want us to go and at the same time they are funding people who are killing our troops. We should just get the hell out and tell the rest of the world to go make sense of the situation. If the rest of the world wants a regional conflict in the oil fields, FINE. If not, then serious pressure needs to be placed on all the interested parties.

[MurrayDelph]

23. He's wrong: worse than overstressed OR defeated Army and Marine Corps

is having unnecessarily DEAD Army and Marine Corps!

[MasonJar]

24. Since the majority of Americans want our troops home, I hope

that McCain is setting himself up for a fall in 08. Why would the US want another war-monger in the White House, even if this one actually did really fight in a war?

[Zorra]

25. I'm beginning to believe McCain really is senile. Zell Miller should

be his VP pick. It could be the "Grumpy Old Men" ticket.

McCain wants to "win" even if it means every last American soldier must die, and even if it destroys our country financially.

So what exactly does win mean? Ultimate conquest and subjugation of what is left of the Iraqi people? The chance to steal their oil?

Vini, vidi, vici....nulla.

[Thor_MN]

29. Define "Victory" for an illegal war...

It was the neocons lack of any sense of responsibilty that sealed the fate of this "war" the second it was launched. During the run-up to the war, I argued often with my conservative bro-in-law, "What is there are no WMDs?" He always changed the subject at that point.

* and his handlers at this point at stuck with the fact that they were wrong, they attacked a sovereign nation that posed no threat and made no provocation. The Iraq "war" can only end in failure.

[FlaGranny]

30. Let him keep saying it.

Only 27% of the population agrees with him and that percentage is falling. So yeah, Mr. McCain, keep telling us what you really think.

I wish all politicians would just say what they really think.

On the other hand is Mr. McCain REALLY saying what he REALLY thinks?

[IndianaGreen]

31. At the end of WWI, the German rightwing that caused that war, accused

their opponents of defeatism. Now we see the same people that brought us this infamous war in Iraq, accusing their ruling class colleagues of advocating surrender rather than take the fig leaf they were offered by the ISG. People like McCain and Lieberman have already rejected key features of the ISG recommendations, such as unconditional talks with Iran and Syria. McCain and Lieberman, and others like them in the Republican and Democratic parties, still think victory is possible. We can hear their cries: One last putsch! One last charge! One last major offensive!

As former Congressman Lee Hamilton said, the hour is late and time is running out for the US to put in place a strategy of extrication from Iraq. The longer we wait, the more time we waste debating the ISG report, the more likely our troops will have to shoot their way out of Iraq.

[AtomicKitten]

32. McCain may want to take a gander at the polls

before continuing to ride this war like BushCo.

[diamidue]

33. Well, now we will see where Republican loyalties lie:

With Bush, Sr., or with Bush, jr.

McCain has obviously decided to throw in with GWB. Should be interesting to see who the rest of the cons line up behind.