McCain on Iraq war: 'I intend to win it'

[sabra]

Source: Chicago Trib

Republican John McCain, addressing fellow veterans of foreign wars in Orlando today, is telling them that both he and Democratic rival Barack Obama plan to bring U.S. forces home from the war in Iraq - "the great difference is that I intend to win it first.''

"I'm sure many of you will also recall from your experiences in war, as I do from mine, that when you're somewhere on the other side of the world in the service of America you pay attention to the news from back home. It affects morale,'' McCain tells the VFW, in remarks prepared for delivery of the speech underway.

"Though victory in Iraq is finally in sight, a great deal still depends on the decisions and good judgment of the next president,'' says McCain. "The hard-won gains of our troops hang in the balance. The lasting advantage of a peaceful and democratic ally in the heart of the Middle East could still be squandered by hasty withdrawal and arbitrary timelines. And this is one of many problems in the shifting positions of my opponent, Sen. Obama.

"With less than three months to go before the election, a lot of people are still trying to square Sen. Obama's varying positions on the surge in Iraq,'' McCain is saying. "First, he opposed the surge and confidently predicted that it would fail. Then he tried to prevent funding for the troops who carried out the surge.

Read more: http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/08...

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[merwin]

1. I'd ask him how victory in Iraq is in sight.

Seems to me like people are blowing each other up as much as ever over there.

[TwilightGardener]

2. He wants to take office before the war ends, so he can snatch the victory

away from Dubya for all history--he wants to be known as the President who won the war. Never mind that the war was, and continues to be, a tremendous strategic mistake based on lies. He's a sick fuck.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Thought he already said, 'We won it".

[PatSeg]

5. I was thinking the same thing

He just said it the over day. This man has no control over what comes out of his mouth.

[AlphaCentauri]

10. His statement is for the public with short memory problems

those who forget how we got there in the first place

[C_U_L8R]

4. Win what ?

His answer makes no sense... there is no winning in this thing.
What the hell would he win? First prize in confabulation??

[bdamomma]

6. all war/invasion talk all the time

how disgusting.

[sui generis]

7. I intend to define winning

McCain, when you magically resurrect 4000 plus soldiers and miraculously unspend three quarters of a trillion dollars on a war that did nothing but make al qaeda ten times larger, destabilize a region and de-secularized a stable society in a fundamentalist tribal country, you will have won.

I will remove my shorts and eat them, using chopsticks, and without any additional seasoning.

[ROakes1019]

8. How?

"We will win the war in Iraq by winning it." a direct quotation from McCain

[CitizenPatriot]

14. oooohhhh! thanks for that McCain. I was confused before.

[Javaman]

9. how does one go about "winning" an occupation?

what a fucking moron.

[rfranklin]

13. That's for the dopes who think it's actually a war...

The propaganda framing is incredible...war on terror...the terra-ists...the surge....

[CitizenPatriot]

15. finish the POW song!

(happy voices of children and high pitched women's voices sing in a sing-song fashion):

terra-rists
the surge
win the war in iraq
mission accomplished!
wmd are here somewhere

and don't forget I'm a POW
P O W
POW
I was injured and tortured and the only reason I was saved
was cuz my daddy was a good-un
so elect me
I will win this war!

don't ask how
I SAID I'd win it! (angry moment and then song resumes)

terra-rists
the surge!
win the war in Iran (oops, Iraq)
mission accomplished! W W W
WMD are here somewhere

and don't forget
I'm a POW
I'm a POW
P O W
I was injured and tortured and sand was drawn in toes sticks (oops! scratch that)
a box for a gallon of gas (oops a buck for a gallon...how many? whatever this isn't about gas, it's about ME! being a...POW!)

POW
POW!!!
P O W! WWW (distance myself from w...and wmd and gas and oil and green energy and lies and baptisms and ... oh shit!)

POW.
and repeat.

sing it, my friends!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

11. Oh dear Bush beat him to it "Mission Accomplished"

where has McCain been?

[Baby Snooks]

12. Win?

How can you win a war that isn't a war? Who did we declare war on? The Iraqi people? Did we declare war on the Sunnis, the Shi'ites, or the Kurds? This is not a war. It is, as King Abdullah put it, an illegal occupation of a sovereign state. It is not a war.

If is is a war, it is merely a war for oil and one which McCain will obviously expand into other countries including Georgia.

Ours is a shameful nation. Made moreso by a presidential candidate who talks of continuing a war that isn't a war.

The only thing that is more of a threat than the Bush administration is the possibility of a McCain administration because it will fan the flames of war being stirred by the Bush administration with regard to Iran and Syria and now Georgia. If we indeed do find ourselves at war, a real war, it is one we cannot win because it will quickly become a nuclear war which for some reason it seems McCain has no problem with.

Democrats simply must turn out in mass numbers in November to defeat McCain. The reality is Congress cannot declare war on its own. Only the president can. And John McCain has made it clear he will believing "might makes right" with total disregard for the might of Russia. A world at war at this point is a war that no one will win. And few will actually survive.

[paparush]

16. That sounds sickeningly familiar.

Gimme a D!
Gimme an R!
Gimme an A!
Gimme an F!
Gimme a T!

[Juan_de_la_Dem]

17. Hey John, can you win the economy also while your at it?

[truthisfreedom]

18. With Barack as President, John, you're welcome to go there and fight it out alone.

He'll gladly accept your sacrifice.

[melissinha]

19. your intentions won't make it happen

If something is impossible, try as you might, you can't make your intentions happen. It is, has been and will continue to be a failure. Any more money and manpower thrown down the tube will continue to be lost while he postures himself just as George Bush has done.

[verges]

20. Let's see...

We've determined there are NO WMD's.
Saddam Hussein and his Baathist party has been toppled.

We've already won. It's securing the peace that's been the problem. And I'm not at all sure we can actually help on that.

[truthisfreedom]

21. Stark difference between Obama and McCone... Obama: "I will win!" McCone: "I will win the war!"

It's an election, Mr. McCone. Choose your battles wisely.

[Hawkeye-X]

22. Then suit up and go to fucking Iraq.

Join your son, and personally suit up and win the damn war. Don't waste your time talking to us - do it!

[dixiegrrrrl]

23. It would be a mistake to underestimate McCain....

When McCain was first "victorious" as the nominee, I could not figure out why he, of all the candidates, was selected.
A little checking provided some partial answers.
He has been supporting regime toppling for a long time.
Check out this story in the NY Times:

"As Senator John McCain waited to speak at the annual awards dinner of the International Republican Institute, a democracy-building group *he has led* for 15 years, lobbyists and business executives dominated the stage at a Washington hotel ballroom."

Source: http://tinyurl.com/67ghjl

The International Republican Institute is a non-profit and GOVERNMENT FUNDED agency
reported to be actively involved in the attempted coup of Haiti's Jean Bertrand-Aristide.
It calls itself "democracy building" in the same sense that Bush brought "democracy" to Iraq.
Source Watch has more information for anyone who is interested.

[Virginia Dare]

24. McDickwad holds the secret to winning wars..

we just have to elect him so he can show us how...