From The Road
July 25, 2008 2:31 PM

McCain: Obama "Choosing Failure" In Iraq War

(CBS)
From CBS News' John Bentley

(DENVER) – In some of his harshest words yet about Barack Obama, John McCain railed against his Democratic opponent today, accusing him of trying to cut off funding for the troops and “choosing failure” in the Iraq war.

“Fortunately, Sen. Obama failed, not our military. We rejected the audacity of hopelessness, and we were right. Violence in Iraq fell to such low levels for such a long time that Senator Obama, detecting the success he never believed possible, falsely claimed that he had always predicted it,” McCain said.

“Sen. Obama said this week that even knowing what he knows today that he still would have opposed the surge. In retrospect, given the opportunity to choose between failure and success, he chooses failure. I cannot conceive of a Commander in Chief making that choice.”

The Obama campaign said McCain’s “false accusations” would not add to the debate over the Iraq war.

“Barack Obama and John McCain may differ over our strategy in Iraq, but they are united in their support for our brave troops and their desire to protect this nation,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. “Sen. McCain's constant suggestion otherwise is not worthy of the campaign he claimed he would run or the magnitude of the challenges this nation faces.”

McCain made the comments at the American GI Forum National Convention, which is a Mexican-American veterans and civil rights organization. Veterans care has been an issue that has come up numerous times at recent town halls McCain has held, and he reaffirmed his commitment to getting soldiers appropriate treatment.

“In addition to strengthening the VA, we should give veterans the option to use a simple plastic card to receive timely and accessible care at a convenient location through a provider of their choosing,” McCain said.

“I will not stand for requiring veterans to make an appointment to stand in line to make an appointment to stand in line for substandard care of the injuries you have suffered to keep our country safe. Whatever our commitments to veterans cost, we will keep them, as you have kept every commitment to us.”
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by mattcat25 July 25, 2008 3:06 PM PDT
There were no Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. Saddam Hussein didn%u2019t have Nuclear or active Chemical Weapons and viable delivery systems. Hussein didn%u2019t even have one aircraft after the first Gulf War.

The McCain/Bush plan has been:

Create a false need to invade Iraq.

Don%u2019t send enough Troops to secure the entire population.

Don%u2019t provide the necessary protective equipment.

Disband the Iraqis Military forcing them into armed rebellion.

Don%u2019t use Iraqis to rebuild their own country and use foreign contractors instead of
employing the Iraqi Citizens leaving them unemployed with nothing but time to fight the occupation.

Mismanage $Billions in Federal Treasury Funds, and deliver funding and weapons to the insurgency to fight against our troops.

Drop the number, or over extend the US forces ability to maintain troop levels.
Then, implement an increase or %u201CTHE SURGE%u201D of Troop levels 5 years after the original occupation began.

Call for a successful VICTORY when told to leave by Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki.

Thus, it has been create a problem, broaden the problem, implement a fix and then call it a success?

And, the American People are strapped with a devalued $dollar, higher Energy Prices, and $1Trillion Dollars in debt.

This is Victory?
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by rltw175b July 25, 2008 4:17 PM PDT
McWarmonger makes me sick!!
Reply to this comment
by ariel133 July 25, 2008 4:36 PM PDT
Of course, sometimes in life you need to fight a battle or two to win a war. Don''t tell me none of you have never done this? Doesn''t America mean something to you? Those who think Terrorists are not as dangerous as they sound, better wake the *F* up.
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by ragnar30066 July 25, 2008 4:58 PM PDT
John Kennedy wanted us to make the world safe from communism, and we whipped the Viet Cong.

Lyndon Johnson wanted to protect the villages of Vietnam from retribution from North Vietnam, and we whipped the North Vietnamese.

Ted Kennedy wanted to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and blame that defeat on Richard Nixon for political purposes. He did, and a generation of American servicemen were whipped by self-serving politicians and the media elite.

America went into a tailspin that bottomed out with Jimmy Carter. Fortunately, Ronald Reagon made us great again.

And now the leftists want to engineer another defeat so that they can regain power. They are lower than cockroaches.
Reply to this comment
by prelshea July 25, 2008 5:37 PM PDT
McCain is running scared and he knows that Obama is the right man for this job. All he talks about is Iraq...Hello, we won the war in Iraq. W
Reply to this comment
by prelshea July 25, 2008 5:38 PM PDT
McCain is running scared and he knows that Obama is the right man for this job. All he talks about is Iraq...Hello, we won the war in Iraq. We have to saved Afghanstian...
Reply to this comment
by prelshea July 25, 2008 5:39 PM PDT
McCain is running scared and he knows that Obama is the right man for this job. All he talks about is Iraq...Hello, we won the war in Iraq. We have to saved Afghanstian...
Reply to this comment
by dnsallday July 25, 2008 5:51 PM PDT
I never thought I would see John McCain lie through his teeth, every chance he gets.
He does the men and women in uniform a huge disser
vice by using them to score a cheap political shot.

John McCain you are dishonoring the troops, you are dishonoring our country, you are dishonoring every single American with you petty, insecure jealousy.
Reply to this comment
by ixoye_02 July 25, 2008 8:23 PM PDT
George Bush is the reason for failure in Iraq. The invasion went as planned. The post-invasion "non-plan" was a disaster!!! Bush sent our troops ill-equipped to secure Iraq. And there was no exit-strategy. So the failure is on Bush and the republicans that supported his policies and execution of the war after invasion. And now McCain thinks that pouring billions of dollars more would amount to a winnable situation in Iraq. Maybe McCain''s wife should fund the war if McCain feels so strongly about winning. Whatever happened to the Iraqi government and people taking over their own security and government? Who is pressuring the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own country?
Reply to this comment
by chuckamok July 25, 2008 8:31 PM PDT
Obama is talking about getting our troops out by this time 2010. Isn''t that two years from now?

Whatever happened to the Dem machine that won last fall on the promise to get our troops out NOW? Or, THEN? (time has passed)

I guess the Dem position has surged.

;)
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by ixoye_02 July 25, 2008 8:42 PM PDT
Chuckamok, until the Commander-in-chief, George Bush, decides to pull troops out of Iraq is when the troops will come home. Congress can only withold the money for the war. And then what do you say to those families with sons and daughters serving in Iraq when there is no money for supplies? Anyway GW Bush would veto any bill that witholds money on the Iraq war. And the congressional republicans are unwilling to help the Democrats override Bush''s veto. I blame the republicans in Congress for the stalemate in Iraq. And is why I am not voting for any republican in the general election.
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by chuckamok July 25, 2008 8:59 PM PDT
Both parties have managed to lower themselves to "beneath contempt."

Bush has been a disaster. McCain and Obama both come from Congress, where decision making can be fobbed off onto groupthink, and no member is REALLY responsible for anything, except getting reelected by the sheeple.

I''m underwhelmed by the choices (Romney was the best choice out of a suspect lot.)

But I''m following the Iraq situation because of its interesting dynamic.

After one face plant after another, our military has finally got a grip on the situation. The surge IS working, and Iraqis HAVE turned on al qaeda and the deadenders.

And ironically, a timetable for withdrawal will focus the minds of the Iraqis wonderfully (as deadlines always do.)

This irony is farcically evident in that Obama''s "threat" of withdrawal now looks, ah, logical, given that the war IS being one, and I have no doubt the situation have improved further by November.

Obama is lucky in this regard. And he''s helped along by McCain''s failure to elicit anything but yawns from the populace.

The election will come down to, when folks are actually facing the ballot in the booth - is Obama too green, or too black, to get their votes?
Reply to this comment
by chuckamok July 25, 2008 9:00 PM PDT
Both parties have managed to lower themselves to "beneath contempt."

Bush has been a disaster. McCain and Obama both come from Congress, where decision making can be fobbed off onto groupthink, and no member is REALLY responsible for anything, except getting reelected by the sheeple.

I''m underwhelmed by the choices (Romney was the best choice out of a suspect lot.)

But I''m following the Iraq situation because of its interesting dynamic.

After one face plant after another, our military has finally got a grip on the situation. The surge IS working, and Iraqis HAVE turned on al qaeda and the deadenders.

And ironically, a timetable for withdrawal will focus the minds of the Iraqis wonderfully (as deadlines always do.)

This irony is farcically evident in that Obama''s "threat" of withdrawal now looks, ah, logical, given that the war IS being one, and I have no doubt the situation have improved further by November.

Obama is lucky in this regard. And he''s helped along by McCain''s failure to elicit anything but yawns from the populace.

The election will come down to, when folks are actually facing the ballot in the booth - is Obama too green, or too black, to get their votes?
Reply to this comment
by chuckamok July 25, 2008 9:01 PM PDT
Mea culpa, for the double post.
Reply to this comment
by realpatriot1 July 25, 2008 9:09 PM PDT
Chuckamok,

The democratic position was and still is to begin withdrawal now.

Democrats are smart enough to know that the actual withdrawal can''t be implemented overnight. If the withdrawal had begun when Democrats wnated it to we would already be out and the Iraqis would''ve been forced into the political compromises they are now making precisely because they know we''re going to be leaving and they have to step up to the plate. They have no other choice now.
Reply to this comment
by realpatriot1 July 25, 2008 9:09 PM PDT
Chuckamok,

The democratic position was and still is to begin withdrawal now.

Democrats are smart enough to know that the actual withdrawal can''t be implemented overnight. If the withdrawal had begun when Democrats wnated it to we would already be out and the Iraqis would''ve been forced into the political compromises they are now making precisely because they know we''re going to be leaving and they have to step up to the plate. They have no other choice now.
Reply to this comment
by realpatriot1 July 25, 2008 9:09 PM PDT
Chuckamok,

The democratic position was and still is to begin withdrawal now.

Democrats are smart enough to know that the actual withdrawal can''t be implemented overnight. If the withdrawal had begun when Democrats wnated it to we would already be out and the Iraqis would''ve been forced into the political compromises they are now making precisely because they know we''re going to be leaving and they have to step up to the plate. They have no other choice now.
Reply to this comment
by realpatriot1 July 25, 2008 9:09 PM PDT
Chuckamok,

The democratic position was and still is to begin withdrawal now.

Democrats are smart enough to know that the actual withdrawal can''t be implemented overnight. If the withdrawal had begun when Democrats wnated it to we would already be out and the Iraqis would''ve been forced into the political compromises they are now making precisely because they know we''re going to be leaving and they have to step up to the plate. They have no other choice now.
Reply to this comment
by realpatriot1 July 25, 2008 9:10 PM PDT
Chuckamok,

The democratic position was and still is to begin withdrawal now.

Democrats are smart enough to know that the actual withdrawal can''t be implemented overnight. If the withdrawal had begun when Democrats wnated it to we would already be out and the Iraqis would''ve been forced into the political compromises they are now making precisely because they know we''re going to be leaving and they have to step up to the plate. They have no other choice now.
Reply to this comment
by chuckamok July 25, 2008 9:23 PM PDT
"f the withdrawal had begun when Democrats wnated it to we would already be out and the Iraqis would''''ve been forced ..."

But al qaeda and the deadenders would still have been entrenched (as well as the Sardists)and the whole place would have imploded. Without the benefit of the surge.

Slimy *** Morris is on now, and he sez that the election will come down to what''s happening in the world on election day (will Israel have bombed Iran by then, etc.).

I think he''s right. All the posturing now will have faded, and the American voter (not know for elephantine memories?) will grab onto the "safe" vote (McCain, sorry to say) if it looks like every thing''s going down the crapper, or Obama, if, through absolutely no effort on his part, things are going swimmingly in the Mid East.

In other words, if the Bush admin is successful in righting the Mid East morass by November, Obama will win.

I love irony.

;)
Reply to this comment
by chuckamok July 25, 2008 9:33 PM PDT
Stop the presses - John Edwards has a MISTRESS (Rielle Hunter - Rielle?) and a - gulp - LOVE CHILD !!

Obama''s short list just got shorter.

Oh ... the humanity.
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