McCain: Deploy More Troops to Iraq

Visiting Baghdad, Senator Says Up To 30,000 U.S. Troops Needed To Stabilize Iraq

(AP)  Sen. John McCain said Thursday that America should deploy 15,000 to 30,000 more troops to Iraq to control its sectarian violence, and give moderate Iraqi politicians the stability they need to take the country in the right direction.

McCain made the remarks to reporters in Baghdad, where he and five other members of Congress were meeting with U.S. and Iraqi officials.

"The American people are disappointed and frustrated with the Iraq war, but they want us to succeed if there's any way to do that," McCain, a possible 2008 presidential candidate, said at a news conference at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.

The Arizona Republican said five to 10 more brigades of U.S. combat soldiers must be sent to Iraq. Brigades vary in size but generally include about 3,000 troops, meaning he was recommending 15,000 to 30,000 additional forces.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said the delegation had met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, and urged him to break his ties with anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and disarm his Mahdi Army militia.

Al-Sadr controls 30 of the 275 parliament seats and is a key figure in al-Maliki's coalition.

The U.S. military has about 140,000 troops in Iraq, and President Bush is considering a change of strategy in the country, including Baghdad, where stepped-up efforts to curtail sectarian violence failed this summer. The U.S. force includes about 15 combat brigades made up of 50,000-60,000 soldiers, the U.S. military said.

McCain has joined other legislators and military analysts in saying that Mr. Bush sent far too few troops to Iraq after the coalition toppled Saddam Hussein in March 2003, leading to widespread violence at the hands of Sunni Arab insurgent groups and Shiite militias.

But McCain said U.S. military commanders in Iraq had not asked the delegation for more U.S. troops, and one of the senators traveling with him didn't seem to accept his argument.

"Iraq is in crisis. The rising sectarian violence threatens the very existence of Iraq as a nation," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. The current U.S. strategy in Iraq has failed, but "I'm not yet convinced that additional troops will pave the way to a peaceful Iraq in a lasting sense," she said.

"My fear is that if we have more troops sent to Iraq that we will just see more injuries and deaths, that we might have a short-term impact, but without a long-term political settlement," Collins said.

Gunmen in military uniforms kidnapped dozens of people Thursday from a commercial area in central Baghdad, police said, and a car bomb killed two policemen who were trying to defuse it in Baghdad's Sadr City section, where officers were on high alert after receiving tips that militants were moving more bombs into the Shiite slum.

McCain said he realizes that only about 15 percent to 18 percent of Americans favor deploying more U.S. troops to Iraq, and that if such a move proved unsuccessful in the unpopular war it could hurt his presidential ambitions.

But the Vietnam War veteran also said that Americans must realize that if U.S. troops leave Iraq in a state of chaos, insurgent groups such as al Qaeda in Iraq "will follow us home."

Lieberman said the U.S. delegation left its meetings with al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani and other Iraqi officials believing "there is a force of moderates within the context of Iraqi politics coming together to strengthen the center here against the extremists."

"We need more, not less, U.S. troops here" to improve Iraq's security, he said.

Lieberman said the U.S. delegation was "quite explicit" about "how important it is that the Iraqis themselves begin to take aggressive action to disarm the militias, to stop the sectarian violence and to involve all the people in country to governance," including promised provincial elections.

Last month, Lieberman won re-election to the U.S. Senate as an independent after losing the Democratic primary in his state of Connecticut in part because he supports the Iraq war.

The delegation also included Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John Thune of South Dakota, and Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill.

They were scheduled to travel on Thursday to Iraq's southern port city of Basra and to Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, a dangerous area where many insurgent groups are fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces.

[bluestardad]

Exactly what threat is a sunni and sheite civil war to America? How does that endanger the United States Constitution our military is sworn to defend? McCain is an Idiot!

[mjv2944]

McCain has served our nation well over the years but I believe that he is wrong here and two wrongs do not make a right. Trying to stop this sectarian murder and mayhem is like pi-s-s-ing into the wind. Why should we send more of our young men and women into harms way for a nation that does not want or even understand democracy. I just don't think it is worth another drop of American blood. Back out and let the Saudis and Iranians try and settle it. It will get a whole lot uglier.

[chadb19]

What in the hell is this guy thinking!! Im not a big time senator or military expert but more troops would mean more american deaths, more targets, more anger from muslim radicals and just a circus of more and more violence. Yes my friends...Mc Cain is a %@#$ IDIOT!!

[Syndicate]

I agree with Mccain I'm fustrated. I can think of a lot of ways to bring the violance to and end and get our troops out. So what the hell is the military and the leadership doing? This is not as hard as everybody makes it. Perhaps A sniper on every roof would be a good thing. So if one starts kidnapping a group of people boom then there dead. Perhaps a camera on every corner would work think 1984. Given facial recognition software. Character recognition software we should be able to build a system to monitor the movments of every Iraqi and vehicle in real time. Perhaps the incompatance of our leaders is what truly keeps america free.

[rsoxfan1123]

he'll beat the war drum all the way to the presidency if we don't watch out.

[tomar0317]

Obviously McCain wasn't paying attention to the electorate last month. No more troops are needed, and it's about time our elected officials listen to their constituents! Enough studies, enough input, enough of the politicing. Decision time is here.

[samthetvcat]

I hope Senator McCain wins the Republican nod . . . that way Hilary or Barack might actually have a chance at president.

[olebd]

When are Iraqis ever going to be ready to run their own country? We've heard for years they are being trained but there always seems to be an extention.

Cut and run may just be the best alternative....it doesn't matter what the US does...they are going to kill each other regardless if it's sunni against *****, Iranian against Iraqi, whatever.

Shut your yap McCain!

I beleive we cannot out last these people in Iraq.Redeploy,protect our borders and come up with some good ideas on how to undo this dim- wited policy now in place.We will not prevail in the long run by sending over a bunch more 19 year olds walking down the street unable to speak the language, unable to read the street signs, no matter how brave they are. It was a mistake from the begining.Cut and Run.Live another day and kick their butts then.

[vancouverboo]

This man's "war career" consists of:
1. Dropping napalm bombs on civilians while fighting dogfights with the north vietnamese air force, and
2. Spending time in a POW camp which the international red cross said was humane during which time he admits his mental instability had him contemplating suicide.

Enough said?

[blue922]

McCain concerns me greatly. He does not look healthy. His positions frequently change to match what people want to hear. He may even be a deep plant/agent from his time in captivity in N.Vietnam. This is someone potentially as dangerous or more dangerous then Bush/Cheney in the whitehouse.

[agnim]

Let's send mad man McCain to Iraq. LOL

The Vietnamese allowed him to live; but he still has no appreciation for human life. What a wasted lesson. Tsk-tsk

[heetseeker]

"Grasping at straws"

Well... one has to credit Sen McCain for at least having the courage to offer an alternative way forward in Iraq... unfortunately, his proposal to increase troop numbers seems like a desperate last throw of the dice... Effectively he is suggesting that we should seek to achieve through force what we and others have failed to achieved through mediation, compromise and negotiation...

In Iraq, we have achieved a unique "double"... combining smart bombs with dumb thinking... the Iraq war is not a conflict that can be won militarily.... after 4 years in this swamp, we ought to have realised that?

More US troops will only increase the sense of occupation in Iraq, harden the armed oppposition to us and attract greater numbers of terrorists and killers... Iraq will effectively become target practice ... us on them and them on us...

There are many hard decisions to be made in Iraq... some are military for sure... but most are political... listen to the commanders on the ground.... they are not asking for more troops.... perhaps they themselves have realised that the war in Iraq will not be won in the battlefield...

If well meaning McCain gets his way the profligacy and arrogance of current Iraq policy will be replaced by one of rank stupidity...

[xfredmenzies]

Yes, let us send more troops and train more Iraqi security forces. AFTER ALL IT WORKED SO WELL IN VIETNAM!

[kaowinston]

More troops in Iraq. McCain must be crazy. That would do no good; and let us face facts, the armed forces are already overstretched. It is time to be realistic, and admit we have had four years of failure, and this is the moment to allow the Iraqis to decide what will happen in their own country .... Time to start pulling all foreign troops put.

[agnim]

Posted by heetseeker at 01:30 PM : Dec 14, 2006

Heetseeker, I think your missile is right on target to hit McCain's overly fat chin. LOL

[grazinggoat]

No better than Walking-Liar at all. What needs to be done is a complete pull-out. The natural populations equilibrium will be established, naturally. Populations equilibrium is to be reached naturally. In all human population dynamics, it's been seen so often, minorities are a little bit favored over the majority. Naturally, minorities individuals perform always better and harder than their counter-parts from majority.
Not to be sarcastic, but the initial state was not best, but not bad neither. Sunni minorities had the high hand over the shiite majority. Garanteed a security in the Iraqi constitution. It may not be the best solution, but every population has its particular needs and Democracy (the way we see it in USA) may not necessarily be applicable elsewhere.

The ultimate goal of the invasion of Iraq under walking-liar administration was not the well being of the Shiite Iraqis. (don't think Walking-Liar is too keen on fighting for those guys to get them democracy...)

No need for our troops to pay the price for setting the traffic and simple security of Iraqis.

[randalds]

McCain was and still is a hero for his service, but this time he has gone around the bend. More troops is only like pouring more salt into the raw wound that we sliced open in the country. It's also pouring salt into the wound this incredibly stupid and wasteful war has opened up in our own country. It seems Bush and McCain won't be happy until there are riots in the streets here as well ala 1965-1973. The worst part is that even he probably doesn't believe this is an answer, but is doing it only to play to the extreme right wing base. He has finally become a total sell-out to that sick and discredited side.

[blondmadison]

Posted by heetseeker at 01:30 PM : Dec 14, 2006

Heet--good blog. You are no dummy.

I find it odd and irritating that someone like Heetseeker can put into simple understandable context what politicians openly and professionally rangle with.

What happens to politicians to create them to be so completely and maddeningly ignorant? Ignorant to a dangerous degree for our people and our country.

[heetseeker]

The saddest thing of all is that when people are desperate they do desperate things... here the cost of desperation is the blood of heroes...

When is enough enough? 3,000 US dead? 10,000? 50,000?... we have created a language around war that makes it impossible to clearly appreciate the consequences of our actions... civillian casulaties are described as "collateral damage" ... we even use Hollywood style promos such as "Shock & Awe" to describe the brutality of war... in the 21st century "precision strikes" & "smart weapons" create the impression that war is clean-cut.... we even sanitise the reporting of it and shield our eyes from the dismembered corpses and burning bodies...

No wonder it has taken the American public so long to wake up to the madness of this enterprise... Iraq is a pile of rubble....

At a point in time... maybe not today, mabye not tomorrow...but sometime soon.. we will need to decide whether it is worth one more American life....

[ranger75th81]

I am sure glad you snivelling worms weren't around circa 1941, we would ALL be running around saying "heil hitler" ,unless, of course, you are Jewish......

[cavalrysct19]

OK. I am a soldier and I cannot wait to go to Iraq. I for one want to do my part instead of whining like a child behind a rock. I'm so sick of liberal BS, Were there because we want to be no one has to hold a gun to my head or order me to go I am more than happy too and my Friends, "Both Marines" are going for there second terms. We are all field combatants and we all agree that our job is in Iraq. Its what we want to do. So all these news reports and liberal LIARS! can stop posting stories about how 3 soldiers in 300,000 committed war crimes. or how 2 guys from minnesota have mentall issues since returning from war. THEY DID NOT BELONG ON A BATTLEFIELD! if you cant handle it then dont join to start. Bottom line is we are not there because we have to be we are there because we choose to be and we are doing good. so take your liberal BS home.

[randalds]

The members of the greatest generation in the 1930's and '40's fought a genuine war of freedom against a worldwide evil. It was a noble and honorable fight. The war in Iraq has no resemblance to that war at all beyond the fact that people are dying. The war in Iraq is a filthy little war of conquest. An armed robbery in which our troops have been cynically used as nothing more then a gun or club to try to mug Iraq with. It's based on lies and deception from the highest level of our government and it's sole purpose was to steal oil and because Bush wanted to show his daddy that he's not really the family screw up. That he can be as good of a son as his brother Jeb in daddy's eyes. Of course his true character (or rather lack of) has shown through. He really is a complete ****k up who is in way over his head. There is nothing noble or honorable about it.

[randalds]

Keep your head down cavalrysct It'd be a shame if you got killed in vain like everyone else who has died in this war.

[ranger75th81]

Well Randal, I am sure the FAMILIES of the Kurdish people who were gassed to death by the *** SADDAM would concur with you immediatly.... Thank you cav scout for laying it out, I could not have said it better myself.

[randalds]

Well Randal, I am sure the FAMILIES of the Kurdish people who were gassed to death by the *** SADDAM would concur with you immediatly.... Thank you cav scout for laying it out, I could not have said it better myself.

Posted by RANGER75TH81 at 03:02 PM : Dec 14, 2006

I'm sure they're just as thrilled to know that the US (under Reagen and with the help of Donal Rumsfeld) sold Saddam the ingredients in the gas. Saddam was only supposed to use it on the Iranians, but hey thems the breaks, right? Sometimes your puppet doesn't always do what you want it to do.

[bluestardad]

What a Dweeb. He is looking for the Bush Vote. Get out of Iraq or someone could stick a bayonet in your other foot.

[heetseeker]

RANGER75TH81

I respect your right to your opinion and can I just state that I will not descend to targeting you with personal insults...

I think you forget that in 1941 we went to war against an enemy that attacked us first... you may also realise that in 1941 civilised nations were essentially in a war of survival against Nazism... in summary 1941 was a war of necessity ...not choice

In contrast Iraq did not attack US... Iraq posed no threat to the US... the case for war against Iraq was confected for reasons of neo-colonialism and strategic dominance... you may or may not recall that North Korea was the greatest geo-political threat we faced before and after 9/11... and as for freedom and democracy... what about the long-suffering Burmese, North Koreans or Saudi's?

If Iraq has become a "problem" for us it is one we ourselves have created... we broke it remember? Iraq was not a haven for terrorists before we got there... we created it remember? Now in order to prop up its failed policy and save its reputation... the administration continues to talk up a threat....

Lies got us into Iraq and lies will keep us there....

[ranger75th81]

I am sure that the attitude of the american people would change greatly if they were not so shelterd...let the secret police come crashing through their doors in the wee hours of the morning, raping their women and assasinating their men....

[randalds]

I am sure that the attitude of the american people would change greatly if they were not so shelterd...let the secret police come crashing through their doors in the wee hours of the morning, raping their women and assasinating their men....

Posted by RANGER75TH81 at 03:11 PM : Dec 14, 2006

Seems to me that there are some of our troops on trial for doing that exact same thing. 99.9% of our troops are honorable and doing their best in an unwinnable war, but this just shows you can't tar everyone with the same brush. The vast majority of Iraqi's just want to live peaceful lives, but we bombed them and gave them a civil war. I'm sure they're going to just love us for that.

[ranger75th81]

Actually, the "majority" of Iraquis are VERY happy to be rid of Saddam.. It is the minority, who lost their power with his ouster, and alien fighters, who are causing the problems...

[agnim]

"I am sure glad you snivelling worms weren't around circa 1941,

Posted by RANGER75TH81 at 02:46 PM : Dec 14, 2006"

Your problem seems to be living in the past with bogeymen when the world has MOVED ON! LOL

[heetseeker]

RANGER75TH81

Of course most Iraqi's are glad to be rid of Saddam and so they should.... but as one poor Iraqi put it... "we have liberated Iraq from a prison and taken it into a jungle"....

[cavalrysct19]

Well, RandleDS People who hide under rocks theyre whole lives too affraid to take a risk on someone elses behalf should keep theyre heads down and let proffesionals do the work...So you stay right under that rock and ill save you again.

[ranger75th81]

By the way, It is my opinion, the dishonerable ************* who are guilty of the war crimes should be turned over to the Iraqi people to be dealt with accordingly.

[agnim]

"It is the minority, who lost their power with his ouster, and alien fighters, who are causing the problems...

Posted by RANGER75TH81 at 03:22 PM : Dec 14, 2006"

The shiite were in power?
The marauding Madhi army was in power before?

You are obviously self-deceived; because the Iraqi MAJORITY shiite are doing a lot of damage in the country.

If Iran is supposed to be sending in arms as alleged, to whom do you think that the shiites in Iran are sending weapons in Iraq? TO IRAQI SHIITE MAJORITY!

[heetseeker]

Agnim

Excellent post!

[tibu987]

Military will always determine that the solution is more troops and equipment. It propagates their positions. This position is the same as the one in business today. The more people you step on to make your own position stronger does not matter.
That more young Amnericans and Iraqi's die is of no concern to them, the means justify the ends.
Or do they?

[randalds]

Well, RandleDS People who hide under rocks theyre whole lives too affraid to take a risk on someone elses behalf should keep theyre heads down and let proffesionals do the work...So you stay right under that rock and ill save you again.

Posted by CavalrySct19 at 03:28 PM : Dec 14, 2006

*** I remember being this young and cocky! A long long time ago. At 19 I could kick the VC's *** without raising a sweat and everyone was supposed to cower in front of me and my American spirit! Well, I suppose they have to put that into your head to make you a good combat soldier. As I said, keep your head down, you'll want to use it someday when you realize you've been used by this government, just like we we're in Vietnam.

[randalds]

By the way, It is my opinion, the dishonerable ************* who are guilty of the war crimes should be turned over to the Iraqi people to be dealt with accordingly.

Posted by RANGER75TH81 at 03:28 PM : Dec 14, 2006

Couldn't agree more. I would also add the name of the worst war criminal of this war, George W. Bush. make him president of Iraq and let him put his own gutless as*s on the line.

[valendug]

When's that old fogey, McCain, going to shut up? He thinks he's still fighting the Viet Nam conflict. We don't need any more stale, old ideas. duhhhh...bya has already tried those and failed.

[heetseeker]

McCain's propositions suggest that we have totally run out of ideas.... it is a classic scattergun approach... "lets try anything and hope something works".... unfortunately what the administration fails to understand is that we are no longer masters of our own destiny in Iraq...

We are under the misapprehension that the massive and overwhelming deployment of force is the answer...

If it was the insurgency would have been put down long ago, US troops would have stood down and we would now be making the case for war in Syria or Iran.... painful though it may be.... we have met our match in Iraq... our smart weapons are little use against a "dumb" but enterprising enemy...

The only leverage we have left is over the Iraqi Government and even that appears to be tenuous at best...

[rsoxfan1123]

notice this story right below the "breaking point one"...

[clestes-2009]

And McCain wants to run for president! God save us from that fate! Retire, old man.

More troops are NOT going to solve the problem. Hasn't it been said over and over, "the answer is not going to be military. It must be political." What good are 30,000 more troops going to do? They will make good targets! All that will happen is that more US soldiers will be dead, the civil war will continue on unabated and so will the insurgency. Iraquis are prepared to fight to the death until the next giant asteroid hits the earth and the apocolypst comes.

They will far outlast any US troops there. It is their homeland, their lives, their religious beliefs they are fighting for. That is pretty good motivation.

What are US troops fight for?? They are suppose to be defending the US. OOPs, forgot, Iraq never attacked us. Next reason we are there, spread democracy. Now how is that for motivation??

On this side we have an insurgent, prepared to give his life and take the life of many infidels, to defend his home.

On the other side we have a US Marine. Not defending his homeland, nope not that. What is the mission, you ask? He is trying to spread democracy and to people who do not want it. Soldier, I have a question for you. Are you prepared to give your life here today to spread democracy to an unwilling population. If the answer is yes, you need a mental checkup. If the answer if no, good f***ing luck! You might just end up giving your life or limbs in persuit of that goal anyway.

[clestes-2009]

News flash McCain. According to recent polls, the US population want us to get out of Iraq. I don't think winning at the cost of another thousand US soldiers dead is acceptable. We won't even think about the addition dead Iraqis or the additional carnage.

[randalds]

Does McCain have any brains left?

Posted by nikosk1 at 05:11 PM : Dec 14, 2006

I honestly think he's gone senile.

[randalds]

You know if he's elected in 08 he'll be 72, the oldest man ever to be elected president, even older then Reagen (69). One has to begin to wonder if maybe all of the wheels are still turning inside the mans skull or if he's stripped a few gears.

[nynative1340]

Ranger and Calvary: I applaud your courage and your convictions to support your Commander in Chief. However, you should know that WE are not the enemy, nor are we cowards hiding under rocks (That's an immature statement!) just because we don't agree with an illegal war started with lies.

Many of us are seasoned military veterans (28 years here) who have experienced the ravages of war and also served in that 'other' war that was started with a lie. Many were there at the end when we had no choice but to 'cut and run.' In fact, many were plucked off the Embassy roof as the NVA was moving in for the kill.

We also remember how frustrating that war was because the ineffective leadership didn't understand the culture or the determination of the enemy.

Nothing has changed except the technology of the weapons used. But even the most advanced weapons are ineffective against terrorists, just as they were against the guerrillas in Vietnam. But our leaders don't understand that.

Go fight your war and I'll be very proud of you for following orders without question. That's what you are supposed to do. Just remember, in this country we have the right to dissent.

On the other hand, I am not so proud of what Bush & Co., including McCain, have done to my country.

[sim828524s]

Like everything else, this too shell pass

[feelfree1]

McCain's torture experiences in Viet Nam have undoubtedly left him with severe brain damage.