Reporter's Notebook: Not McCain's Iraq

Allen Pizzey's Perspective On Iraq Differs Sharply From That Of A Recent Congressional Delegation

(CBS)  In view of the death toll it's a terrible thing to say, but for this reporter, the most depressing sight in a five week rotation in Baghdad was paper swirling in a roiling black cloud.

The bomb tore apart the old book market — where in the 1990s we used to go for tea — and along with it a sense of Iraq's culture and glorious past.

Another telling perspective was from inside an armored Humvee. No Iraqi smiles or waves at military convoys any more — a view lost on the latest VIP to see Iraq in domestic political terms.

"The American people are not getting the full picture of what's happening here,” Sen. John McCain said on his recent trip to Baghdad. “They're not getting the full picture of the drop in murders, the establishment of security outposts throughout the city and other signs of progress having been made."

After a staged walkabout that required massive security, Sen. McCain did the time-honored politician's back-track, and said he "misspoke" about how well things were going.

In fact, some things are improving. Being able to walk around in the normally perilous suburb of Sadr City was a pleasant and unexpected surprise. But it was also deceptive.

A car bomb there last week killed ten people and wounded dozens.

It came in spite of the centerpiece of "the surge”: American troops and Iraqi forces together in the new Joint Security stations. The reinforced police posts reduce the soldier's exposure to IEDs, roadside bombs have caused 70 percent of U.S. casualties and make riding with the troops a nerve-wracking experience.

And that's just part of their grueling workload. A day spent with MPs patiently training Iraqis to take over security themselves made us wonder how the MPs find the will to get up every day and keep trying.

One soldier was assigned to be with us all the time, not to control our movements but to protect us.

It's hard to see progress when according to the Associated Press "an average of four U.S. soldiers died or were killed in each of the first five days of this month."

[tomchat-2009]

Remeber the looting of the Baghdad Museum four years ago? It's simple, our fearless leaders do not care about the people of Iraq. Nor do the care about their history nor their future. This war has always bowed at the hem of a different agenda.

[gwalsh3rd]

"IF We Do Nothing" nothing will happen? The Iraqis will solve their own problems themselves.Al-Queda will disband and go away.No more fear for Americans abroad or right here.The supply of Oil and Gas will just keep on coming.No crazy dictator will rape and pilage his own people.The Middle East will be the next great place to live besides the U.S. Yea thats it! Lets not get involved and quit being the Worlds Police. I'm sure thats the answer, what was Bush and Cheney thinking when they ousted Sadam and his Sons. Lets just hope that things will just work out for the best and by not sending Troops over there the anti-american groups will have more respect for us and leave us alone.........If We Do Nothing

[randalds]

"Everyone desires"

Make that decries. Got to proof these better. Sorry.

[randalds]

The U.S. is trying to secure Iraq and leave Iraq so that Iraq will not operate under an occupier status. But in Iraq's current state of affairs if the U.S. leaves now, another occupier namely Iran will step in and create the same situation. The solution is to create an Iraq where no occupier is there and let Iraqis work things out on their own. But as everyone can see it's not easy to do!
Posted by tbweb at 12:27 PM : Apr 08, 2007

Funny considering one of the goals of this war by the neoconservatives was to have Iraq in a permanent state of occupation, by us. Everyone desires Bush's supposed lack of planning because he went into this debacle without an exit strategy, when in fact he didn't have one because leaving was never going to be an option. Why have an exit plan when you don't plan on leaving? The hope (stupidly of course) was to use American bases in Iraq (which we are going ahead with building at a huge cost) to launch war against Iran and Syria. The neoconservative wet dream was to create (by war of course) an "arc of democracy" (as Douglas Feith called it) across the Middle-East from Afghanistan to the Mediterranean running through Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. I guess these morons never figured that the people who actually live there might not like the idea of becoming new American colonies. Sh*it they thought it was going to be a walk in the park!

[j-whitman]

tbweb -- How's the song go ?? "To dream the impossible dream",,,
,, Now the Pentagon says results from the surge will take years & not months.

[tbweb]

--toldyouso21

The U.S. is trying to secure Iraq and leave Iraq so that Iraq will not operate under an occupier status. But in Iraq's current state of affairs if the U.S. leaves now, another occupier namely Iran will step in and create the same situation. The solution is to create an Iraq where no occupier is there and let Iraqis work things out on their own. But as everyone can see it's not easy to do!

[micubano1]

It is this simple. GW Bush, a person I vote for, lied and mislead this country. It is easy for guys like Bush, Cheney, Rice and the rest of the crew to lie to this country about going to war, it is not their sons or daughters who are sent to fight. In fact, I am pretty sure that their sons or daughters are on some holiday right now perhaps spending their dads money on some beach in Miami driving around a hummer trying to impress other folks. This war IS A SHAM. I went to Iraq believing that what we where doing was getting rid of a person with weapons of mass destruction, I wonder when another country will invade us and do the same. We have a nut in the white house, and we have weapons of mass destruction, what is the world waiting for????? This is the same pretext used by the Bush administration to wage war, so where the hell are the French, the Brits and the World Community. My boys suffer from Autsim yet there is no money for them to help with their treatment, but congress and the president want to spend 81 billion. Great job. I mad at myself for voting for the idiot I want to be clear that that means all the idiots I ever voted for, Bush, Reagen, Clinton etc...None of them have what it takes to wake up in the monring and look in the mirror and say, I have earned the right to be who I am...they are all fakes and so are those who support them.

[toldyouso21]

"After the defeat of the French army in June 1940, the MPs massively (all but 80) voted full powers to Philippe Pitain. The French State was under total German control but attempted to maintain the fiction of an independent state, with a French administration, especially for police and justice."

make no mistake, ANY GOVERNMENT CREATED UNDER THE SHADOW OF AN OCCUPATION (NO MATTER WHO THE OCCUPIER IS) IS A SHAM GOVERNMENT. There can be no legitimate government under an occupation. Because such a government cannot follow the will of its own citizens but must do the will of the occupiers. Al Maliki and every Iraqi who supports this government are collaborators and as far a country patriotism is concerned; collaboration is tantamount to traitor and will always be a dirty word.

[kscislaw]

If a Sunni (i.e. our stringers) gets a hangnail...IT MUST BE REPORTED. We must silence any dissent to our worldview including John McCain. We must now tell the American people that McCain's campaign for the GOP nomination is now tanking rapidly because he supports the war....and repeat after me: "Republicans don't support the war" Ignore McCain. Ignore McCain. La La La La La La La La

[jn122736]

"CBS, NBC, CNN, PMSNBC and the Democrats have something bad to say about Iraq?

Shocking....... "
Posted by hillaryin08 at 12:26 AM : Apr 08, 2007
---------

That's doublespeak for; They just keep telling the truth and it hurts.

[skyk-2009]

CBS, NBC, CNN, PMSNBC and the Democrats have something bad to say about Iraq?

Shocking.......
Posted by hillaryin08 at 12:26 AM : Apr 08, 2007


Well help us out here Sparky! Give us some good news then. Don't bother with the LIE about being able to walk around Bagdad in the opne, McCain already took care of that lie.

[cbs_oliver]

It is a shame that a society that was a cradle of civilization, that preserved and furthered studies of ancient culture and wisdom, has been trampled and destroyed by people who have no appreciation for such things.

[iceman_1960]

Senator John McCain openly used the term "G/O/O/K"....

I wonder how many times the word N/I/G/G/E/R has passed his pale blue lips.

[iceman_1960]

"Senator John McCain openly used the term "***", a racial slur to describe Vietnamese, in odd reference to his captors during the Vietnam War. During the 2000 Presidential Campaign, he repeatedly refused to apologize for his continued use of the term, stating that he reserved its reference only to his captors. Late in the primary season, with growing criticism from the Asian American community in the politically important state of California, McCain demurred, and vowed no longer to use the term in public."

Wikipedia

[iceman_1960]

"McCain's character is human. He cheated on his wife and divorced her." Posted by bbbbbfan at 07:04 AM : Apr 08, 2007

A whole lot of humans never cheated on their spouses -- Barack Obama, for instance, never cheated on his wife.

Here is John McCain, the man who says you can walk through Baghdad without fear:

"McCain has acknowledged engaging in extramarital affairs upon returning from Vietnam. While he was in Vietnam, his wife Carol had been severely injured in a car accident. Due to the accident, she had become 4 inches shorter, gained weight, and had to use crutches to walk. He soon began engaging in extramarital affairs and in 1979, he met Cindy Hensley. A year later, McCain sought a divorce from Carol and a month after that, he married Cindy." - Wikipedia

[tuckerndfw]

John McCain's time and went years ago.

John McCain has as little public support (or less) as George Bush.

His campaign is an ego driven waste of money and time.

He will never be president of the US.

Maybe he should run for president of the local VFW. But, I doubt he could win that office.

McCain is only embarassing himself by continuing his campaign.

[candojj1]

McCain's character is human. He cheated on his wife and divorced her. His son is in the military; his Father and Grandfather were Admirals. He never made it to those ranks. So let's get it straight. He would be the oldest President, who had cancer, a low life cheater on his wife, that never lived up to the expectations of his elders and is pushing his son to do the same military thing. He flip-flops as a liberal-republican as he was asked to be Kerry's running mate, and a conservative as it suits him. He makes stupid statements about ***** and how ugly Chelsea Clinton is. Therefore he belongs in Arizona or on one of those carrier groups. He parades through Baghdad like an idiot almost proclaiming the war to be won as the surge is working - while all hell is breaking loose. He is a true lunatic. He reminds me of the Alan Aarkin character in Little Miss Sunshine.

[cbs_oliver]

My take is that the US seeks to impose leaders on Iraq primarily to further US goals regarding alliegence to the US and mideast politics in general. Establishing order and well being in Iraq appears to be secondary goals which are pursued only because they are seen as necessary to the primary goals. So, for example, the US will seek to kill Sadr and destroy his capabilities to establish order because he opposes the occupation. That will allow greater violence in Iraq because Sadr's organization is a stabalizing influence. The goal really is not order and the well being of the Iraqi people but the establishment of the US as the dominant influence in Iraqi politics. Everything else, even peace, is secondary. After all that is why the Republicans really led us to war in Iraq the first place.

[mizpah63]

ramos937

Your post is correct until the last sentence. Of course, his character can be questioned. What he was during Viet Nam as a POW simply doesn't exist today. His character has been corrupted by himself. No one else is responsible for his character demise.

I claim no political party affiliation, but there was a time when I would have supported John McCain. That time is history as is Senator McCain.

[ramos937]

I am a Democrat and rather proud of it. I hate the Iraq war for a bunch of reasons. I also feel McCain is dead wrong in his comments. Yet, I find that the comments posted thus far, about McCain just do not do him right. Please remember that when McCain was a Viet POW, he could have avoided years of torture and mistreatment by simply accepting a release because of his father's status. He made one condition which was that all of his fellow POWs had to be released at the same time. They were not and he was not. We can critize his judgment but not his character.