McCain: "I Know How To Win Wars"

(AP)  Republican John McCain said Tuesday he knows "how to win wars" and that the strategy of increasing troop levels in Iraq should also be applied to Afghanistan.

Moments earlier, his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, said in a speech in Washington that the U.S. must end the war in Iraq and that Afghanistan, by contrast, is "a war that we have to win."

McCain has described Obama's call for withdrawal from Iraq as tantamount to declaring defeat and points to the lower levels of violence in Iraq as evidence that sending additional U.S. troops there has been a successful strategy.

"Sen. Obama will tell you we can't win in Afghanistan without losing in Iraq. In fact, he has it exactly backwards," McCain told a town hall meeting. "It is precisely the success of the surge in Iraq that shows us the way to succeed in Afghanistan."

McCain added: "I know how to win wars. And if I'm elected president, I will turn around the war in Afghanistan, just as we have turned around the war in Iraq, with a comprehensive strategy for victory."

McCain laid out a blueprint for intensified military efforts in Afghanistan, where nine U.S. soldiers were killed and 14 injured in a militant attack Sunday, the U.S. military's highest death toll there in three years.

"The status quo is not acceptable. Security in Afghanistan has deteriorated, and our enemies are on the offensive," he said. "From the moment the next president walks into the Oval Office, he will face critical decisions and crucial decisions about Afghanistan."

Three more brigades should be sent to Afghanistan, McCain said, as well as a presidential envoy to deal with countries vying for power in the region.

In his speech, McCain said the extra brigades could be brought to Afghanistan as troops are removed from Iraq, but speaking later to reporters he hedged on whether some of those troops could come from NATO instead of the United States.

He also insisted there was a "vast difference" between Obama's call for more troops in Afghanistan and his own.

Obama "has no strategy," insisted McCain. "All he has done is say we need more troops."

McCain contends more foreign troops won't be enough to bring security to Afghanistan.

The Afghan army must be doubled to about 160,000 troops, he said, and he called on foreign countries to help pay for the cost of the increase. The increase in security problems has come even with more NATO troops in Afghanistan. McCain said the area needs a supreme unified military commander in charge of all the forces in the region to mount an effective counterinsurgency program.

The border with Pakistan is particularly troublesome for U.S. anti-terrorism efforts in the region. In his town-hall comments, McCain faulted Obama for saying that he would consider unilateral military action in Pakistan to strike at al Qaeda leadership.

"In trying to sound tough, he has made it harder for the people whose support we most need to provide it. I won't bluster and I won't make idle threats. But understand this, when I am commander in chief, there will be nowhere the terrorists can run and nowhere they can hide," he said.

McCain also proposed appointing a White House czar on the Afghanistan war.

President Bush has already appointed a so-called "war czar" for both Iraq and Afghanistan, but McCain said he wanted someone reporting to him with direct responsibility for Afghanistan. Obama said Monday he would send at least two more brigades to Afghanistan.

"I will get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice," McCain said of the al Qaeda leader the U.S. has pursued futilely since the group's Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

[firststate]

The republiCONs have had nearly 7 years since 9/11. Saddam wasn''t behind the attacks, Osama bin Laden was. Didn''t W say something about getting him, Dead or Alive? Where is bin Laden (been forgotten)?

[indyvoter]

I guess I am still trying to figure out which Wars McCain thinks he has won. He didn''t win Vietnam - He hasn''t won Iraq - so what wars has he Won?? Talk is cheap - where is the proof.

[pr_boxer]

Main thing that impresses me about McCain is his ability to trade in a sick wife for a rich one.

As far as winning wars goes I guess he must be referring to one of those back yard wars he and his 9 year old playmates had!

[chrisl45]

Senator John McCain learned what he should do with his future from his experiences in Vietnam. He learned about honor and courage! He learned that there are greater pursuits than self-seeking. Glory is not a conceit. It is not a decoration for valor. It is not a prize for being the most clever, the strongest, or the boldest. Glory belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself, to a cause, to your principles, to the people on whom you rely, and who rely on you in return.

[toldyouso12]

McCain knows how to win wars? Sure he does.... look how he personally turned the Vietnam war around.

The only thing that McCain may know how to do when it come to battle, is survive as a prisoner of war in Asia. That is about the limit.

[choiceshaveconsequences]

I can only surmise that McCain is referring to his West Point training, since the only war he''s been in was a losing proposition for this country, and he spent most of that as a prisoner of war. And his ranking in that educational institution was somewhere near the bottom, i.e. fourth or so from last place in almost 600 students. As for as I am concerned there are currently only two people qualified to make the statement "I know how to win a war" and John McCain isn''t Colin Powell or H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.

[benighse]

OBAMA WILL WORK FOR PEACE....MCCAIN WILL STICK WITH WAR....MY CHOICE IS TO PUT OBAMA TO WORK FOR AMERICA IN THE WHITE HOUSE; AND ADVISE MCCAIN TO GO TO THE MANOR HOUSE AND PLAY WITH TOY SOLDIERS.

[medmom04]

oh did i miss something and mccain won the vietnam war????? gotta own it to tout it, right??

[raoul12-2009]

McCain states that he knows how to win wars. I forget, what war was it that Mccain has won?

Posted by truthmatterz at 10:21 AM : Jul 16, 2008
_______________________

I don''t know what side he was on, but I heard he was in the "War Between the States."

[future121]

heard this comment last night and couldn''''t help but think, "what war is it that he has won?" i have nothing but respect for sen. mccain, and his experience as a pow in vietnam is something i wouldn''''t wish on anyone, but let''''s get real here. we lost in vietnam. we lost big, both in terms of lives and our stated objectives. if that''''s his referent in saying that he knows how to win wars, heaven help us. Posted by justsane at 01:50 PM : Jul 16, 2008

My feelings as well. He was in a prison camp. What war has he won? Being in a war camp is horrorable and I would not deminish his service. However, that does not make him an expert on war and how to win it.