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McCain in NH: Would Be "Fine" To Keep Troops in Iraq for "A Hundred Years"
The United States military could stay in Iraq for "maybe a hundred years" and that "would be fine with me," John McCain told two hundred or so people at a town hall meeting in Derry, New Hampshire, on Thursday evening. Toward the end of this session, which was being held shortly before the Iowa caucuses were to start, McCain was confronted by Dave Tiffany, who calls himself a "full-time antiwar activist." In a heated exchange, Tiffany told McCain that he had looked at McCain's campaign website and had found no indication of how long McCain was willing to keep U.S. troops in Iraq. Arguing that George W. Bush's escalation of troops has led to a decline in U.S. casualties, McCain noted that the United States still maintains troops in South Korea and Japan. He said he had no objection to U.S. soldiers staying in Iraq for decades, "as long as Americans are not being injured, harmed or killed."
After the event ended, I asked McCain about his "hundred years" comment, and he reaffirmed the remark, excitedly declaring that U.S. troops could be in Iraq for "a thousand years" or "a million years," as far as he was concerned. The key matter, he explained, was whether they were being killed or not: "It's not American presence; it's American casualties." U.S. troops, he continued, are stationed in South Korea, Japan, Europe, Bosnia, and elsewhere as part of a "generally accepted policy of America's multilateralism." There's nothing wrong with Iraq being part of that policy, providing the government in Baghdad does not object.
In other words, McCain does not equate victory in Iraq--which he passionately urges at campaign events--with the removal of U.S. troops from that nation. After McCain told Tiffany that he could see troops remaining in Iraq for a hundred years, a reporter sitting next to me quipped, "There's the general election campaign ad." He meant the Democratic ad: John McCain thinks it would be okay if U.S. troops stayed in Iraq for another hundred years.....
Well, it was straight talk. And McCain's combativeness livened up a session during which he alternated between the old McCain (as in punchy, feisty, humorous) and the old McCain (as in just plain old). He moved a bit stiffly on the stage set up in the middle of the Adams Memorial Opera House. And he--somewhat oddly--shared the spotlight with Senator Joseph Lieberman, who has endorsed him. Lieberman did not merely introduce McCain; he stood by McCain during the entire event, helping McCain to answer questions about education, climate change, and the Iraq war. Several times, Lieberman gave more coherent and animated replies than did McCain. Repeatedly, Lieberman maintained that McCain could rack up bipartisan successes as president. (The Lieberman sidekick bit was curious. But an elementary-age girl in the audience did say, after being handed a microphone, that Lieberman was her role-model and that she fancied McCain. Lieberman hugged her, and the whole crowd oohed at this cuteness.)
Update: Video after the jump.
McCain has been coming on strong in New Hampshire, where he beat George W. Bush by 18 points in the 2000 Republican primary. (Some polls place him in the lead.) Eight years ago, McCain thrived as an independent-minded GOPer willing to blast the corruptions of Washington. These days, his stock appears to be rising because he has stuck with the Iraq war and boasts of years of national security experience. "If the world was stable, we could afford Mitt Romney as the national CEO," says a McCain campaign aide (who asks not to be identified). "But in an unsafe and unstable world, Republican voters, and some independents, are coming to see that we need a warrior in the White House." The crisis in Pakistan, this aide notes, was a timely reminder.
So McCain is not doing so bad for a candidate who was on life-support last summer. But it's not that he has craftily orchestrated his revival; the other campaigns have fallen flat. Romney has hard a tough time selling himself as a fellow ready to be commander in chief. Rudy Giuliani cast himself as Mr. 9/11--which is different from persuading voters you are Mr. Win the War. Fred Thompson, who highlighted the foreign policy experience he obtained on the Senate intelligence committee, has mounted a lackluster bid. Mike Huckabee has had little to say about national security and has gaffed too often on foreign policy. Regarding national security and the war, McCain has become the default Republican.
"The Mac is back," Lieberman exclaimed in Derry. Perhaps it's merely that McCain managed to stay on his feet while his rivals have faltered. In the next few days, McCain and his supporters will be pushing him as the Republican who is ready for wartime. This is a potent argument. But will it win over the New Hampshire independents who swooned over McCain in 2000? This slice of the electorate is not particularly fond of the war McCain champions. Michael Dennehy, McCain's political director, says that independents "will agree to disagree on the war with him if they think he's being honest." Well, with McCain boldly declaring he doesn't give a damn how long U.S. troops are deployed in Iraq, his strategists can certainly say he is not holding back. Whether that indeed impresses independents (and Republicans) in New Hampshire won't be known until this Tuesday.
Comments
Hey, pretty nice getting a sound bite gift from the experts.
Is there such a thing as a "Silver Headed Ho"?
Posted by: habrow2 on 01/03/08 at 7:18 PM Respond
Yep, he's back ... the Schmuck Talk Express(TM).
Posted by: SocraticGadfly on 01/03/08 at 9:32 PM Respond
McCain is a PNAC Republican.
Aint they all? Now,Its Empire
for everybody except Edwards. But if we leave Iraq and leave Iran alone, what then--
return to business-as-usual?
Nobody has figured in Israel.
And every president obeys the Zionist State.
Posted by: david wilson on 01/04/08 at 12:21 AM Respond
mccain will never be president, what he says really doesn't matter. thus, what he says really doesn't matter
Posted by: Russell Lawrence Lee on 01/04/08 at 2:32 AM Respond
Attention Senator McCain - the US troops in Korea, Japan and Europe are not in the middle of a shooting war - a civil war for that matter. Maybe if Senator Lieberman's daughters would join the military, I would take his macho BS about Iraq and Iran seriously and not the rantings of a shill for the Israeli lobby
Posted by: SonnyBono on 01/04/08 at 5:15 AM Respond
McCain got Jewish money, so he supports the wars for Zionism. AIPAC rules.
Posted by: Horst G. on 01/04/08 at 6:16 AM Respond
I agree with the old war criminal, partially. I think it would be good to leave US troops in Iraq as long as they are being killed. As soon as they come home to Amerika, those mindless mercenaries will continue to wreak a lot more havoc stateside for the remainder of their desperate, pathetic lives.
Posted by: jason robards on 01/04/08 at 9:05 AM Respond
Thanks everyone...I'm sure the Mother Jones staff was worried they were losing their anti-Semitic readers. Glad to see you're alive and well and full of prejudiced hatred.
Posted by: Rose on 01/04/08 at 9:09 AM Respond
You are right Rose. There are too many anti-Semites. The ADL says that the Mexican Catholics score very high in this area. Build the fence. The illegals have to go. We don't need to import more anti-Semites.
Posted by: Ira C. on 01/04/08 at 9:58 AM Respond
Let's not forget, if you say anything bad about Israel, you must be antisemitic. It would have nothing to do with the nation's apartheid policies.
Posted by: M. Peach on 01/04/08 at 10:10 AM Respond
Progressives need to talk more about imperialism, and the evils thereof. Otherwise McCain's and other's permanent presence strategy will continue to make sense to a sizable portion of the electorate. Why are all the Democratic contenders afraid of the "I" word?
Posted by: kuulray on 01/04/08 at 10:31 AM Respond
thank you john for taking yourself out of the race! that coupled with have the world's most selfserving politician as your 'running mate' - lieberman- assure your early withdrawal....
Posted by: pete miller on 01/04/08 at 10:32 AM Respond
I hope and pray that people don't agree with McCain. And, I hope and pray that Obama is sincere when he says he will bring the troops home within 8 months of taking office.
Posted by: Frederic Rounds on 01/04/08 at 10:46 AM Respond
Senator McCain supports racism because Israel promotes NOT a vision of a inclusive "multi-cultural," "multi-ethnic" society (like we do in America) for Israel, but instead a racist exclusionary "Jewish state." It is racist because a Jew is defined as coming from a Jewish mother(genes). That state is openly dedicated to the advancement of the Jewish religion, culture, and even the genetic preservation of the Jewish people. Israel uses racial profiling. Israel values Judaism above other religions. Israel should seek to be welcoming and inclusive and respect all religions, or even those with no religion.
Israeli ethnocentric, chauvinism and xenophobic values are just too extreme. Israel does not share American values and let us therefore not share American taxpayer money with them. Israel needs to advance to the 21st century in its values. The days of racism should be a thing of the past. Israeli society is where America's society was 100 years ago. Israel can do better. Let us have that as our goal to advance Israel to the 21st century in the field of civil rights.
Posted by: Prof Wadsworth on 01/04/08 at 11:09 AM Respond
I wonder if McCains children or grandchildren will be in Iraq for 100 years???
Posted by: Edward L Buchman on 01/04/08 at 11:13 AM Respond
George W. McCain Alzheimer.
Posted by: Merritt Teddlie on 01/04/08 at 11:22 AM Respond
Wow. This man is unfit to be president... So we attack countries now and then occupy them for a century? Insane
Posted by: Scott Edwards on 01/04/08 at 12:25 PM Respond
YES THERE IS HIS NAME IS Lieberman HE MUST BE BUCKING FOR THE VP SPOT FOR MCCAIN WHICH IS FINE WTH ME THAT WAY ME CAUSE THE HE WOULD NO LONGER BE MY STATES SENATOR A JOB HE SHOULD NOT BEEN REELECTED FOR
Posted by: Jim Martin, Sr. on 01/04/08 at 1:04 PM Respond
I wonder how it would have made him feel if he had heard that he would be at the Hanoi Hilton for 100 years. McCain is a tool!!!!!
Posted by: clan1465 on 01/04/08 at 1:07 PM Respond
HE'S A CRIMINAL AND LEARNED NOTHING FROM ALL THAT TORTURE
Posted by: SPEEDRACER@HOTMAIL.COM on 01/04/08 at 1:16 PM Respond
When the Old Fart said that the U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, Japan, Europe, Bosnia, and elsewhere as part of a "generally accepted policy of America's multilateralism." There's nothing wrong with Iraq being part of that policy, providing the government in Baghdad does not object.
Has he ever talked to the servicemen who are stationed in these countries and hears how dangerous it is to be found in a dark spot at night.
Someone needed to ask either McCain or the old Jew how the people of, say Italy feel about us building the huge Air force Base in their country.
Check the web and see how the Italians feel about the American Fools.
Posted by: dras on 01/04/08 at 2:00 PM Respond
They should have left the mother[deleted] in 'Nam...
Posted by: Playin Possum on 01/04/08 at 3:14 PM Respond
McCain is an idiot.
Posted by: McCain is nuts. on 01/04/08 at 3:16 PM Respond
The worst thing about the Vietnamese people is that they didn't torture John McCain to death when they had the chance. We would all be better off today if they had.
Posted by: Doug@usa.com on 01/04/08 at 4:44 PM Respond
Wow! That's exactly what Ariel Sharon told members of congress a few years ago. Nice touch there Mr. McCain.
Posted by: Tim on 01/04/08 at 5:21 PM Respond
McCain was given the kiss of the Neo-Cons when he met with the Brat King Wanna-Be and his evil side kick in the White House over torture...The day when he went in screaming no torture and came out saying well, maybe a little is OK for the good of the people...
He just thought they wouldn't turn on him. The Rove machine ain't working yet but who knows...This time 2009 the Neo-Con Machine could have fixed enough votes, bought as many election commissions as needed and put the fix on enough machines to rig it for the 3rd time....OR Bush might declare Marshall Law and kick out the vote (he has set up that as a possibility through laws, signing statements, directives, orders and his hold on the Supreme Court)
I hope to God I am wrong but whenever I see those diabolical little psychotic eyes giggling in their sockets and hear that hebephrenic laugh eminating from Georgie Porgie, the hair on the back of my neck stands up and my stomach turns.
They aren't going to give it up without a sleezy, slimey fight
Posted by: Cosmic Surfer on 01/04/08 at 5:30 PM Respond
Anti-Semitism is nothing but the antagonistic attitude produced in the non-Jew by the Jewish group. The Jewish group has thrived on oppression and on the antagonism it has forever met in the world... the root cause is their use of enemies they create in order to keep solidarity... --- Albert Einstein, quoted in Collier's Magazine, November 26, 1938
Posted by: Tim on 01/04/08 at 5:34 PM Respond
Which, my friend, is EXACTLY what Leo Strauss was counting on when he espoused new little philosophy now dubbed the Neo-Conservativism...Read him some time if you want to really get an idea of the thought process. His followers...Wolfowitz, Kristol, Cheney and Rummy with their friends have been working it at the White House level since Nixon
Posted by: Cosmic Surfer on 01/04/08 at 5:45 PM Respond
If it were up to the people of Japan, Germany, Korea or anywhere else we have troops they would overwhelmingly send us packing as did the Philipines and in South America. What makes him think the people of Iraq or Afghanistan want us there? McCain seems to be pandering to the old and misinformed historical view of the U.S. as the saviour of the world and the spreader of democracy; two ideas that never were and never will be.
Posted by: Luis M. Lozano on 01/04/08 at 6:33 PM Respond
Obama has Zbigniew Brzezinski on his advisory staff. Old Zbig created The Mujahadeen to fihgt the Russians in Afganistan. We now know them as Al Qaeda and the Taliban, two different wings of the same creature created by a democrat administration. Do your homework. WE are all being had. Wake up and put on the glasses!!!
Posted by: zeebob on 01/04/08 at 6:33 PM Respond
This is McCain's Dean Scream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf7HYoh9YMM
I'm voting for Ron Paul. I used to like Obama until I found out he was in bed with the CFR. In light of his connections to the CFR, I must conclude Obama will not leave Iraq.
In any case, enjoy McCain's Dean Scream!
Posted by: John on 01/04/08 at 6:53 PM Respond
I'm afraid there's no way to win no matter who you choose. This whole thing is just ugly anyway, whether we keep them there for 1 month or 100 years.
Posted by: Cozmo on 01/04/08 at 7:26 PM Respond
although i don't like McCain and his views, David Corn certainly is no savior. The guy is totally unwilling to look at the evidence that 9/11 was allowed to happen. His disparaging remarks about Michael Ruppert are not appreciated.
Posted by: chris mac on 01/04/08 at 8:42 PM Respond
Some of the posters are anti-Semites. You know who you are. You are just jealous because we have so much influence and are so successful.
Posted by: Ira C. on 01/04/08 at 8:59 PM Respond
Doesn't keeping troops overseas indefinitely sound like a monumental waste of money? Fight a war .. win it .. return home.
Posted by: josh on 01/04/08 at 10:05 PM Respond
"as long as Americans are not being injured, harmed or killed."
Tell that to the 26 million Iraqi people still alive who have been bombed daily since 1991 and have suffered 1.1 million civilians deaths since April 2003. There is no need to remind the 50 million Arabs in the border countires to Iraq. They are all obligated to "cut the necks" of the invader according to the Koran, which is read daily by Arabs.
A note of information about beheading:
The classical Muslim jurist al-Mawardi (a Shafi'ite jurist, d. 1058) from Baghdad was a siminal, prolific scholar who lived during the so-called Islamic "Golden Age" of the Abbasid-Baghdadian Caliphate. He wrote the following, based on widely accepted interpretations of the Qur'an and Sunna (i.e., the recorded words and deed of Muhammad), regarding infidel prisoners of jihad campaigns:
"As for the captives, the amir (ruler) has the choice of taking the most beneficial action of four possibilities: the first to put them to death by cutting their necks; the second, to enslave them and apply the laws of slavery regarding their sale and manumission; the third, to ransom them in exchange for the goods or prisoners; and fourth, to show favor to them and pardon them. Allah, may he be exalted, says, 'When you encounter those (infidels) who deny (the Truth=Islam) then strike their necks' (Qur'an sura 47, verse 4)"....Abu'l-Hasan al-Mawardi, al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah." The Laws of Islamic Governance, trans. by Dr. Asadullah Yate, (London), Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd., 1996, p. 192. Emphasis added.
Indeed such odious "rules" were iterated by all four classical schools of Islamic jurisprudence, across the vast Muslim empire.
Source: "The Sacred Muslim Practice of Beheading"
So what is the possiblity
that no Americans will be murdered or injured in Iraq for the next 100 years?
http://johnmccarthy90066.tripod.com
Encountering invaders and infidels who deny Islam while in the process of bringing "democracy" via death and destruction of the entire country's resouces leaves little or no wiggle room precluding casualties on the part of those who McCain can see in Iraq for the next hundred years.
Posted by: John McCarthy on 01/05/08 at 12:55 AM Respond
McCain was early released from Hilton, Ho-Noi. He now thinks other country deserved to be occupied for 100 years. Do you see how wonderful he is! Or he is a one-of-the-kind idiot.
Posted by: StephenK on 01/05/08 at 2:00 AM Respond
duncan hunter folks is the best canidate support him, donate today .....
Posted by: mainerforDUNCANHUNTER on 01/05/08 at 2:24 AM Respond
All afternoon yesterday, following the Iowa caucuses, various bloviators of Conventional Wisdom on CNN and MSNBC spread it on thick that John McCain was going to do well in New Hampshire, perhaps even win it, due to 'independent' voters swarming to the polls to vote for the 'maverick' Republican, just as they did in 2000. (Media Matters has a good rundown of the despicable cheerleading of the Punditrocracy for McCain at http://mediamatters.org/items/200801050002?f=h_top )
Of course, this is horse pucky with bells on. Anyone who has been sentient and paying attention in this country for the past seven years knows two things: 1) The John McCain of 2008 is not the John McCain of 2000. Today's John McCain has twisted himself into various improbable pretzel shapes desperately trying to play to every possible GOP primary voter. (And I don't want to hear anything about his 'unpopular' support for the Iraq War -- it's still popular among what's left of the GOP base.) He is the living exemplar of the saying "A friend to everybody is a friend to nobody." (Well, everybody Republican anyway.) The John McCain of 2000 attracted independents and conservative Repubs because he stood up to the nutty Christopublicans and corporatists backing Bush Junior; the current wrinkled version genuflects to them. Consequently, he has lost the support of the GOP-leaning independents and Goldwater conservatives he enjoyed back then; in fact, they can't stand him these days. 2) The Republican Party is finished on the national level for at least eight years; it's 1932 all over again and they are poised to lose in a landslide in 2008.
If McCain is counting on independents and disaffected Republicans voting for him, he's out of luck; if he's expecting Christopublicans to come out for him, he's hasn't heard of Huckabee. That leaves a few dozen neocons who like to hear an idiot blabber that we'll be in Iraq for a hundred years, providing a nice negative ad for one of his competitors. The other 99.5 percent of voters will be avoiding Cap'n Blinky like the plague. Prediction: McCain won't finish in the top three in New Hampshire either.
Chris Matthews can spin it as another glorious victory for the manly warrior John McCain, his current heart throb. "Fifth place! Wonderful -- what a great strategy! He's conserving his money for the big states down the line!"
Posted by: RS Janes on 01/05/08 at 4:07 AM Respond
The idea that people see Lieberman as an evil, overly zealous, anti-muslim bigot does not make them anti-semites. One half of my family is jewish and they are of that opinion as well.
So QUIT playing the racial bigotry card, humans should be smarter than that but then again, the dumbing down of America got us George Bush.
McCain and Lieberman are two of the reasons this election is important as are the rest of the scarey candidates from Romney and Huckabee to Ron Paul, setting up to be the spoiler, and a few on the dems side.
If one truly wants to see change, there has got to be an end to the in-fighting and a real understanding of the issues. I don't know if there is a candidate in the field that does.
I liked Kucinich until he recently decided to populate his lower orifice with his head in a tirade and then came out to plea with his supporters to go with Obama.
I liked Hillary until she opened her mouth and supported the attack on a sovereign nation in 2003. I liked Obama until he made his "out of Iraq" in 2013 statement following lockstep behind Hillary. So far, Edwards has shown a lot of heart and soul but he still doesn't quite make it for me. He takes less money from 527's and big business (both Obama and Hillary have been bought by them) and he is talking a talk for the ever dwindling middle class and does discuss the removal of troops from Nam, oops, I meant Iraq, I still have a dis-ease of the lawyer from the South..maybe my old carpetbagger radar is out of whack or maybe there is something disingenuous about the patter.
As far as the Republicans - I won't even go there...I can't walk that far right and gas is way too expensive to drive.
Sure, sure, many say go with Ron Paul but , like it or not Libertarians are not the answer for the middle class problems, poverty, healthcare issues or anything else. The libertarian stands with the idea that one gets what they can and deserves all they can get....Anyone else can be left to fend for themselves....sounds great on paper but in practice turns in to the Capitalist's wet dream....Call me a socialist but after years of seeing what illness, abuse, poverty, and bad luck can destroy, I cannot stand the thought that we as a people would turn our backs on a brother or sister because they just got dealt a rotten hand to play the game with and played to the best of any ability still losing.
Ron Paul talks a good line as far as it goes but there is no level playing field and never will be and sometimes, people need to get a little boost to get over that hurdle
Posted by: Cosmic Surfer on 01/05/08 at 5:07 AM Respond
I am not anti-semetic. I don't dislike any Jewish person BECAUSE they are Jewish. I am, however, highly supicious of Jewish Americans serving in OUR government. You see, the JEWISH comes BEFORE the AMERICAN, and that is the problem. There are lots of Jewish Americans in Congress, far beyond the proportion of Jews in our population, and the Jewish money in our system is well known (think about it, Hillary is the Jewish-Democratic Candidate!) and are they not simply there to serve Israeli insterests?
Posted by: Justin on 01/05/08 at 7:02 AM Respond
It is amazing that in a society that tells us repeatedly that everyone is an individual and you shouldn’t necessarily support your own race or group, Jews routinely put their group loyalty above everything else, but no public figures have the guts to expose this obvious fact. it is easy for radical Jews to dominate a society when powerful extremist Jews in government, media and finance support each other and the Jewish agenda (such as the catastrophic Iraq War) while everyone else is divided and compromised.
Posted by: Judy on 01/05/08 at 7:12 AM Respond
You are dead wrong about Ron Paul, Cosmic Surfer. Yes, he absolutely believes in personal responsibility but he is not the heartless capitalist that you are assuming and portaying him to be. Sure, there are issues that I don't like about him either but his good points far out-weigh any of his bad points. Please continue to read about him and research his stand on very important issues, especially his economic knowledge. Check out his interview w/ Moyers last night.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/01042008/watch2.html
He really is the real deal, honest to the core! If we don't cut back spending in this country, we will go bankrupt and then everyone will soon be in trouble. Obama is potraying himself as Santa Claus - I'm amazed how naive people really are to believe that this greenhorn socialist (Establishment) candidate will be able to bail everyone out. He's no different than Hillary but people are like sheep, sadly.
Posted by: Robin B. on 01/05/08 at 7:14 AM Respond
The Wat truth Video McCain does not want you to see!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uk-T46soz8
Posted by: stan on 01/05/08 at 8:28 AM Respond
It amazes me there are people like you filled with so much hatred. Macain and Leiberman are only trying to do what is best for our country,if leaving troops in Iraq will keep our country safe and free,so be it. Then hate mongers like you will always be free to say idiotic things
Posted by: rich on 01/05/08 at 1:53 PM Respond
rich, our country would be safe if we would pull our troops back from the middle east and stop sending billions to Israel to practice apartheid on third world people. Say no to apartheid and racism.
Posted by: Donald on 01/05/08 at 3:07 PM Respond
John McCain is pathetically demented. Maybe it's because of the abuse he underwent as a POW in North Vietnam.
Anyone who makes mock of KILLING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT IRANIAN MEN WOMEN AND CHILDREN by parodying the Beach Boys hit song, Barbara Ann, by opening his appearances with "Bomb, Bomb, Bomb,Bomb, Bomb Iran is more of a mental midget and pathologially stupid than the Amiable Dunce, Ronald, the Dunce in Chief , Reagan. He made lying to the the American sheeple an enduring art. The evidence is seen in the brain dead who still sing his praises. They are no brighter that the Coterie of Cuckoos that fell under the evil spell of Charles Mansion.
Posted by: The Skeptical Cynic on 01/05/08 at 6:21 PM Respond
The US won't be in the middle east for 100 years, the oil will be long since gone.
Posted by: Ian on 01/06/08 at 6:45 AM Respond
Mukasey’s clear endorsement of torture caused a significant number of senators to vote against his confirmation. What put Mukasey over the top in the Senate for Attorney General was the support of supposedly liberal Jews such as Schumer and Feinstein. In the end, Jews can frequently be counted on to support their fellows no matter what the circumstances.
Posted by: Peter on 01/06/08 at 11:06 AM Respond
I am begining to understand the goverment. take for example this statistics...
http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx
you can clearly see that in 2005 there were 39,252 fatal accidents. Same year that we reached 1,000 troops killed in action in iraq.
It makes perfect sense now to me. We loose much more lives at home in peace at the road accidents every year than in the war.
lets extend the troops for a 100 more years thus clearly more steady jobs.
Posted by: Dr.Q on 01/06/08 at 6:18 PM Respond
Nuts
Posted by: Ames Tiedeman on 01/06/08 at 7:48 PM Respond
So tru-we create killers,then expect them to function normally-it is safer tohavethem be killed-quiet as kept-that is what the gov wants-less expensive then helping broken humans.Mccain has lost his mind-maybe it was the torture-why does he stay in this game at his age/health condition-totally insane!
Posted by: CT on 01/07/08 at 1:47 AM Respond
None of you get the fact that the radical arm of islam is the enemy, not your own country...
America bashing is so last decade....
Posted by: TRM on 01/08/08 at 5:46 PM Respond
If he says he is prepared for 100 years in Iraq, then how can he claim the Surge has been a success? Will he be sending troops back for their 9th or 10th tours?
Posted by: bob h on 01/11/08 at 4:25 AM Respond
The bill for Iraq over the past five years is now approaching a cumulative $500 billion, or about $100 billion per year on average. My hypothetical estimate got the annual cost about right, but I misjudged an important factor: how long we would be involved. As we approach the fifth anniversary of the start of the war, it's worth making a new appraisal of where we are going with this investment. Is the war's total cost going to run into the trillions of dollars, as some economists have asserted? Are those numbers meaningful in terms of what to do next? If we stick around to finish the job, are we throwing good money after bad?
Posted by: Larry L. on 01/11/08 at 7:29 AM Respond
In this video from 1994, John McCain gives reasons to back his argument to withdraw US troops from Haiti. http://www.electionspeak.com/USElectionVideos/343
Do we consider this as McCain's flip-flop?
Posted by: Emmy on 01/11/08 at 10:36 PM Respond
Some of the posters are anti-Semites. You know who you are. You are just jealous because we have so much influence and are so successful.
----------------------
Ha Ha!! Funny. You people are your own worse enemies. The rest of us are only now waking up. Hang on my friend we jealous gentiles are only now seeing the real picture.
Posted by: jncc1701 on 01/13/08 at 8:33 AM Respond
Are you willing to go? if not shut up.
Posted by: jncc1701 on 01/13/08 at 8:36 AM Respond
TRM:
I agree, the problem it is fine to think what McCain said, he may be right. However, one best not say it.
Posted by: Ames Tiedeman on 01/13/08 at 4:17 PM Respond
Emmy:
Haiti is not Iraq. Do you get it?
Posted by: Ames Tiedeman on 01/13/08 at 4:18 PM Respond
So he's been co-opted by the NeoCons/Zionists. Particularly disturbing to see a retired Navy officer who should well remember the USS Liberty and Jonathan Pollard succumb to AIPAC.
Posted by: Mike on 01/24/08 at 12:03 PM Respond
The thought of McCain at the helm give me goosebumps... I saw a trailer for a new independent movie that's coming to DVD where a guy moves to Canada in response to Kerry's defeat in '04. Any takers if the GOP takes capital hill again?
For more who knows, maybe the movie will inspire a whole new breed of border jumpers if the country goes red again...
You can check out the trailer at http://www.bluestatemovie.com
Posted by: Runningfortheborder on 01/24/08 at 6:03 PM Respond
If we elect McCain, we deserve every thing we get. He's another neocon tool...
What about all the contractors who seem to remain invisible? Those are the "troops" we need to get out of Iraq in addition to our formal military.
Posted by: Peter on 01/28/08 at 8:58 AM Respond
Oh Goody. More wars and killing with McCain and the republicans.
I'm going down right now and get my children and my grandchildren there passports right now.
Posted by: Michael Emerson on 01/30/08 at 10:49 AM Respond
Israel certainly did not act in a friendly fashion when it attacked the Navy intelligence ship, the USS Liberty, in 1967. That attack was the second deadliest against a U.S. vessel since the end of World War II. The attack also marked the single greatest loss of life by the U.S. intelligence community. 34 U.S. servicemen were killed and 173 were wounded in that attack. In addition, Israel is often found to be engaged in espionage within the United States. Should America turn a blind eye to such activities? Of course not. No more wars for Israel. No more blood and money for Israel.
Posted by: Chuck on 01/30/08 at 11:45 AM Respond
read "CASE FOR ISRAEL" BY ALAN DERSHOWITZ. usa SUPPORTS ISRAEL BECAUSE THEY ARE 90% RIGHT (I AM AGAINST ALL THE SETTLEMENTS). pEACE MOVEMENT SAME SO CALLED INTELLECTUALS WHO BOUGHT YOU VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE AND POLITICAL PRISONERS IN VIETNAM TODAY (YEAH THERE ARE PRISONERS IN VIETNAM TODAY) NOW WANT TO BRING US ISRAELI BOAT PEOPLE. YOU KNOW WHAT BUDDY...(AND I AM A GENTILE BY WAY) I SAY NEVER AGAIN
Posted by: gil corby on 02/01/08 at 10:45 AM Respond
read "CASE FOR ISRAEL" BY ALAN DERSHOWITZ. usa SUPPORTS ISRAEL BECAUSE THEY ARE 90% RIGHT (I AM AGAINST ALL THE SETTLEMENTS). pEACE MOVEMENT SAME SO CALLED INTELLECTUALS WHO BOUGHT YOU VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE AND POLITICAL PRISONERS IN VIETNAM TODAY (YEAH THERE ARE PRISONERS IN VIETNAM TODAY) NOW WANT TO BRING US ISRAELI BOAT PEOPLE. YOU KNOW WHAT BUDDY...(AND I AM A GENTILE BY WAY) I SAY NEVER AGAIN
Posted by: gil corby on 02/01/08 at 10:46 AM Respond
read "CASE FOR ISRAEL" BY ALAN DERSHOWITZ. usa SUPPORTS ISRAEL BECAUSE THEY ARE 90% RIGHT (I AM AGAINST ALL THE SETTLEMENTS). pEACE MOVEMENT SAME SO CALLED INTELLECTUALS WHO BOUGHT YOU VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE AND POLITICAL PRISONERS IN VIETNAM TODAY (YEAH THERE ARE PRISONERS IN VIETNAM TODAY) NOW WANT TO BRING US ISRAELI BOAT PEOPLE. YOU KNOW WHAT BUDDY...(AND I AM A GENTILE BY WAY) I SAY NEVER AGAIN
Posted by: gil corby on 02/01/08 at 10:51 AM Respond
read "CASE FOR ISRAEL" BY ALAN DERSHOWITZ. usa SUPPORTS ISRAEL BECAUSE THEY ARE 90% RIGHT (I AM AGAINST ALL THE SETTLEMENTS). pEACE MOVEMENT SAME SO CALLED INTELLECTUALS WHO BOUGHT YOU VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE AND POLITICAL PRISONERS IN VIETNAM TODAY (YEAH THERE ARE PRISONERS IN VIETNAM TODAY) NOW WANT TO BRING US ISRAELI BOAT PEOPLE. YOU KNOW WHAT BUDDY...(AND I AM A GENTILE BY WAY) I SAY NEVER AGAIN
Posted by: gil corby on 02/01/08 at 10:51 AM Respond
the troops should come back from iraq it is a waste of money
Posted by: usha on 02/07/08 at 8:47 AM Respond
Keith – http://brokenwholeblog.blogspot.com/search?q=p1&max-results=20
All the solutions talked about for Iraq, both from candidates I like (such as Obama or Clinton) and those I wouldn’t trust (with a barge pole) to handle foreign policy (such as John “Hundred Years” McCain) just seem completely unrealistic. Moreover, at least on the Democratic side, they surely know it. They're playing sound-bite politics. They seem to think that most Democrats just want to hear the simple plan "get out of Iraq" rather than hear a more nuanced and realistic strategy.
It's the kind of thing I hate about politics. Obama is a candidate who I love, who I'm sure realizes just as much as I do that his position on getting out of Iraq is unrealistic, but yet who continues to keep it on his platform, presumably out of fear of losing the sound-bite war.
Yet I'm convinced that most Democrats and independent voters are educated enough, and have enough awareness to tolerate the more nuanced strategy. In fact I think that if Obama's team worked out now a well-reasoned plan for extracting ourselves from Iraq in a way that will minimize harm to our armed forces while giving Iraq the maximum chance of resolving their problems, it would be a net gain for their campaign. And it would certainly work well going up against McCain's Hundred Year War.
They'd have to work closely with the defense department to come up with a plan. My own idea for such a plan (obvious, worked out without the cooperation of the Pentagon!) would be something along these lines:
1) Set clear and absolute deadlines. E.g. thirty thousand troops will be rotated out of Iraq over this given period of weeks; etc.
2) Bring in the UN. This will require a lot of work, but it has to be done. Fixing Iraq is not a part-time job. A coalition has to be built similar to the impressive one put together by GWB's father (a man I admire) for Kuwait. This would be both a peace-keeping force, as well as an infrastructure support team.
3) Devise a plan for relocating, with the help of international organizations, the tens of thousands of Iraqis who worked with the coalition. We have a moral obligation to not leave them stranded.
4) Work with the Iraqi government on a "status of forces" agreement on the numbers, roles, locations etc for UN and US troops. There should be a date set to reach this agreement. If the date is not met, the remaining US troops and equipment who are not part of the UN effort should be completely withdrawn in a carefully prepared method that minimizes our risk.
Obviously this approach cannot be easily sound-bitten. But I think this type of plan, or something like it -- any plan that was carefully and deliberately thought out -- would be terrific material during a debate, and would get a lot of pundit/editorial/blogosphere support.
But I'm not holding my breath. This is why I both love and hate politics. I'm fascinated by it; yet politicians - even those I love and admire like Obama - do dumb things because it's the way things have always been done. When Obama talks about change, and then you think about the type of thing I'm talking about here, you see that there's a whole lot more changing we need to consider than has ever been seriously discussed.
Posted by: broken whole on 02/07/08 at 5:54 PM Respond
McCain doesn't care. He knows he wont be aroun to see the problems he's caused.
Remember: Old men send young men to die.
Posted by: gerald on 02/08/08 at 10:04 AM Respond
McCain's a mean spirited jerk,who was physically & mentally damaged in Vietnam,and that should be enough to disgualify him from being president.He was up to his neck in the S&L scandal with his friend Keating,that turned out to be the biggest tax payer bail out in history,plus the stupid comment he made about Chelsea Clinton in 1999 being ugly because Janet Reno was her father goes way to far and show's without a doubt how twisted he really is.There's just something about the guy that's not normal.Just go back and look at his life and the thing's he's done and said in his life and if you can still vote for him then the country's headed for a very bleak future.
Posted by: Hank on 02/12/08 at 4:58 PM Respond
mcain is the wrost person in the world
Posted by: seamus bell on 03/05/08 at 11:43 AM Respond
JOHN MCAIN SUCKS
Posted by: Bob Bell on 03/05/08 at 11:45 AM Respond
john mcain rocks and he has my vote in a heartbeat because i dont want to fight a war on american soil and i support the war a hundred percent
Posted by: Ben on 03/19/08 at 5:50 AM Respond
Hi.
I'm working over at Moblogic.tv and today's video asks "Where's the Call to Action" concerning the war in Iraq.
(http://www.moblogic.tv/video/2008/03/20/sacrifice-for-iraq/)
We just wanted to let you know that we've linked to your site in our corresponding blog.
(http://www.moblogic.tv/blog/2008/03/20/wheres-the-call-to-action/)
Please check it out and feel free to let us know what you think, good or bad.
Thanks!
Amanda Elend
aelend@gmail.com
Posted by: Amanda Elend on 03/20/08 at 11:53 AM Respond
Ben says, "john mcain rocks and he has my vote in a heartbeat because i dont want to fight a war on american soil and i support the war a hundred percent"
Several points:
1. Based upon your punctuation, you may be about 9. If so, ignore the next point.
2. If you are over 18 & under 42 and in good health, hie thee to thy local recruiter (Army or Marines) and sign up--NOW! You can really help and someone else won't have to serve his/her third, fourth, fifth tour in Iraq.
There is really NO excuse for anyone who meets the enlistment requirements supports the war "one hundred percent" who does not serve. None. Don't give me the tired argument that boils down to either 1) I have better things to do (so do most of the Reservists and Guardsmen who have served in Iraq) or 2) I'm afraid. You're just letting someone else do the fighting, while you "benefit." That's selfish and, to be honest, unpatriotic. It verges on being immoral.
Before you (or someone) points accusing fingers at me, 1) I have been against the war from the beginning, 2) I'm too old (60), 3) I have chronic health problems and 4) I already served 22 years in the US Air Force, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel.
Posted by: George on 04/21/08 at 2:27 PM Respond
Ben says, "john mcain rocks and he has my vote in a heartbeat because i dont want to fight a war on american soil and i support the war a hundred percent"
Several points:
1. Based upon your punctuation, you may be about 9. If so, ignore the next point.
2. If you are over 18 & under 42 and in good health, hie thee to thy local recruiter (Army or Marines) and sign up--NOW! You can really help and someone else won't have to serve his/her third, fourth, fifth tour in Iraq.
There is really NO excuse for anyone who meets the enlistment requirements supports the war "one hundred percent" who does not serve. None. Don't give me the tired argument that boils down to either 1) I have better things to do (so do most of the Reservists and Guardsmen who have served in Iraq) or 2) I'm afraid. You're just letting someone else do the fighting, while you "benefit." That's selfish and, to be honest, unpatriotic. It verges on being immoral.
Before you (or someone) points accusing fingers at me, 1) I have been against the war from the beginning, 2) I'm too old (60), 3) I have chronic health problems and 4) I already served 22 years in the US Air Force, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel.
Posted by: George on 04/21/08 at 2:29 PM Respond
Saddam's dead,,,If he was alive today everyone would be complaining that we did nothing about him. If you are paying too much for gas, what kind of car are you driving? Maybe the next time you buy a car you should get a different model. I bet that the price of gas was high before you bought the car you are driving now. Wasn't it? It's so easy to blame the government for all of your problems, when YOU have choices that could lessen your problems. But you don't choose them do you? Just blame the government. If you are one that is concerned about "global warming" and if you assume that humans are the cause, what kind of car are YOU driving? What kind of water heater do YOU use? What kind of lawn mower do YOU use? YOU just might be part of the problem huh? They have cheap mowers at Lowes that don't use gas. They have had them for years and years. They use the energy from you pushing it. They are cheaper than mowers with motors. How many people use them? If everyone that was able bodied used them it would save alot of fuel and noise and air pollution. It's good exercise too. Using them and getting more exercise in general and eating right would prevent a lot of health problems by getting off your butt. But that would be alot of work wouldn't it? The money you will save will pay for a medical plan. Making these choices will deprive the Democrats an excuse for starting an overpriced, mismanaged huge government program (common, you know it will be mismanaged; admit it). If I'm not on line I'm probably getting some exercise or working you snotty nosed punks. ,,,Go McCain!!
Posted by: Dan Duguay on 05/07/08 at 7:00 PM Respond
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Posted by: tom rogers on 01/03/08 at 6:59 PM Respond