From John McCain this morning, speaking about the resurgent civil war in Iraq:
We had it won. Thanks to the surge and thanks to Gen. David Petraeus, we had it won….The fact is we had the conflict won, and we had a stable government, and a residual force such as we have left behind … but the president wanted out and now we are paying a very heavy price.
John McCain is now the Donald Sterling of foreign affairs: old, angry, retrograde, and only barely in touch with the real world. This is the same guy who declared Iraq safe after taking a carefully staged stroll through a fruit market in Baghdad seven years ago, and he hasn’t been willing to engage with reality any more seriously ever since. He’s just sure that we had it won, that American troops had victory in their grasp, and now it’s all turned to ashes. And since the actual politics of the region seem to be beyond him, all he can do is rage at President Obama for somehow ruining his lovely pretend victory.
It’s a little sad in a way, and perhaps sadder still that the media continues to give him the means to keep embarrassing himself on national TV. It’s time to move on, guys.
