McCain Promises More of the Same on Iraq
September 10, 2007
On ABC's This Week this morning, Senator John McCain stubbornly defended his support for the Bush-McCain escalation, disregarding not only the facts on the ground as President Bush is known to do, but also disregarding the facts of what he himself has said in the past.
Even as the New York Times reported today that seven "months after the American-led troop 'surge' began, Baghdad has experienced modest security gains that have neither reversed the city's underlying sectarian dynamic nor created a unified and trusted national government," John McCain said the exact opposite this morning claiming that "there is significant political progress at the local areas and on the ground" and that "the success will then breed political, economic, and social progress, in my view." [NY Times, 9/9/07, ABC This Week, 9/9/07]
McCain went further, trying to distance himself from his long standing support of the war by claiming that as far as "2003 [he] said that this strategy, that was former secretary Rumsfeld, was doomed to failure" and "argued for the [escalation] strategy we're employing now." [ABC This Week, 9/9/07] That statement, however, contrasted with McCain's own 2003 assertion that the end was "very much in sight" and his 2005 claim that one more year would prove that 'stay the course' was working. [ABC News, Good Morning America, 4/9/03; The Hill, 12/8/05]
The rosy rhetoric was reminiscent of McCain's claim earlier this year that there were neighborhoods safe enough for him to walk through, despite touring a Baghdad market wearing a bulletproof vest while accompanied by "100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead." [NBC Nightly News, 4/1/2007]
"Just like President Bush, John McCain refuses to change course in Iraq and insists on misrepresenting the facts on the ground," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Luis Miranda. "After four years of making the same arguments, John McCain seems to be completely unmoved by either the realitiy of the situation in Iraq, or the fact that the American people want a new direction. McCain is making it clear he would only offer four more years of the same failed policies in the White House the American people have already grown tired of. "
2007: McCain Says Bush-McCain Escalation is Working, Needs More time. Arguing that the surge in Iraq is working and that it needs more time, McCain told ABC's George Stephanopolous that "there is significant political progress at the local areas and on the ground" and that "the success will then breed political, economic, and social progress, in my view." [ABC This Week, 9/9/07]
2005: McCain Said That Another Year Will Prove "Stay the Course" Is Working. "McCain believes that the U.S., and the cause of Iraqi independence, are moving forward in Iraq, a little bit at a time. 'I think the situation on the ground is going to improve,' he says. 'Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course.'" [The Hill, 12/8/05]
2003: McCain Said The End Is "Very Much In Sight." Senator McCain was asked "At what point will America be able to say the war was won?" McCain said there were oil fields to secure and "die-hards" to take care of but "it's clear that the end is very much in sight, and today I think Americans should be very proud of their leadership, their technology.There are still some foreigners, Syrians and others hanging around. But it won't be long. It will be a fairly short period of time, but this happens in wars. I'm confident that once they are confident the area is no longer a threat to the Marines and to or army troops that they'll start imposing discipline. In the meantime, we'll have a short period of chaos." [ABC News, Good Morning America, 4/9/03]
