Dean: Another Day, Another McCain Speech But Still No New Ideas on Iraq
For the second day in a row, John McCain delivered what was billed as a "major policy speech," but included no new policies, proposals or ideas. After telling the American people what he would NOT do to address the mortgage crisis and our struggling economy yesterday, McCain delivered a foreign policy speech that not only offered no plan for a way forward in Iraq, but seemed to repackage the same rhetoric.
At a time when Americans want to hear a plan for Iraq, McCain's speech raised more questions than it answered: Does McCain share General Petraeus' disappointment over the lack of political progress from Iraq's leaders? Does McCain agree with the need for a pause in the draw-down of U.S. forces? What would McCain do to pressure the Iraqis to make the political progress the surge was supposed to enable? Will John McCain keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years if the Iraqis do not make political progress? How does McCain intend to pay for his $3 trillion war at the same time he's making President Bush's budget-busting tax cuts permanent.
Instead McCain talked about his commitment to a more collaborative foreign policy that doesn't alienate our allies. McCain failed to mention, however, that when it mattered most, he stood silent as President Bush's unilateralist foreign policy tarnished our nation's reputation in the world and made it more difficult to work with our allies.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement in response to McCain's speech:
"John McCain's empty rhetoric today can't change the fact that he has steadfastly stood with President Bush from day one and is now talking about keeping our troops in Iraq for 100 years. His new appreciation for diplomacy has no credibility after he mimicked President Bush's misleading case for a unilateral war of choice when it mattered most. Why should the American people now trust John McCain to offer anything more than four more years of President Bush's reckless economic policies and failed foreign policy?"
"Maverick" Diplomat or Bush Parrot, You Decide
In today's USA Today and his speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, John McCain claimed to advocate a more collaborative approach to our foreign policy that incorporates our allies and views war as the "ultimate last resort" once diplomacy has been exhausted. But when it mattered most on Iraq, John McCain didn't advocate for diplomacy or talk about war as a last resort: he echoed President Bush's misleading rhetoric in the rush to war and has marched in lockstep with the Bush Administration every step of the way since.
Bush Administration | John McCain |
November 2001: Don Rumsfeld Links Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. Rumsfeld claimed there were ties "between the terrorists in the Philippines and the al-Qaeda and people in Iraq." [ABC News, "Nightline," 11/28/2001] | November 2001: John McCain Does Too. There has "been significant involvement on the part of the Iraqis and Saddam Hussein in the acts of terror that have been committed in the past." [ABC News, "Nightline," 11/28/2001] |
2002: Ken Adelman - Victory in Iraq will be a "cakewalk." "ADELMAN: I think it would be a limited period of time of a few months. I think it would be easy for four quick reasons. It was a cakewalk last time. We have gotten so much stronger since that time. They have gotten so much weaker since that time, and this time we are going to play for keeps and I think when you look at those four factors and examine them, you come up with an answer that it's something that absolutely needs to be done and needs to be done right away." [CNN, WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, July 5, 2002] | 2002: McCain - "success will be fairly easy." McCain: "I believe that we can win an overwhelming victory in a very short period of time." [CNN Late Edition, 9/29/02] McCain: "And I believe that the success will be fairly easy." [CNN, Larry King Live, 9/24/02] |
March 2003 --- Cheney: We'll Be Greeted as Liberators. "Now, I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq, from the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators." [Meet the Press, March 16, 2003] | March 2003: McCain:We'll be Welcomed as Liberators. "There's no doubt in my mind that once these people are gone that we will be welcomed as liberators." [MSNBC, Hardball, 3/24/03] |
| 2005: Bush Stay the Course. "We will stay the course in Iraq." [President Bush, Press Conference, 4/13/04] | 2005: McCain Stay the Course. "We've got to stay the course here." [ABC This Week, 10/24/2004] |
August 2007: Bush: If We Withdraw From Iraq, Enemy Will Follow Us Home. In a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Bush declared: "If we were to abandon the Iraqi people, the terrorists would be emboldened, and use their victory to gain new recruits…Unlike in Vietnam, if we withdraw before the job is done, this enemy will follow us home." [Speech to Veterans of Foreign Wars, 8/22/2007] | August 2007: McCain: Enemy Will Follow Us Home. "MCCAIN: I don't know but they've lost sight of the fact that president's don't lose wars and parties don't lose wars. Nations lose wars. And if we lose this war, they're going to follow us home. There's chaos, genocide in the region, and we'll pay a very heavy price. I'd much rather lose the campaign than lose the war. And I'm going to be in the debate in the middle of September when the Democrats try to give us a date for surrender." [THE O'REILLY FACTOR, Fox News Network, August 13, 2007] |
May 2007 Tony Snow Floats Iraq-South Korea parallel: "TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: You have the United States there in what has been described as an over the horizon support role, so that if you need the ability to react quickly to major challenges or crises, you can be there. But -- but the Iraqis are conducting their -- the lion's share of the business. As we have in South Korea, where for many years, there have been American forces stationed there as a way of maintaining stability." [THE SITUATION ROOM, CNN, May 30, 2007] | 2008: McCain Cited South Korean Model as Defense for Staying in Iraq 100 Years. When McCain was asked a question about George Bush's belief that we will stay in Iraq for fifty years McCain responded, "Make it a hundred… We've been in Japan for 60 years. We've been in South Korea 50 years or so. That would be fine with me." [McCain Town hall in Derry, NH, 1/3/2008; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf7HYoh9YMM] |
2008: Bush: Surge is Working, Al Qaeda on the Run. "Ladies and gentlemen, some may deny the surge is working, but among the terrorists there is no doubt," Bush declared in his 2008 State of the Union address. "Al Qaeda is on the run in Iraq, and this enemy will be defeated." [2008 State of the Union, 1/28/2008] | 2008: Strategy Succeeding, Al Qaeda on the Run. "We are succeeding," in Iraq, McCain told Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday. "I've said many times, al-Qaeda is on the run," he continued. "This [surge] strategy is succeeding." [Fox News, "Fox News Sunday," 2/3/08] |
