The DNC’s “100 years” ad targeting John McCain drew the predictably ire of the Republican Party this week, with McCain allies arguing that McCain doesn’t want to keep the war going through 2108, he’s just willing to leave U.S. troops in Iraq there indefinitely to help maintain the peace.
Now, as I noted the other day, McCain has changed his mind on multiple of occasions about whether this is realistic, but for now, he seems to sincerely believe that Iraqis would not only allow the United States to maintain a Korea-like presence in Iraq for decades to come, but that such a presence is actually necessary.
This strikes me as a pretty ridiculous policy, but let’s take it a step further. McCain is willing to leave troops in Iraq for up to a century after the war ends. Got it. But how long do we keep U.S. troops in Iraq during the war? As it turns out, that’s indefinite, too.
As Ron Brownstein explains, it’s incumbent on McCain to go into more detail.
First, if McCain doesn’t envision a 100-year American front-line combat presence in Iraq, how long is he willing to keep U.S. forces in that role? So far, all he has said is that the United States should withdraw only if it concludes that the Iraq mission is unachievable or when it has achieved success, which he defines as the establishment of “a peaceful, stable, prosperous, democratic state.” […]
McCain has not said when, but he has pledged that Iraqi units will eventually assume the major combat responsibility. That prompts the next question McCain should address: What would then become the mission for the U.S. forces he wants to maintain in Iraq?
McCain hasn’t been able to answer either question. He hasn’t even tried.
No Trackbacks To “Why ‘100 years’ is only part of McCain’s problem“
War is good.
Profits good.
War president, good.
He’ll never provide an exit date. Doing so
would be like a profitable company deciding when it should
close its doors.
Repubs LOVE WAR.
Dems need to keep hammering on this, the more this guy talks about it, the clearer it is how out of touch with reality he is
McCain’s statement about keeping troops in Iraq deserved at the time, and now, a follow up. By qualifying the 100 year occupation with there being no US casualties, an opening was created to determine how long the troops would remain if there were on-going casualties. This is just another gross failure of the press to not delve into the evil minds of people like McCain.
Leaving??? Leaving??? They’ll leave once the oil is gone– stoopid. Not before. Any questions??? (I thought not.)
After that, the Iraqis can starve to death, for all they care. Then they’ll be outta there so fast it will make your head spin. (Tricky, considering you will have been cremated by then.)
(meanwhile) …our progeny will be using solar power by then, anyway, because the technology already exists NOW.
I am optimistic about our chances of recovering from the enormous mistakes imposed upon us by Bush/Cheney.
However we will lose another 4 years with a Repug clone like McCain.
I recognize his service, but he offers nothing for our future.
Are McCain’s arms long enough for him to be able to tuck his own shirt tail in?
It would be hard to trust a man who couldn’t do that.
Whoever did it for him would have a lot of influence with him.
I hope Republicans take these things into consideration.
Steve Benen on Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 at 5:11 AM - PDTsaid,
“but let’s take it a step further. McCain is willing to leave troops in Iraq for up to a century after the war ends. Got it.”
Listen up Steve! the war will not end. the powers that be will make sure of it!
after Russia fell our military industrial complex needed a new enemy.
and the powers that be so created one.
The CIA/Israel will continue to foment unrest and violence in Iraq, and anywhere/everywhere else there is such opportunity.
they will maintain and cultivate that enemy,…as long as possible.
…so your two questions are moot!
How many times are you going to post the same ad?
I mean, it’s a great ad, but we’re all already convinced.
McCain Claims He Meant 100 Years in ‘Dog Years’
http://satiricalpolitical.com/?p=1779
mccain has lost it. he’s arrogant and a liar. he will continue to talk himself deeper and deeper into the turdbag. He will self-destruct when he hears the truth.
Please tell me the benefits Iraqis would receive by using our governing system? repugs have shown the world the that our system doesn’t work, it can be broken in no time?
chimpy is using our finest and mccain will continue using our finest to protect oil companies and big business’ interests.
I hate thinking about such evil.
Part of the problem is there are lots of Central Asian contries, with largely untapped resources. The whole world will be competing for those (not just the oil, in Iraq and elsewhere.) Google the “U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan”. It’s a who’s who of American politicians and OILMEN. It reminds me of “Iraq For Sale”, before the war.
Click here to see it: Cheney, Richard Pearl, James Baker, Kissinger, etc…
http://www.usacc.org/content.p.....&par=3
WHY JOIN?
High level business contacts;
*Assistance arranging meetings with key government officials;
*Timely investment information;
Invitations to private functions, conferences and trade missions.
—-
McCain doesn’t want to keep the war going through 2108, he’s just willing to leave U.S. troops in Iraq there indefinitely to help maintain the peace.
—-
What peace?
- Tom
dumbstruck @ 6:
Get with it man. It’s the new thing!
Celebrities horse around at Kentucky Derby party.
Just think of all those zillions the Bush family crime syndicate’s decendants will be able to steal over the next 100 years! Isn’t aristocracy wonderful?
Plastic_ tax cuts_bOoSh_plastic_PeOpLe_
http://tinyurl.com/475wck
L.A. Confidential @ 16:
Goddesses of War
Well Mr. McCainN’Able we’ll all be dead in 100 years, so what are you/we leaving for future generations? Never mind, God and Allah are watching…biblically speaking.
why doesn’t it mention the estimated 1 million dead Iraqis ? , why doesn’t it mention that most democrats voted for the war ? why doesn;t it mention the democrats keep voting to fund the war ? why doesn’t it mention the democrats have just approved funds for covert operations inside Iran ?, why isn’t this on your front page ?
the msm is a disgrace. they know mccain is a joke but talking heads will continue show their lying sober faces. mccain isn’t a viable candidate. The repugs say that. AMAZING
they are polling mccain against Obama and really believe mccain can win over Obama. Complete BS!
I like how Obama deals with problems.
His speeches are remarkable to say the least.
Obama all the way!
there is a Boondocks cartoon which describes Dubya dreaming about meeting Colin Powell while Colin is moonlighting at Pottery Barn. Dubya tries to give back Iraq, Colin tells him, “you broke it, you bought it”.
the US now own their pet failed state. it’s right that the unprovoked war and botched occupation are the fault of the Bush regime, but leaving this mess behind without cleaning it up will make it impossible to *ever* earn back the trust or respect of the rest of the world. pounding your chest and shouting “last superpower !” changes nothing about being owned by China and the Sauds. so what *are* the other candidates plans for reconstruction besides getting the troops out ?
One hundred years ago US troops were busy ‘liberating’ and genociding Filipinos, in 2008 US troops are busy fighting alongside the current US puppet government there.
An easy mistake for McWhichcountryareinvadingthisweek to make !
I think the idea that US success in Iraq means an independent democratic Iraq is total BS.
Judging by history the real measure of American success in foreign affairs is loyalty towards the US. And democratic does not necessarily translate into US-friendly, in fact the opposite is often true and I think Iraq is no exception.
So instead of risking the development of a fully independent Iraq, the strategy now is to back up a weak corrupt government against their enemies, Sunnis and rivaling Shiite-factions looking to kick US out, in exchange for loyalty and keeping Iran at a distance.
And McCain wants to continue this disastrous strategy with the only change to keep American casualties to a minimum. To keep casualties down you avoid house-to-house fighting and call in air-strikes whenever there’s a threat. This is great for keeping public support at home because it saves the lives of American sons and daughters, while no American gives a shit about the fact many more Iraqi civilians are slaughtered as a consequence
Of course increasing air-strikes will make American presence even more unpopular among Iraqis, especially if its in support of an unpopular regime. But McCain doesnt understand or doesnt care. He thinks all American military actions are an act of pure goodness, that each and every American bullet and bomb fired, are freedom-missionaries, spreading the word of democracy to the poor Iraqis.
“But how long do we keep U.S. troops in Iraq during the war?”
Till the war is won or lost seems like a fair response to me.
We obviously are not very accomplished at predicting the dates of the ends of wars.
We have recordings of Lord Haw Haw and various other propagandists dating back to WW2, I wonder which US TLA has the John McCain Radio Hanoi audio archive ?
Was he doing a daily or weekly slot for them ? that would be a Senate or political career killer if it hadnt been suppressed !
What a weak ad.
The announcer is positively meek, they only repeat the hook once (”maybe a hundred, that’d be fine by me”) and they don’t press the point. And if they want to tie him to Bush (a very good strategy) why not use that fawning picture of the rapturous McCain hugging him like a little child?
McCain has said enough crazy stupid shit already to completely bury him. He’s a nut and and an incompetent warmonger.Gee, doesn’t that sound like someone else roundly hated by 70%+ of the American population? What’s the risk here, that suddenly there is going to be an outpouring of sympathy for Bush? Not likely.
Take the goddamn glove off Dems.
a front line combat presence would lead to over 640,000 US deaths. How?
at current rates of US military suicides of approximately 6400 a year… multiplied by 100 equals….
a lot of suicides if present trends remained.
then, about 1000 standard US killed in action per year…at the average present rate… multiplied by 100.
100,000 killed US military.
that is more than the combined Union and Confederate US forces killed in the Civil War, the bloodiest US conflict to date.
Keep the ad running….24/7. The truth needs to get out to the dense cro magnums in NC. And could someone do a photo shop on mcAncient so his head fits on his body again. Looks like he’s lurching forward off his shoulders.
Old geezers need to be bouncing grand kids on their knees…..for joy.
McCain is not nearly as clever as Bushies. In 5 years, Bush has never defined what the win/loss scenario is in Iraq or how to evaluate it. McCain this week revealed three things:
1) we went in for oil;
2) we should leave Iraq if the mission is unachievable;
3) the mission is to establish “a peaceful, stable, prosperous, democratic state.”
He does this because he thinks militarily, which has some semblance to rationality. I think this is why Bushies dislike McCain. He has, for the first time, established the playing field. The follow up questions are obvious, if anyone cares to ask them:
- “Without establishing a timetable for withdrawal, what are the metrics you use to determine whether there is enough progress toward the stated objective to warrant a continuation of military presence.
- What are the current values of said metrics?
So McCain trying to claim that his comment about the 100 years didn’t mean what he meant it to mean? Well fine. We’ve got a few dozen more of his ‘misstatements’ we can use - assuming the DNC has enough money to produce a spot of each one, which they probably don’t, let alone the money to air ‘em all. Let’s see - war for oil or not?…Shiite, Sunni - Potato, Patata…torture is bad - torture is good…I welcome his endorsement, I disavow what he stands for…using your wife’s jet isn’t elitist, and it’s damn sure not ‘dipping into her stash’…George Bush’s war is good, George Bush’s conduct of the war is bad…I could go on but what’s the use. The media will cut him slack right up until Obama kicks his ass to the curb in November.
I’m not holding my breath, but it would be a huge step forward if our “leaders” tried to understand other countries before we bomb, invade, or occupy them.
The “domino theory” was the belief that, if we didn’t hold the line against the Commies in Vietnam, all of Southeast Asia would fall to the Red Chinese. But anyone taking an entry-level course in SE Asian history would have quickly discovered that the Vietnamese themselves had been fighting Chinese encroachment for generations. And one of the first countries that Vietnam mixed it up with after we pulled out was—you guessed it.
And we know just how deeply Boy George and the Busheviks understood Iraqi culture and history when they decided to go all shock and awe on its ass.
Now McSame is holding South Korea up as an example of how long we can keep troops stationed in another country. Does he even know what he’s taking about? There is nothing in Korea remotely comparable to the centuries-old ethnic warfare in Iraq. Trust me. I was stationed there for over a year and never once did anyone set a bomb off outside a Korean Christian church.
I don’t expect our leaders to never make mistakes. I just wish they’d stop making the same ones over and over again.
The McCain’s problems go way beyond this. He wants to take away your health care that you get from your employer and make you pay for the whole thing yourself. He wants to “bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.” He probably wants to do the same to Syria and Venezuela. He wants to make the Muslims drink beer so that Cindy can expand her beer distribution company. The list goes on and on!
McCain is proving to be about as ept a politician as Bob Dole was. The guy just doesn’t get it. Can’t wait for the GE to start.
bitter Edwin Hussein @ 4:
Boy aren’t you intelligent? We sure seem to be benefiting from all that oil that we are pursuing in Iraq. I think sometimes people make up stories because they are unwilling to deal with the truth.
McCain is liar and crook. Unfortunately, so are Obama and Clinton. That leaves only Nader to get my vote.
Ok, not for nothing but as one who supported the GOP since Nixon, I can’t believe the party has gone this far down the path of stupidity. It was bad enough when the party ‘leaders’ decided bush was the “best and brightest” we had. I crossed over and voted for Kerry, as even I could see bush was at best a lightweight. Never did I dream he’d be SO incompetent. Six and 1/2 years of bush and GOP controlling congress and what did we get from this ‘leadership’?
NO Immigration Reform
NO Social Security Reform
NO Healthcare Reform
NO Infrastructure Support
NO Border Control
and …..
NO OSAMA.
But we did get a Trillion dollar war…..with no end in sight. Unless, of course, you factor in McCain’s 100 years.
Vote GOP again?
HELL NO.