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Three weeks ago -- fresh off of his re-election battle -- Arizona Republican Senator John McCain turned up (surprise!) on NBC's "Meet the Press." That weekend, the talk in Washington had turned to the future in Afghanistan. And in arguing about the way forward in year 10 of that war, Senator McCain held up the U.S. experience in Iraq as the model that needed to be followed:
DAVID GREGORY: You just heard David Axelrod say any withdrawal will be conditions-based. Is that not enough to satisfy you?
SEN. MCCAIN: Well, I'd like to see the president say that it's only condition-based. According to Mr. Woodward's book, his problem is the political -- the left -- the base of the Democrat Party. You don't fight and conduct wars that way. You win, and then you leave. And that's what we've done in Iraq.
"You win, and then you leave." For the record, this is apparently what "winning" looks like. Courtesy of Reuters, the report from December 7, 2010, in Iraq:
FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Dec 7
Dec 7 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq as of 1830 GMT on Tuesday.
.. ABU GHRAIB - Armed men opened fire on a police checkpoint, killing one policeman, in Abu Ghraib, on the western outskirts of Baghdad, police said.
.. ABU GHRAIB - A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol killed two soldiers when it went off on the outskirts of Abu Ghraib, police said.
.. MOSUL - A security guard and two teachers were wounded when a roadside bomb went off near the entrance of a private school in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a source from the provincial police operations room said.
.. TAL AFAR - One person was killed and three others wounded when a bomb hidden inside a computer exploded at a repair shop in Tal Afar, about 420 km (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, police said.
.. BAGHDAD - Two mortar rounds landed in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone government and diplomatic enclave, a source in the Interior Ministry said.
BAGHDAD - Two civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb went off in the southern Baghdad district of Doura, police said.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb exploded near a car carrying three agents of the interior ministry's intelligence department, wounding all three, in central Baghdad, an interior ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol went off and wounded three policemen in the Saidiya district of southern Baghdad, an interior ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - Gunmen shot dead Sameer Esmail, a manager with the Baghdad municipal government, and wounded his driver in the Amiriya district of western Baghdad, an interior ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb went off and wounded four civilians in central Baghdad, an interior ministry source said.
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Why oh why does McCain continue to get a platform to spout nonsense?
We need to sent a message to Mc Cain that (He) the the King has no clothes and no money. He does not need to spout anymore nonsense. Why does he think he is so special?
Question for Senator McCain:
Has ANYONE ever 'Won' in Afghanistan? Even Ghengis Khan in 1219 didn't hold it for very long. Please define 'Winning', as it relates to Afghanistan!
btw, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Sarah Palin, and any other Right-Wing or FOX News 'Pundit', please feel free to 'Chime In' with your definitions - I'd LOVE to hear them!
...but Please don't mention the use of Nuclear Weapons - I don't think the elimination of all human life constitutes 'Winning', however 'Peaceful' the place might be, Post-Apocalypse.
ps: The former Soviet Union, never well-known for following the Rules of 'Civilized Warfare', threw everything they had at Afghanistan, killing between 600,000 and 2 Million Afghans, created an estimated 6 Million refugees, and took 10 Years to finally withdraw in defeat, realizing they could Never Win - Many Historians believe that the Soviet Incursion into Afghanistan, with it's cost in personnel, money, and the public's confidence, contributed greatly to the Collapse of the Soviet Union.
Would Senator McCain like to see the United States follow the example of the Soviet Union?
Hmmm.... We win and then we leave? What about Vietnam? Did we win that? What about Korea? Isn't that still at a level of indecision? McCain does love to rewrite history each time he opens his mouth.
We won in Germany and Japan and still have troops in those countries. Nuggan only knows why (and he's insane).
The Korean War ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty, so technically a state of war still exists. Maybe that counts as a draw? Anyway, since North Korea is also insane, actual war could theoretically break out at any moment, so it probably makes sense to keep troops there since South Korea is an ally.
However, I seriously doubt that Germany and Japan are likely to restart WWII, and the Cold War is over, so it makes no sense whatsoever to maintain those bases.
Were I prez, I would have invited the GOP congressional leaders to meet me at the Grand Canyon.
I'd ask them to look over the edge.
Then tell them, do it my way, or you get the Bush Tax Rate Hikes. (The Media, like you, have failed to remind the public that these are the GOP/Bush tax rate hikes, shame on you)
Do you really want to jump off this ledge?