Sen. McCain

Healthcare isn’t the issue du jour for Sen. McCain and a lot of other Republicans. McCain has been known for supporting the party line even in while the administration was under much scrutiny and attack for the President’s war on Iraq. However, McCain unlike other Republicans continues to support the war in Iraq.

With that said, I will get into some of the more controversial issues. Here are some of the things Sen. McCain thinks would allow a victory in Iraq:

Provide more troops on the ground- McCain thinks there aren’t enough American forces in Iraq. He believes more troops are necessary to clear and hold insurgent strongholds; to provide security for rebuilding local institutions and economies; to halt sectarian violence in Baghdad and disarm Sunni and Shia militias; to dismantle al Qaeda; to train the Iraqi Army; and to embed American personnel in Iraqi police units. (This of course is the total opposite of what democrats want to do, which is to start withdrawing troops in the near future. My question to McCain is where the heck does he think he’s going to get more soldiers. We can’t keep up with the thousands that are being killed. When will Iraq start to take over and govern their own country?)


Implement New Counterinsurgency Strategy-For most of the occupation, military strategy has focused on securing all of Iraq by establishing bases and conducting short operations from them. Ultimately, this secured only small areas of the country. McCain believes country needs a more powerful counterinsurgency strategy. (So basically McCain is offering up more proactive measures instead of having the forces be reactive. The type of people in this area pop up in places all the time. He thinks we need to stay on top of things and deny them access. Once again in theory this is all dandy, but where is the money coming from to pay for all of this?)

Strengthen the Iraqi Armed Forces and Police- McCain would accelerate the training and equipping of Iraqi armed forces and police to enable them to play a key role in securing Iraq. (The big issue about withdrawing US forces is the uncertainty of the Iraqi forces being ready. If U.S. withdraws before Iraq is ready to take full control there is belief a civil war will ensue and energize al Qaeda and other jihadists across the globe. The rate at which Iraqi forces is going we could be there forever.)

Create the security necessary for political progress and stability- John McCain believes that only by controlling the violence in Iraq can we pave the way for a political settlement. But once the Iraqi government wields greater authority, it will be incumbent upon Iraqi leaders to take significant steps on their own. (Ok this dude is preaching to the choir. This entire plan sounds like the land of utopia! Who doesn’t want these things? The plan is to address how this will happen. How does one go about creating such a thing?)

Accelerate political and economic reconstruction in a secure environment-John McCain believes there must be a greater emphasis on non-military components promoting economic development and representative, accountable governance. (Once again these are all feel good goals with a lot of sound bites about a change is going to come but I really don’t see how he plans to implement all these grand ideas.)


Keep Senior Officers in Place-The Pentagon has adopted a policy of rotating our generals in and out of Iraq almost as frequently as the rotating of troops. John McCain believes this to be a deeply flawed practice. If these are, in fact, the best leaders for the task, they should remain on the job as long as possible. (There is some validity in this statement but its easy for someone who is not over there fighting. Many of our soldiers are on extended duty or they have a brief break and turn around to go right back. It’s as if a person does good is penalized and must stay on longer. I don’t know if I agree with that.)

Call for International Pressure on Syria and Iran-John McCain believes Syria and Iran have aided and abetted the violence in Iraq for too long. Syria has refused to crack down on Iraqi insurgents and foreign terrorists operating from within its territory. Iran has aided the most extreme and violent Shia militias, providing them with training, weapons, and technology that they have used to kill American troops. (I actually agree with this but we have not been successful in getting international support in this area. I think folks are just tired of Bush and don’t want to put the pressure down and get involved. Hopefully, with new leadership, we can garner more support)

Win the Homefront- So this is basically a lot of rhetoric about fighting the good fight and achieving the impossible.

I apologize if my analysis of McCain’s Iraq Strategy appeared to be bias. However, I can do so much with the material I’m given!! It lacked real substance. If anyone disagrees then please comment!