Timing of Iraq Troop Withdrawal 'Not Too Important,' Says McCain

[goodhue]

Source: Washington Post

Timing of Iraq Troop Withdrawal 'Not Too Important,' Says McCain

By Jonathan Weisman

Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, said this morning that when U.S. forces come home from Iraq is "not too important," so long as U.S. casualties in the Middle East fall to levels comparable to those in Germany, Japan and South Korea, where U.S. forces have been stationed for decades.

"That's not too important," McCain said on NBC's "Today Show," when host Matt Lauer asked if he could estimate when U.S. forces would come home. "What's important is the casualties in Iraq, Americans are in South Korea, Americans are in Japan, American troops are in Germany. That's all fine."

That stance represented no real change from McCain's previously-stated Iraq policy prescriptions, but Democrats pounced on the language, accusing McCain of wanting to keep U.S. forces in Iraq indefinitely.

"It is unbelievably out of touch and inconsistent with the needs and concerns of Americans, particularly the families of the troops out there," said Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), in a conference call hastily convened by Democratic rival Barack Obama's campaign. "It is the most important thing in the world to them that they come home."

Susan Rice, a senior foreign policy adviser to Obama, accused McCain of "a real disturbing pattern of confusing the basic facts of Iraq."

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Read more: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/06/11/timing_of_iraq_troop_withdrawa.html

[gratuitous]

1. And if the timing is truly not too important . . .

Why is it that a call for withdrawal sooner rather than later marks a person as "naive" or "inexperienced" or somehow not having the troops' and by extension America's best interests at heart? McCain himself said that the timing is not too important.

The Republicans are spinning so much, they're screwing themselves into the ground.

[Lost4words]

2. 6 feet down I hope!

where they all belong!

8643

[LynnTheDem]

3. So never mind what the IRAQIS want (long ago immediate withdrawal),

what the IRAQIS want isn't impoertant, not like they're sovereign or a democracy.

And never mind what the majority of Americans want (long ago immediate withdrawal). What Americans want isn't important.

Yeah, McCain should do well with that party line. :eyes:

[stillcool]

4. He's right! 58 bases in Iraq..

are what is important!

U.S. seeking 58 bases in Iraq, Shiite lawmakers say

By Leila Fadel | McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD — Iraqi lawmakers say the United States is demanding 58 bases as part of a proposed "status of forces" agreement that will allow U.S. troops to remain in the country indefinitely.

Leading members of the two ruling Shiite parties said in a series of interviews the Iraqi government rejected this proposal along with another U.S. demand that would have effectively handed over to the United States the power to determine if a hostile act from another country is aggression against Iraq. Lawmakers said they fear this power would drag Iraq into a war between the United States and Iran.

"The points that were put forth by the Americans were more abominable than the occupation," said Jalal al Din al Saghir, a leading lawmaker from the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. "We were occupied by order of the Security Council," he said, referring to the 2004 Resolution mandating a U.S. military occupation in Iraq at the head of an international coalition. "But now we are being asked to sign for our own occupation. That is why we have absolutely refused all that we have seen so far."

Other conditions sought by the United States include control over Iraqi air space up to 30,000 feet and immunity from prosecution for U.S. troops and private military contractors. The agreement would run indefinitely but be subject to cancellation with two years notice from either side, lawmakers said.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/40372.html

Reduction in U.S. Troops Eyed for '04
Gradual Exit Strategy Tied to Iraq's Stability
By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 19, 2003; Page A01
U.S. military commanders have developed a plan to steadily cut back troop levels in Iraq next year, several senior Army officers said in recent interviews.
There are now 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. The plan to cut that number is well advanced and has been described in broad outline to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld but has not yet been approved by him. It would begin to draw down forces next spring, cutting the number of troops to fewer than 100,000 by next summer and then to 50,000 by mid-2005, officers involved in the planning said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A46852-2003Oct18?language=printer