McCain: I was right about Iraq strategy (AP)

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

McCain: I was right about Iraq strategy

By AMY LORENTZEN, Associated Press Writer
20 minutes ago

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Republican presidential hopeful
John McCain said Tuesday that he was right from the
start about the war strategy in Iraq.

"For almost four years we pursued a failed policy in
Iraq. ... I condemned it, I was criticized by
Republicans and others for doing so, and I saw it was
doomed to failure and I argued for the strategy that
is now succeeding," McCain said.

The current strategy under Gen. David Petraeus, the
top U.S. commander in Iraq, including the infusion of
thousands of additional troops, is right on track,
McCain said.

"This strategy is working. It is succeeding, and it
must be given a chance to succeed," he said.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070912/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_2

[kurth]

1. Add a million troops to make it succeed faster

What a fucking jerk.

[DS1]

2. I'm starting to feel sorry for the guy

[fujiyama]

5. I would...

if thousands of people weren't dying for his delusion...

[rurallib]

3. Condemned the policy? Iremember a pic of him hugging Junior

Almost looked like they needed a room or at least a bathroom stall. Was he whispering in W's ear that his strategy was wrong? I doubt it.

[Jim__]

4. That democratic government is coming along nicely, isn't it John? - n/t

[killbotfactory]

6. What a pathetic man.

[snowbear]

7. The past 24 hours...

....in Iraq:

09/11/07 AP: Seven 82nd Airborne soldiers die in Iraq
Seven soldiers killed in a vehicle accident in Iraq were members of the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade...The soldiers were returning from a raid...when their truck "veered off an elevated highway" and fell about 30 feet, Earnhardt said.

09/11/07 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Cpl. Javier G. Paredes, 24, of San Antonio, died Sept. 5 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered from a rocket propelled grenade.

09/11/07 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Pfc. Sammie E. Phillips, 19, of Cecilia, Ky., died Sept. 10 in Rustamiyah, Iraq, of injuries suffered from a vehicle rollover.

09/11/07 DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
Lance Cpl. Lance M. Clark, 21, of Cookeville, Tenn., died Sept. 7 from a non-hostile incident in Al Anbar province, Iraq.

09/11/07 MNF: Coalition Forces attacked at Camp Victory
One third-country national was killed and eleven Coalition Forces members were wounded Sept. 12 in an indirect fire attack on Camp Victory.

09/11/07 Reuters: 12 bodies found in Baghdad, corpse found in Abbasi
12 bodies were found across Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said...A corpse was found in Abbasi, 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Kirkuk.

09/11/07 Reuters: Gunmen kill security officer in Riyadh
Gunmen killed a security officer in Riyadh, 60 km (40 miles) southwest of Kirkuk.

09/11/07 Reuters: Gunmen kill Iraqi army officer in Kirkuk
Gunmen killed an Iraqi army officer while he was on his way to join his unit in the northern city of Kirkuk, police said.

09/11/07 Reuters: Sadr movement says may pull out of Iraqi coalition
he political movement loyal to anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said on Tuesday it may pull out of Iraq's ruling Shi'ite coalition unless the government improves security and makes political progress.

09/11/07 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Sgt. Alexander U. Gagalac, 28, of Wahiawa, Hawaii, died Sept. 9 in Hawijah, Iraq, of wounds suffered from a rocket propelled grenade during combat operations.

09/11/07 NBC: Iraqi official - ‘Corruption has crippled Iraq’
The former watchdog, Judge Radhi Al Radhi, tells NBC News that Iraq's current government, headed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, is riddled with so much corruption that the U.S. must stop supporting it.

09/11/07 Army Staff Sgt. Antonio Gonzales points his weapon across the Tigris River, keeping a close eye on a bridge that was cracked in half by an insurgent attack a few months ago.

09/11/07 wchstv: Kentucky National Guardsman killed in Iraq
Adjutant General Donald Storm says 19-year-old Private First Class Sammie Phillips of Vine Grove was killed yesterday when his vehicle overturned while he was conducting a traffic control mission in Iraq.

09/11/07 thevictoriaadvocate: Tour of Baghdad shows progress uneven
Such is today's Baghdad - a mix of the quest for some semblance of a normal life amid the raw struggle just to survive war and economic hardships. "Things have improved in one respect only. We have fewer bombs, but everything else is going..."

09/11/07 Reuters: Mortar fire wounds 7 people in Baghdad's Bayaa district
Two mortar rounds wounded seven people in the southwestern Bayaa district of Baghdad, police said.
09/11/07 Xinhua: Civilian killed in Baghdad's bomb attack
A bomb went off inside a vehicle in western Baghdad on Tuesday afternoon, killing a civilian and wounding five others, an Interior Ministry source said.

09/11/07 dpa: Three killed, 13 wounded in US raid on Sadr City
Three people were killed and 13 wounded in a US raid Tuesday on eastern Baghdad's Sadr city, independent Voices of Iraq news agency reported citing witnesses and medics.

09/10/07 Reuters: Iraq group sets 10-day deadline for German hostage
Iraqi militants said Germany had 10 days to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan or they would kill a German-Iraqi hostage, a video posted on the Internet said on Tuesday

09/10/07 Guardian: A wrong ID, a wrong turn can mean death
At a checkpoint leading on to the airport highway in west Baghdad yesterday, a policeman blocked the traffic. Dressed in a blue checked-uniform, Kevlar helmet, a Kalashnikov slung on his shoulder and a whistle in his hand, the last button...

09/10/07 MCT: Roadside bomb kills 1 civilian, wounds 4 others in Kirkuk
Around 10 a.m. a road side bomb targeted an Iraqi army convoy in southern Kirkuk. One civilian was killed and 4 others were injured

09/10/07 MCT: Gunmen kill and burn body in Basra city
Around 5 p.m., gunmen killed and then burned the body of the manager superviser of finance in Basra city (north of the city near Basra gate).

09/10/07 Reuters: Police find 3 bodies dumped in Mahmudiya
Police said they found three dumped bodies showing signs of torture in Mahmudiya, 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad.

09/10/07 Reuters: 13 Iraqi soldiers wounded by mortar fire near Iskandariya
Thirteen Iraqi soldiers were wounded in a mortar attack on their checkpoint near Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said

09/10/07 Reuters: 3 Policemen killed in clashes in Mosul
Three policemen were killed in clashes with militants in eastern Mosul, police said.

09/10/07 MCT: 10 bodies found in Baghdad
Police found 10 unidentified bodies in the following neighborhood in Baghdad: 8...in west Baghdad (Karkh bank); 2 in Saidiyah, 2 in Bayaa, 2 in Amil, 1 in Risala and 1 in I'laam...2 were found in east Baghdad(Risafa bank); 1 in Sadr city and 1 in Sleikh

09/10/07 Reuters: 10 killed by truck bomb in Mosul
A suicide truck bomb killed 10 people and wounded 78 near the northern city of Mosul, police said. Police said the attack took place in the village of Tal Marag.

09/10/07 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Spc. Marisol Heredia, 19, of El Monte, Calif., died Sept. 7 at Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, of injuries suffered from a non-combat related injury July 18 in Baghdad, Iraq. She was assigned to the 15th Brigade Support Battalion...

09/10/07 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Capt. Drew N. Jensen, 27, of Clackamas, Calif., died Sept. 7 in Seattle of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire during combat operations May 7 in Ba’qubah, Iraq. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion...

09/10/07 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Cpl. Ryan A. Woodward, 22, of Fort Wayne, Ind., died Sept. 8 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire during combat operations near Baghdad, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron...

09/10/07 DoD Identifies Marine Casualties (part 4)
Sgt. Michael J. Yarbrough, 24, of Malvern, Ark...died Sept. 6 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. They were all assigned to 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton

http://icasualties.org/oif/

[BenDavid]

8. Oh hell John, if I took oh say 100

policeman and we converged to the shady part of town and moved out all the drug dealers and other low life, but failed to capture them then within a few days they would be in another shady part of town doing the same thing. This is basically the same as with Iraq. Oh and by the way here is a few items one could tell on McCain...

Sen. McCain on CNN on Sept. 24, 2002: “I believe that the success will be fairly easy.”

Sen. McCain on CNN on Sept. 29, 2002: “We’re not going to have a bloodletting of trading American bodies for Iraqi bodies.”

Sen. McCain on this network MSNBC on Jan. 22, 2003: “We will win this conflict. We will win it easily.”

What’s that’s called again? Flip-flopping? Senator, we keep all the tapes of these interviews. C’mon!

Of course, you know what this means — it’s time to update the list of McCain’s biggest flip-flops as he transforms himself from maverick hero to right-wing hack. We’re up to 13 now.

* McCain went from saying he would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade to saying the exact opposite.

* McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as “an agent of intolerance” in 2002, but has since decided to cozy up to the man who said Americans “deserved” the 9/11 attacks. (Indeed, McCain has now hired Falwell’s debate coach.)

* McCain used to oppose Bush’s tax cuts for the very wealthy, but he reversed course in February.

* In 2000, McCain accused Texas businessmen Sam and Charles Wyly of being corrupt, spending “dirty money” to help finance Bush’s presidential campaign. McCain not only filed a complaint against the Wylys for allegedly violating campaign finance law, he also lashed out at them publicly. In April, McCain reached out to the Wylys for support.

* McCain supported a major campaign-finance reform measure that bore his name. In June, he abandoned his own legislation.

* McCain used to think that Grover Norquist was a crook and a corrupt shill for dictators. Then McCain got serious about running for president and began to reconcile with Norquist.

* McCain took a firm line in opposition to torture, and then caved to White House demands.

* McCain gave up on his signature policy issue, campaign-finance reform, and won’t back the same provision he sponsored just a couple of years ago.

* McCain was against presidential candidates campaigning at Bob Jones University before he was for it.

* McCain was anti-ethanol. Now he’s pro-ethanol.

* McCain was both for and against state promotion of the Confederate flag.

* McCain decided in 2000 that he didn’t want anything to do with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, believing he “would taint the image of the ‘Straight Talk Express.’” Kissinger is now the Honorary Co-Chair for his presidential campaign in New York.

And now McCain has gone from insisting that the war in Iraq would be easy to insisting that he’s always said the war in Iraq would be hard. And yet, you’ll still find most of the political establishment arguing that McCain’s strength as a candidate is his credibility.

Oh hell yes, McCain and his credibility.....Problem is, as they say down south "There ain't none"

Ben David

[Netbeavis]

9. definitely gotta watch Wopner.. Wopner, yeah.. definitely Judge Wopner, yeah

His grasp on reality due to he zealousness to be King is slipping. At least Reagan had Alzheimer's to blame it on.