ABC This Week Senators Kerry and McCain to speak about Iraq

[ProSense]

McCain on now!

THIS WEEK: Iraq, the Surge & the President's Strategy
Senators John McCain & John Kerry debate Iraq on Sunday

[babylonsister]

1. Not here yet; 10amCT, but I'll be watching in an hour. nt

[fedupinBushcountry]

2. Comes on here

at 11:30, damn.

[ray of light]

3. McCain warmonger will support the surge...Kerry will tell the truth.

Maybe they could flash McCain covered in his body armor, surrounded by his own personal troops with choppers flying over head as he walked the 'improved market' everytime McCain says anything.

He's a known liar now.

[ProSense]

4. OK, tiny spoiler:

the Romney and Thompson smack down (ouch!) by Kerry is worth watching this!

[globalvillage]

5. Smack!

Ouch. Mittens, did that hurt? LOL

[earthside]

6. Predictable; Boring. n/t

[moondust]

7. Kerry was good.

Knocked the legs out from under most of McBush's lies.


Some "tactical military successes" (The Surge) will never be enough.

[TayTay]

8. Sen McCain: Rumsfeld and Casey = Westmoreland in VN

McCain used this argument to distance the current "Take, Hold, Build" strategy with what came before it. The Senator from Arizona specifically said that he had consistently opposed the Rumsfeld/Casey strategy alost from the beginning of the war. However, this new strategy, seen by the results in Al-Anbar province shows the "surge" is not oly winning, but is the only way to go forward in Iraq.

An ad that MoveOn.org is running in tomorrow's NYTimes calls the Petraeus Report a fraud and refers to Gen. Petraeus as Gen. Betray-us. McCain said this made him sad and it politicizes the Report and defames Gen Petraeus. McCain is sure that Petraeus will speak his truth and MoveOn.org should be ashamed of their actions. The next few questions referred to how McCain's stance on the war will reinvigorate his failing Presidential campaign.

[beachmom]

10. Petraeus should not be put into a position of shilling for the WH.

He should be able to speak freely and independently. Brandon Friedman (VoteVets.org)showed a letter Petraeus sent to the troops, and he does conclude that the political progress in Iraq "is not what we hoped for". That says it all.

The report is prepared by the WH, because that is what is in the law.

[beachmom]

9. It's on in my area at 11:30 AM. n/t

[TayTay]

11. Sen Kerry believes the escalation has been a failure.

The Congress was told in January that the purpose of the surge was to give the Iraqi politicians and government enough stability for them to begin to settle their political differences. The US does not now, nor will it ever have, enough troops in Iraq to pacify that country. The escalation has resulted in sporadic areas that have had a downturn in violence. There is no evidence that says that these gains are sustainable or that the Iraqi politicians are doing anything to solve their internal differences.

The purpose of the escalation was not to achieve tactical military victories on the ground. The solution to Iraq is political, not military. Our troops have done everything we have asked them to do, they have done their jobs. It is the political process that is not "surging" and this is no sign that this is going to happen. (It is critical to remember that the escalation was not sold to the country or the Congress as the development of small tactical military victories. It was sold as a means for allowing stability in the country so the Iraqi pols could get their act together and begin to solve their own problems.)

What about withdrawal Sen. Kerry? Didn't all these reports state that a withdrawal by next spring would be disasterous? Kerry repeated that the only thing that has worked with the Iraqi government in getting goals met was the threat of a deadline and the resulting loss of American support.

Sen. McCain had said that he was afraid of a 'soft partition' of Iraq into religious and ethnic regions. Kerry said this has already happened. Baghdad was 60% Sunni before the war. It is now 75% Shia. The 'soft partition' is already under way and no US actions can stop it.

[babylonsister]

12. McCain is puke-inspiring in his groveling for Petraeus. Ugh. nt

[ProSense]

13. Videos up

VIDEO: McCain: Messy but Favorable Outcome...Senator on sticking with the surge.

VIDEO: Kerry: Courting Disaster with Iraq

[hibiscus]

14. K & R n/t

[ProSense]

15. More

McCain v Kerry on the Presi-Treaus Report and "Making Progress" in Iraq

[ProSense]

16. Kick! n/t