VetVoice: McCain blind to national security, troop morale issues

[babylonsister]

http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1427

McCain: "Not Too Important" When U.S. Troops Leave Iraq
by: Brandon Friedman
Wed Jun 11, 2008 at 11:35:09 AM EDT


John McCain showed once again this morning that he doesn't get the big picture when it comes to the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

snip//

My first question is this: What do the troops in theater think of a statement like that? What does the young sergeant on the 14th month of his third tour think when John McCain says it's "not too important" when we come home? In fact, this kind of talk is devastating to the morale of the troops. And this type of careless, flippant remark demonstrates unmistakably that McCain clearly has no idea what it's like to serve on repeated deployments. While he suffered much in his own war, he can neither empathize with, nor relate to today's troops in Iraq.

Second, it's evident that John McCain has no clue what Americans want: A CBS News poll last week showed that 80 percent of Americans disagree with John McCain's assertion that troops should remain in Iraq for as long as it takes.

Lastly, and most importantly, it's apparent that John McCain has no idea what's going on in Afghanistan and Pakistan--the two places that both General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker said represent a greater threat to America than Iraq. If McCain had been paying attention, he would be aware that a recent RAND study showed that the situation on the Pakistani side of the border is dangerously unstable--and that we are at risk of losing the larger battle there. Likewise, he would be aware that the Pentagon can't find enough troops to serve in Afghanistan--because they're all in Iraq:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon is scrambling to find trainers to send to Afghanistan, but it will be difficult to do that before commanders reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, the top military officer said Tuesday.

The quandary has left U.S. military leaders short in a region of the world where they believe the next terrorist attack against the United States will form. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday that the mountainous border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan - where Osama bin Laden is still rumored to be hiding - is also where planning for the next attack is happening.

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