War Handwavium

15 July 2008: John McCain says that he knows more than Barack Obama about “how to win wars.” McCain says Obama is offering misguided military plans for the region before he’s even set foot in the country.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080715/ap_on_el_pr/mccain

21 July 2008: John McCain insisted that he has been consistently right on both Iraq and Afghanistan while Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama “has been completely wrong.” 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080721/ap_on_el_pr/mccain

Well, let’s look at that, Senator McCain, shall we? Back in 2002, when Congress was debating the authorization for war against Iraq, you said:

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Remarks_by_John_McCain_prior_to_the_U.S._invasion_of_Iraq

“when the people of Iraq are liberated, we will again have written another chapter in the glorious history of the United States of America, that we will fight for the freedom of other citizens of the world”

How’s that been working out, Senator McCain? Did the US involvement in Iraq turn into “another chapter in the glorious history” of the US?

In that same speech, you defended Bush, saying “I believe the President of the United States has done everything necessary and has exercised every option short of war, which has led us to the point we are today.”

What does the chapter of the glorious history of Bush Jr. have to say about that, Senator McCain? Do you think we were prepared? Do you think Bush did everything possible to avoid war? Do you think Bush did everything possible to prepare for war?

It would seem your assessment of military prepardness is, in short, utter crap. If you were so wrong in assessing our military prepardness in March 2003, why should we believe you are so much better now?

And finally, at the end of your speech, you said: “I believe that, obviously, we will remove a threat to America’s national security because we will find there are still massive amounts of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.”

Really? Senator McCain? Is that what you thought? After we invaded Iraq and scoured the country for WMD’s, we came up with absolutely nothing. Zero WMD’s, Senator McCain. None. Zilch. Zip. Nada.

If you were so wrong back then in March 2003, why should we believe you’ll be so much better now?

And yet you arrogantly claim to know more about how to win a war than Barack Obama. That Obama is offering misguided military plans? Oh really, Senator McCain? How did your plans turn out so far? March 2003, you appear to have come up zero-for-three. Not a single win, Senator McCain.

By comparison, here’s some excerpts from what Barack Obama was saying around March 2003.

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Barack_Obama’s_Iraq_Speech

“But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength”

Golly gee, Senator McCain, it seems Barack Obama certainly had a better grasp of the phantom WMD menace that you and your buddy Bush Jr were trying to scare the nation with.
Here’s something else Obama said: “I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.”

Who has a better sense of military plans, Senator McCain? Barack Obama was right on every count here: He predicted that invading Iraq would be far longer than the 6 weeks to 6 months that you and your cronies were saying at the time. He predicted that invading would cost a lot more money than anyone would admit, whereas your buddy Bush and the administration was saying the invasion would “pay for itself” with Iraqi oil. He said that the invasion would be a recruitment poster for al-Qaeda, whereas your buddies in the White House were trying to tell everyone that Iraq was already linked with al Quaeda and was connected to 9/11.

Everything Barack Obama said about Iraq before the invasion was right.

Everything you, Senator McCain, said about Iraq before the invasion was wrong.

If anyone has a track record for being smarter at understanding the reality of military plans, it would seem to be Barack Obama.

And if anyone has a verifiable track record for engaging in war handwavium around military plans, it would seem to be you, Senator McCain. You were part of the smoke and mirrors that helped beat the war drum and lead this nation into our dumbest war in history. You were part of the problem, Senator McCain. And it would seem between the two of you, Obama is clearly a part of the solution.