MCCAIN'S 'LATCH-KEY' WAR FINISHED BY 2010
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistFor weeks now, John McCain’s desperation was only beginning to set in–soon after Barrack Obama returned from his successful tour of the Middle East and Europe.
But ever since the Iraqi government wanted the US to start withdrawing our troops from that battlefield, John McCain’s desperation only increased ten-fold.
From his negative attack ads portraying him as a ‘celebrity candidate’ rather than a
real Presidential candidate–to his false troops ad which openly accused him of ‘shortchanging our wounded troops’–John’s perfect little ‘hero’ world has begun to fall apart at the seams.
Since the surge has worked to some degree, it’s only perfectly
logical that we withdraw our forces and focus them elsewhere–like Afghanistan for example. (But that’s only
if either candidate has a clue as to what is
really going on over there. This other war is totally different from Iraq.)
But why is John McCain accusing Obama of wanting to ‘legislate’
failure from the bench–when we are clearly
winning in Iraq?
Simply put, McCain is still trying to paint Obama as an inexperienced candidate whom can’t make the right decisions as President.
Unfortunately, what John McCain fails to grasp is that his unwavering support of an unpopular war has led the majority of Americans to say that this conflict was a
mistake–similarly echoing American opinion from another failed conflict only a generation ago. (Vietnam.)
Secondly, since we are
winning the war in Iraq, why not leave? The one question that John McCain has thus far failed to answer is this one:
Why do you feel the need to overextend our stay in a country that clearly wants us out
?
Is it because John wants one last ’gasp’ of a Cold War victory over an enemy that he can neither see nor properly identity in Iraq? Is it because he wants to put the ghosts of a painful past–finally to rest? (By sticking us in place inside a war that is now largely over?)
Or is it because John McCain himself doesn’t want to embrace the very victory that he originally set out to have?
A latch-key victory with strings still attached?
Whether or not he wants to accept it, John McCain must face the reality of the new Iraq. That when October 2010 finally rolls around–we are
gone largely from a country we illegally occupied for the last 7 years.
Victory or not, our job is
done.
It’s time to focus our troops onto something else.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.comLabels: 2010, Barrack Obama, Iraq war, John McCain, negative attack ads, troop surge, troops, Vietnam, withdrawal
IF THE MILITARY SURGE IS SO ‘SUCCESSFUL’–WHY NOT JUST LEAVE?
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistThe moment this Iraq war started to turn itself around, the military brass started to panic.
What if things do calm down–then what do we do?No one had any answers to that question. Neither did Bush nor McCain–both a strong advocate of ‘staying the course till victory is
declared’.
The military surge was in answer to the spiraling, out-of-control violence that threatened to tip Bush’s Iraq war into complete chaos without any way back.
So in went 30,000 troops whom pacified much of Baghdad and the surrounding areas. And while that did seem to shake things up a bit, there was still no progress on the political front.
Just recently, Malaki demanded that the US draw up a time table by next year–a
withdrawal date for all US troops to leave his country.
That–in effect–set off alarm bells all over the place. Not just for the Bush cabal, the military brass, but McCain’s camp and his supporters.
“We can’t leave!”--was the rallying cry for all involved.
“Setting withdrawal dates just plays into the enemies’ hands!”How odd that they would make such a statement–wouldn’t you think? After all, if the military surge is a ‘success’–why not just take Malaki on his offer and get the hell out of Dodge?
Pull all our troops out and push them into Afghanistan–where the real war is presently?
Trouble is, this would play right into Obama’s campaign strategy of troops withdrawal within a year and a half of him getting elected President; whereas McCain just wants to continue Bush’s feeble excuse for victory–by keeping our troops in a country that wasn’t even a
threat to begin with, but no longer poses much of a challenge for our military forces in the here and now.
And neither Bush nor McCain wants to see Obama get a boost from a viable plan that clearly countermands what they've had in play for the last 6 years.The insurgency has pretty much died out by the time the surge was completed–with no measurable amount of enemy casualties to show for an effective campaign. The only thing that the military brass was using were ridiculous charts and bar graphs to
show our incremental surges of progress–but in the end, it didn’t have that
electrifying of an effect on Congress as it did have on Bush and the war profiteers.
You would think that they would've been happy
by now!But no...they still aren't.
Now–with Malaki demanding that we leave his country far sooner than McCain or Bush would’ve liked–the military brass is now more worried about everything being ‘undone’ by such a withdrawal or even a ‘timetable’ for such.
Why–if things were such a ‘success’? Why worry at all? It’s a bit puzzling how the military should be the exact
opposite instead of fearful and agonizingly uncertain.
As they are now.
Which means, that all this talk of “success” is either vastly overstated, or the plain fact of the matter is that the Iraqis and Malaki have finally grown tired of the US’s mess left at that their doorstop to clean up after 6.5 years of brutal occupation–
and have demanded
that they leave.No if’s, and’s, or but’s about it.
And we have to leave; having overstayed our welcome.That is the nature of a war-torn country growing fed up with their incompetent occupiers--
is it not? Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.comLabels: Bush, Iraq war, John McCain, Malaki, Obama, timetables, withdrawal
PRESIDENT JOHN MCCAIN--A DISASTER IN THE MAKING
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistAsk me
again as to
why some people want to repeat another disastrous mistake in the coming election–by voting in more of the same bellicose policies which have train wrecked our nation’s economy and worn out our military past the breaking point?
Despite recent attacks on the Green Zone and the increase in violence (plus the apparent unraveling of the cease-fire by the Mahdi army), McCain has clearly signaled that he won’t change course either–echoing Bush’s recent comments on how history will perceive his failed Iraq policy: "One day, people will look back at this moment in history and say, 'Thank God there were courageous people willing to serve, because they laid the foundations for peace for generations to come.' "
McCain
himself believes that the US troop surge is ‘succeeding’–despite the ratcheting violence and the fact that we have hit another grim milestone (or two): 4,000 dead American troops and almost 30,000 wounded.
Does he care? From his recent statements: “Sen. John McCain declared Monday that "we are succeeding" and said he wouldn't change course -even as the U.S. death toll rose to 4,000 and the war entered its sixth year.”
Apparently not.
Imagine for the moment that McCain is President for the next 8 years–having won the 2008 primary by a slim margin (2016):
Iraq has descended into complete chaos by 2012; 8,200 troops are now dead–with as many as 62,000 US troops wounded; with many more raw recruits having to come and fill the gaps left behind, through an unregulated draft put into place 2 years into McCain’s presidency.
On top of that, $1.5 trillion dollars have been spent on the conflict so far (not counting the money needed to take care of our wounded troops), Malaki’s government no longer exists in the form that the previous administration had installed–forcing the current administration to take steps to ensure that some semblance of democracy still
exists in that war-torn region.
Between 160,000 to 1.2 million Iraqis have died so far and as many as three million more displaced by the war. Iran’s influence in the region is simply overpowering, but there is little that McCain can do to affect any real change with that country; after it succeeded with its uranium-enrichment program the year before.
At this stage, McCain is consistently accusing Iran of wanting to destroy the world with its phantom nuclear arsenal–while Afghanistan has collapsed into complete anarchy. (NATO left in 2011-2012–having been unable to turn the tide against a now entrenched Al-Qaeda; with the country in complete control of the warlords which now operate without fear.)
Pakistan is now no longer our ally in the war against terror; having given up its pursuit of democracy. That in turn has left Al-Qaeda a new place to call home--even as its operations have started to expand on a
global scale; instead of just isolated to one or two countries. (As many analysts were quick to point out that the Iraq war conflict has deeply inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad and given groups like Al-Qaeda the money, resources, and manpower to carry out their deadly terrorists attacks against European and American interests; and a few recent attacks here in the states.)
Public opinion has so soured over the war (with a scant 15% still supporting the administration), that they see themselves unable to connect with their representatives over the war–let alone the government that’s
supposed to represent them.
However, things at home are much worse than they were when Bush took office. The economy is still mired in a deep recession brought on by the collapse of the housing market, the credit crunch, a near worthless dollar, and $170 oil. (Not to mention nearly $7 gas.)
High energy costs have left the majority of Americans dependent on their federal government to make ends meet–rather than the now scuttled wage earners which had helped prop up many of the former middle-class Americans in years past.
Chronic homelessness and rampant poverty now grips the nation, with no end in sight.
McCain’s tax cuts for the rich and the continued war has pushed the US deficit to nearly $14 trillion dollars–as federal revenue has fallen to its lowest level in recent memory; coupled with the strain of the insurgent population of baby boomers on Social Security and Medicare (whom retired in 2008), healthcare costs which have transcended levels not seen in a generation, and the
surge of illegal immigrants into our country has put a severe strain on our country’s medical and social services. (Thanks in part to McCain’s successful ‘amnesty’ bill; pardoning many immigrants from breaking federal law and not paying their share in back taxes–while working here illegally.)
But McCain is up for re-election and he’s once again claiming that despite the high costs of lives and money, the US is “winning the war in Iraq”. (The same ploy which Bush used in his last year in Iraq.)
And this time, the
majority of the country doesn’t support or share his views. Even a larger majority of Republicans whom blindly supported Bush’s push for war during the early 2000s, don’t rush to his defense of the conflict as they did before many years prior.
But will a change in the American public’s perceptions finally end what McCain said would be a “100 year occupation” of Iraq by 2012–almost 10 years after Bush invaded that country?
It all depends on how the people in there and
now vote.
The above scenario is little less of a fantasy and more on the
reality we all face if we let someone like John McCain in the White House–based on current trends and an equally dismal future for
all Americans.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.comLabels: elections, healthcare, Iraq, Iraq war, Iraqi civilians, McCain, milestones, national deficit, President Bush, recession, troop surge
SUPPORT FOR THE FAILED TROOP SURGE CONTINUES UNABATED
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistIt’s a bit puzzling: Seeing the GOP continue to support a clearly failed Iraq policy.
But that’s what they are apparently content in doing. And the question is
why?
What possible political gain could the GOP hope to achieve by supporting a failed troop surge?
The original premise of the surge was to tamp down violence in Baghdad long enough to give the Malaki government enough reconciliation time and get its act together.
But 8 months later--zero political progress has been made by the clearly
dysfunctional Malaki government.
Does this stop the GOP support?
Nope.
These misguided fools (and their supporters) still hinge on the idea that “it takes awhile for progress to be made”.
Okay…um…8 months have passed and
no progress has been made in political reform, unity, or reconciliation within the Malaki government.
The year before that…?
Nothing. The year before that?
Nothing.So what are the GOP and its war supporters waiting for?
A sign from God?
With limited progress on the ground, the Malaki government clearly has shown that it cannot govern. But does this persuade the Republicans that nothing they do or say is going to change the facts on the ground?
That this surge is a monumental failure?
Sadly, no.
The GOP is inherently blind to reality. They still believe that through some unforeseen miracle–Iraq will somehow
right itself and fly right.
But both war-weary Americans and Democrats are
tired of waiting. And seeing our military abused for clearly selfish purposes.
But take heart. All of this will end sooner than we all thought.
Someone recently said: "When we make a mistake, it is the obligation of the people—through their representatives—to correct the mistake, not continue the mistake. We have dug a hole for ourselves and we have dug a hole for our party. We are losing elections, and we are going down next year if we don't change it."
And that person was none other than Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul
himself.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.comLabels: American people, Democrats, GOP, Iraq, Iraq war, Ron Paul, troop surge failure
