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
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
SURGE PROVES TO BE A MUCH BIGGER FAILURE THAN BEFORE
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistIf you were waiting for the other shoe to drop on this troop surge in Iraq–than it already had.
Months ago.
Did Bush actually
believe that adding another 30,000 tired and worn out troops to the mix was going to make any difference in Iraq–especially in the long run?
4 months ago, Bush said that the goals of the surge was to tamp down the violence in Baghdad and give the severely weakened Malaki government “breathing room”.
But four months into the operation–now at full strength–has proven that nothing has really changed as a whole.
Violence still is at an all-time high, attacks are constant, Baghdad is still under siege, and all Bush can do and say is: “We won’t know for several more months–if the troop surge will work or not.”
But why wait four more months, when we can already see the end results of this failed gamble?
Nothing has
changed. The capital is still besieged, the insurgents are still running amok all over the place, and Malaki can’t figure out how to best approach this problem–when the people he was sworn into a couple years ago–has lost
all confidence in his ability to unite the country?
For the life of me, I can’t figure out the logic of the Bush administration in this mess. The latest signs point to a complete failure of this troop surge, but we’re being told to
wait several more months.
Or another year. Whichever comes first. But whether or not the time comes for the truth to come out, the reality of this troop surge has become clear to me:
It never worked.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: Baghdad, Bush, insurgents, Malaki, months, troop surge, year
WHICH SIDE ARE WE ON THESE DAYS? FANTASY OR REALITY?
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistIt doesn’t cease to amaze me. You would think that this endless war without a plan or exit strategy would curtail the government and military’s
rosy and
optimistic views on how this conflict is going–but it
hasn’t.
Curiously, it seems to have
magnified the symptoms drastically: Though we have daily bombings in Baghdad, with civilians and US soldiers dying pretty much every day, both the military and the government running this dog and pony show still
believes that they are making “progress”!
So I guess in this instance, we are in
fantasy mode–not reality.
Despite all the carnage going on, both apparatuses are operating under a
make-believe mentality that things are progressing regardless of the enormous loss of life done to both occupier and its
liberated populace.
Which of course, is making the mission in Iraq less definable and more complex. If the recent surge of troops (scheduled to be increased to 28,000) was supposed to have worked by now, it has
failed.
If the recent surge of troops was supposed to have stemmed the bombings and contain the violence, it has
failed.
That is reality. But to Bush and the military, that’s “progress.”
To my mind, this is the
worst application of military and federal intelligence in any war brought forth by the US since its inception over 200 years ago.
It is no wonder the chaos still goes on unimpeded! We are simply allowing this to happen because we got a bunch of amateurs in both sects of command operating under the mentality of a
retard!
This goes beyond anything which the civilized world would be able to understand. And quite frankly, this conflict is creating more instability by the day, than it could possibly do in the exact opposite.
And despite Bush’s claims to progress with Malaki’s government, there hasn’t been at all. Some half-hearted gestures from his side, but in reality, he’s allowed this to go on for far too long.
The Iraqi people are clamoring and
demanding that he does something, but he
can’t.
However, Bush will still call it “progress” no matter what. The Iraqi security forces are unable to halt the violence. Stop the insurgency, stop the Shiite militias.
And neither can ours.
So in effect, what we are dealing with here is something we all call
reality.
But to the Bush administration and the US military, it’s called
fantasy
“progress”.
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@yahoo.comLabels: Bush, chaos, fantasy, Iraq, Malaki, reality, troop surge
