Thanks Missy, but I did see that; I found it a typically ‘generalist’ type speech i’ve read or heard before; it’s not a policy or strategy position with some detail falling from it.

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Doug, for current information, visit his “speeches” link. This is his 4/07/08 speech he gave to the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/Speeches/3d837545-5ac8-4124-929c-33c3f0ee9fe5.htm

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“Logically” Dean cannot criticize McCain for Iraq if McCain hasn’t a stated policy.

As McCain hasn’t updated “Iraq” in the “Issues” section of his official website ‘McCain for President’ in over a year we haven’t any information to criticize:

http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/fdeb03a7-30b0-4ece-8e34-4c7ea83f11d8.htm

(McCain’s newly launched official *Spanish* website also has no stated policy on Iraq)

But, of course, this is politics, not logic.

Perhaps this is why McCain won’t tell us what his policy is:

… In a major survey just released by the influential journal Foreign Affairs, similar majorities have, in essence, “voted” for demilitarizing U.S. foreign policy. In their responses, they offer quite a different approach to how the United States should operate in the world. According to journalist Jim Lobe, 69% of respondents believe “the U.S. government should put more emphasis on diplomatic and economic foreign policy tools in fighting terrorism,” not “military efforts.” (Sixty-five percent believe the U.S. should withdraw all its troops from Iraq either “immediately” or “over the next twelve months.”) But, of course, no one who matters listens to them.

http://pacificfreepress.com/content/view/2567/81/

But don’t optimistically expect the economy turning around anytime soon to change the publics’ thoughts on a demilitarizing, as the WSJ reported today that a celebration over the resurgence in the markets “may be premature” because it is “common in a crisis for markets to hit bottom long before the economy does.”

With a two strong majorities (withdrawal and demilitarization) now tied to the economy it simply is political suicide for McCain to detail his bold strategy in Iraq for us.

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Yes, the Obamessiah and sHrillary claim to have a plan.

The sad part is that they claim that they will listen to the generals on the ground.

Then they claim that they will pull out immediately (or within X number of months).

So, which story are you going to believe?

Which one of their stories is the lie?

If the Dims had such a great plan for ending the war then why haven’t they implemented it through a cut off of funding in Congress?

They have certainly had the majority for a sufficient amount of time to get that done.

Unfortunately, the Dims never had a plan. They never had any intention of ending the war. They are a bunch of gutless, spinless cowards who don’t have the courage or the decency to do what they say they are going to do.

What’s worse is that the Dims don’t have the chutzpah to support the troops and support their mission.

We tried the gutless, spineless approach beginning in the 70′s and how did that work out for us?

We tried appeasement, containment, diplomacy, and everything short of plying the enemy with falafel and Diet Coke.

What did that get us? Hundreds of dead service personnel in Beruit and elsewhere. The first WTC attack. Bombed out embassies. The USS Cole. 9/11. Finally we reached point where we had enough. Finally we had a President who wasn’t going to take the black eye and just stand there smiling sweetly.

Did you ever wonder how much faster this thing could be over if we had a united front against this ruthless enemy?

This kind of garbage never would have happened during WWI or WWII.

Of course, back then the meaning of treason and its resulting punishment was much more clearly and readily defined and applied.

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Doug, when you said:

The problem is McCain hasn’t given us a policy for Iraq for a forward basing:

At this moment neither the Iraqis nor the US wants a permanent US base. And that’s the way it should stay until events and attitudes change.

However this decision does not require the meddling of Congress. The DNC led Congress keeps insisting they write legislation that absolutely forbids a US base in Iraq in the future. I have not heard McCain be a part of that “no no, never” crowd. But I could be wrong. Doesn’t sound like him.

To me, prohibiting today what may be needed in the future… tho not now… is nothing more than political posturing for votes. If, in the future, the US needs a base – permanent or temporary – and the Iraqis also want that presence, then the act should not be hamstrung by a 2008 Congress with anal vision.

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Yes 55110, their plan is to keep the US in Iraq until 2013, and to remove all the troops who aren’t needed for the following missions:
fighting Al Queda in Iraq
protecting US civilians and forces in Iraq
training Iraqi Security forces
and deterring foreign intervention.

Problem with this plan is that the number of forces needed to do all that…is about 100-140,000; ie what we have there now.

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Scott,

Both Hillary and Obama have a plan to get us out of Iraq. Grampy McCain does not have one it is really as simple as that.

Vote Democat

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You GOT to love the irony of Howard Dean claiming someone has no plan for future ops in Iraq or a plan for leaving when Dean himself promised a “New Direction In Iraq” if his party was given control of the House of Reps. They got all of Congress, and then it came out that the Dems never had a plan. They lied. They pandered to get the votess, and two years later…THEY STILL DON’T HAVE A PLAN. Oh, but they can rant about Sen McCain and claim he doesn’t have one as if it’s not a case of pot calling kettle black.

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Mike,

You mean the ‘Official McCain for President’ website, Iraq section, is out dated??

I guess we could then say that he hasn’t a stated policy then, yes?

Also, some one should tell The American Thinker, too:

McCain advocates an even larger military, economic, and political commitment to Iraq. In sharp contrast with President Bush, who received the loudest bipartisan applause during last month’s State of the Union Address when he declared that, due to the success of “the surge,” he was planning to bring troops home from Iraq, McCain promises to increase troop levels.

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Doug: I haven’t heard any calls recently from McCain to increase U.S. troop levels in Iraq. Have you? The web page you cite is clearly dated. The reference to halting sectarian violence in Baghdad should have given you a clue.

The U.S. government and Iraq are currently negotiating a long term strategic framework, similar to those we have with other nations where we have forces deployed. That agreement, which must be completed before the UN mandate expires will codify the U.S. role in Iraq for years to come.

I realize you and your fellow defeatists wanted us to pull out yesterday and damn the consequences, but the adults remain in charge for the time being.

Oh, voted for Richardson hunh? Didn’t it bother you that he permitted himself to be used as a propaganda tool by Venezuelan dictator Chavez?

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