Ignoring Generals’ Words Of Caution, McCain And Lieberman Rush To Declare Success In Iraq
Ignoring Generals’ Words Of Caution, McCain And Lieberman Rush To Declare Success In Iraq
This month, as violence has dropped a bit in Iraq, military commanders and other Iraq experts have been hesitant to begin declaring victory, saying instead that the “positive” momentum is “not yet irreversible” and Iraq is “going nowhere” in “political terms.”
But Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who traveled to Iraq for the Thanksgiving holiday, have been much less cautious in their public statements and have all but declared victory.
On Sunday, McCain told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that “we’ve succeeded militarily” in Iraq. A day later, Lieberman appeared on Fox News, confidently bellowing that “we are winning” because “we have made progress” in “one of the most remarkable turnarounds in modern military history.” Watch it:
There is no denying that in recent months violence has declined in Iraq — weekly attacks have dropped “to the lowest level since January 2006” and “the death toll for American troops” in October fell to “the lowest level since March 2006.” But the situation is still grim. With more than a month left, 2007 is already “the deadliest year of the war for United States troops” yet.
“Unlike US estimates, Iraqi statistics do not show a drop in the level of violence in the Baghdad area.” In the past two days alone, at least 35 “people were killed or found dead” across the country, underlining Iraq’s fragile state and the still ever-present propensity for it to relapse into violence.
But it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the potentially tenuous nature of Iraq’s lull in violence hasn’t stopped perma-hawks like McCain and Lieberman from declaring success. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time the two senators have done such a thing in four and a half years of war:
- “Let there be no doubt: victory can be our only exit strategy. We are winning in Iraq.” — Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) [11/5/2003]
- “This is a mission accomplished. They know how much influence Saddam Hussein had on the Iraqi people, how much more difficult it made to get their cooperation.” — Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) [This Week, ABC, 12/14/03]
- I “can report real progress there… Progress is visible and practical… Does America have a good plan for doing this, a strategy for victory in Iraq? Yes we do.” — Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) [11/29/2005]
“The last two weeks have been critically important and I believe may be seen as a turning point in the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism.” — Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) [12/17/2005]
Though McCain likes to tout how sober and serious he is about the war, he’s had difficulty following his own advice. In 2006, he disparaged hasty proclamations like “stuff happens, mission accomplished, last throes, a few dead-enders” as amongst “the biggest mistakes” in prosecuting the war.
As they’ve done time and time again, McCain and Lieberman are rushing to declare “we are winning” in order to blindly support Bush’s policies in Iraq.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
…and then on to Iran.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:21 pmWhat planet are McCain & Lieberman inhabiting?? Uranus, no doubt.
They’ve both just lost total credibility with the people. A brain-dead moron and a bigoted idiot. Wow! Who do they think they’re kidding?
November 28th, 2007 at 1:23 pmMISSION ACOMPLISHED 2
November 28th, 2007 at 1:23 pmMcCain just couldn’t resist Rummy’s favorite words: “last throes”. Hah! What an assclown.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:24 pmMISSION ACOMPLISHED 2 , The Musical!
November 28th, 2007 at 1:24 pmYou know, in a train wreck, when all the cars have stopped moving … there is a moment of peace and you can declare that the train wreck has stopped… Usually that’s just before the fuel leaks, explosions, and screaming begins…but, the train has stopped wrecking…
It doesn’t mean that there hasn’t been a train wreck, and that there aren’t consequences from the train wreck that still have to be accounted for, and that the train wreck needs to be cleaned up and all other damages repaired before anything approaching normality returns….
But, hey! the train wreck is over
November 28th, 2007 at 1:24 pmRaynman: I hear ya! That’s precisely what’s going on here. The calm before the tsunami.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:27 pmBut McCain and Lieberman have been saying this for years and aftert every trip they made to Iraq,since the war began.
So, what’s new here..?!
November 28th, 2007 at 1:27 pmJoe Lieberman is an absolute disgrace and an embarrassment to the state of Connecticut and this country. He is constantly wrong, yet he has no shame and continues to whine in his whiny way these continually and demonstrably false statements and there seems to be no consequences.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:27 pmIf I was wrong about anything in my job 1/20th of the times he’s wrong, I would be rightly fired. Yet in my job, any mistakes I make don’t get young men and civilians in another country killed.
I can’t wait to see what moronic comments will be made tonight by the sorry lot of Repube Sycophants. All three frontrunners combined might have the collective intelligence quotient to make a normal human male.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:28 pmI think it’s amazing that these two traitors to their country think anyone anywhere gives a flying F about their opinions. The only thing I care about is seeing these two a$$holes thrown in prison where they belong with the rest of the republican traitors.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:29 pmWonderful! We won! Victory is achieved! Can we bring the troops home now?
November 28th, 2007 at 1:29 pmtarazan: They have been lying for years. What we certainly do not need is another liar in the white house – exit stage right, John McCain, the quintessential “flipflopping dolt”. As for LiverLips Lieberman, we all know which gang of thugs he’s fronting for: AIPAC. If he thinks he’s fooling anyone, he’s sadly mistaken.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:30 pmShall we bring our soldiers back after 2 ‘Accomplished Missions’ ?
November 28th, 2007 at 1:32 pmJust when you think that John McCain has outdone himself with idiocy and inane remarks, he outdoes himself once more. This guy needs to give up and move on to the “sunset years” of his life. (What’s up with his cancer anyway??? Just wondering….docs say he wouldn’t live out a 4 year term in any position but the MSM is moot on his health problems).
November 28th, 2007 at 1:32 pmHe always says that. He was saying that the last time he went there in May even though U.S. deaths that month were the worst they were in 2 years.
Maybe the WH will stroke his ego by including his comments in another speech like they did December 2005 (a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations no less):
‘One of those who has seen that progress is Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman. Senator Lieberman has traveled to Iraq four times in the past 17 months, and the article he wrote when he returned from his most recent trip provides a clear description of the situation on the ground. Here’s what Senator Lieberman wrote — Senator Lieberman wrote about the Iraq he saw: “Progress is visible and practical. There are many more cars on the streets, satellite television dishes on the roofs, and literally millions more cell phones in Iraq hands than before.”‘
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/12/20051207-1.html
Trent Lott from last May:
‘”I do think this fall we’ve got to see some significant changes in the situation on the ground, in Baghdad and other surrounding areas … or else,” Lott told reporters.
Lott would not elaborate on possible consequences.’
Maybe that’s why Lott is resigning? Nah, I didn’t think so either.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2039858620070507
November 28th, 2007 at 1:33 pmVERITAS… I’M SORRY ABOUT YESTERDAY. I JUST HEARD OF MORE ATROCITIES IN IRAQ PERPETRATED BBY THE US. I WAS VERY ANGRY AND JUST SAID STUPID ANGRY THINGS… JUST UNDERSTAND THAT OUTSIDE THE US, EVERYBODY IS REALLY CROSSED WITH YOUR COUNTRY AND ISRAEL.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:33 pmWonderful! We won! Victory is achieved! Can we bring the troops home now?
Comment by Chris L — November 28, 2007 @ 1:29 pm
If bushco declared victory, Faux news could trumpet our fantastic victory and we could end this folly.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:33 pmJohn McCain, Rudy Ghouliani, Mitt Romney = A Sicko, A Slicko, and a Hicko!
November 28th, 2007 at 1:33 pmAt some point you will run out of suicide bombers and Iraqi’s that are pissed at the occupation. When 2 million leave the country, and 600 thousand dead, you will sooner or later wear down any resistance.
But really I hope it does end and soon.
Bush/Cheney
Hague Trials ‘09
Buck Fush
November 28th, 2007 at 1:35 pmIs McCain inviting Lieberman(I) to help him in the debate tonight…?
November 28th, 2007 at 1:35 pmJesus H. Christ.
Idiots on Parade.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:37 pmanyone know how many hundreds or thousands of our soldiers had to sweep the area and provide security for the photo op in hell?
November 28th, 2007 at 1:45 pmFine – declare victory. Now can we go home?
November 28th, 2007 at 1:54 pmThis is nothing new for Joe L and McCain; they both are like polar bears, looking for that next dwindling ice berg to swim to. It will be sad when you hear them exclaim the “Great Victory” and then move on the Iraq and probably Syria, soon after.
Neocon Fools and their war toys are not so easily parted.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:59 pmWe won! Hooray!
I’d like to see this definition of “winning” applied to other areas. Sports, for example. Marathon runners could declare victory while throwing up at the three-mile marker. A football team could declare victory when down 30-0 in the first quarter. A baseball team could declare victory in the second inning. And it’d BE victory because they all SAID SO.
What about elections? A candidate could declare victory despite losing the popular vote. And it would be victory because he SAID SO. And maybe a court or two.
November 28th, 2007 at 2:03 pmgood news for the country = bad news for the libs
November 28th, 2007 at 2:04 pmAnd if death and destruction return to Iraq then I’m sure these two wisemen will of course point out the failure. Right?
November 28th, 2007 at 2:04 pmYou guys should stop being so negative. I’ll bet you in 6 months Iraq will be indistinquishable from Indiana.
/sarcasm
November 28th, 2007 at 2:06 pmThere is no “victory” in Iraq when their is no Iraqi political stability, no uniform acceptance or enforcement of Iraqi laws and civil liberties, no independent, capable or loyal Iraqi army, police force or civil engineers who can provide security, civil order, water, electricity or public transportation to its citizens. What’s really happening in Iraq doesn’t matter to Lieberman or McCain. What matters to them is their personal political agendas and how they can mischaracterize what’s going on in Iraq to further them. Nothing more! There will never be “victory” in Iraq for Americans or Iraqis. Only death, destruction and the endless struggle for survival.
November 28th, 2007 at 2:09 pmThose idiots are declaring victory based on the dropped number of killings? Well, if they kill everyone then it will be total victory, right?
They are just playing BUSH-IT! There has been no political progress in Iraq, which is the only that would matter.
But it seems that OIL is still pouring into shrinking Dick’s (et alli) pocket… so the war will not stop yet!
November 28th, 2007 at 2:09 pmgood news for the country = bad news for the libs
Comment by ct — November 28, 2007 @ 2:04 pm
—–
Did I miss the good news?
November 28th, 2007 at 2:09 pmDid we win or something?
27 – CT – I’ve mentioned before that I believe that you have to be either evil or stupid to still support the poo-flingin’ chimp that is George W. Bush.
You seem to fall directly into the “stupid” category.
So… why don’t you just sit quietly in your corner and try not to say anything else that’s as really, really stupid as your previous comment, ok?
November 28th, 2007 at 2:10 pmdeebaser,
November 28th, 2007 at 2:10 pmare you un chien andalusia?
good news for the country = bad news for the libs
Comment by ct — November 28, 2007 @ 2:04 pm
You’ve seen good news? Where is it?
November 28th, 2007 at 2:11 pmgood news for the country = bad news for the libs
Comment by ct — November 28, 2007 @ 2:04 pm
Let me explain this slowly so maybe you will understand, we want the troops home, winning would be a good thing so that could happen, dumbass.
November 28th, 2007 at 2:16 pmShouldn’t Lieberman be wearing a straight jacked for his own protection and ours.
November 28th, 2007 at 2:18 pmgood news for the country = bad news for the libs
Comment by ct
Not just good news, but great news, because now we can start bringing our troops home.
Isn’t that what you mean by “good news”?
November 28th, 2007 at 2:18 pmLieberman appeared on Fox News, confidently bellowing that “we are winning†because “we have made progress†in “one of the most remarkable turnarounds in modern military history
Lieberman speaks like a teenager who’s just written off his car, and professes relief that there’s still a market for scrap-iron.
November 28th, 2007 at 2:19 pmThe violence being down does not excuse the fact that we should not have invaded Iraq in the first place. Almost 4,000 of our troops are gone, many more maimed for life. Hundreds of thousands Iraqi civilians are dead. The Middle East is more unsettled than ever. Was this all worth it?
November 28th, 2007 at 2:36 pmWas this all worth it?
Comment by GregM — November 28, 2007 @ 2:36 pm
In a syllable – NO!
November 28th, 2007 at 2:51 pmCould they at the very least define what victory in Iraq is? These are all just games of words, all part of the perpetual war.
November 28th, 2007 at 3:03 pmHey Al Gore, ever wonder aloud why you didn’t make it to the white house?? Well, JOE LIBERMAN is why!!!
November 28th, 2007 at 3:20 pmYou can’t handle the truth!
Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 3:30 pm
lol – thanks for the comic relief.
November 28th, 2007 at 3:31 pmYou can’t handle the truth!
Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 3:30 pm
I am wondering when we will find a Republican that tells the truth……
November 28th, 2007 at 3:35 pmYou can’t handle the truth!
Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 3:30 pm
You don’t even know what the truth is, idiot.
November 28th, 2007 at 3:35 pmIf Holy Joe had been elected VP in 2000, would he have become as dangerous as Cheney, what with the dual allegiance and all?
November 28th, 2007 at 3:50 pmAre the violent attacks really down, or did they just stop counting them?
November 28th, 2007 at 4:42 pmIn yesterday’s local paper, Cal Thomas had an article that also declared victory. He said that the success in Iraq will be used by Republicans in the upcoming elections to attack the “cheerleading for terrorists” Democrats and that since the Dems’ predictions of failure in Iraq have turned out to be wrong, the Repubs will attack them as being untrustworthy in terms of making other decisions.
November 28th, 2007 at 5:45 pmAre the violent attacks really down, or did they just stop counting them?
Comment by Proud American Liberal — November 28, 2007 @ 4:42 pm
Oh, you can bet the government has found another number to tweak, just as they did when deciding to differentiate between a gunshot to the forehead vs. a gunshot to the back of the head.
November 28th, 2007 at 5:47 pmYou can’t handle the truth!
Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 3:30 pm
Don’t be so quick to celebrate, idiot. If it had been 2 months of increased violence, the bigmouths on the Right would have been screaming, for the 45th time, “Just give us 6 more months!”
November 28th, 2007 at 5:55 pmYou can’t handle the truth!
Comment by O. Bigfoot — November 28, 2007 @ 3:30 pm
You mean the truth about the administration abandoning hope that we will see political reconciliation in Iraq, which was the goal of the surge?
Can YOU handle that truth?
November 28th, 2007 at 5:58 pm#10 Comment by Veritas — November 28, 2007 @ 1:28 pm
All three frontrunners combined might have the collective intelligence quotient to make a normal human male.
You give them way too much credit.
November 28th, 2007 at 7:03 pm