McCain: Afghanistan’s Troubles Are Unrelated To ‘Our Diversion To Iraq’
McCain: Afghanistan’s Troubles Are Unrelated To ‘Our Diversion To Iraq’
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) appeared on ABC’s The View this morning. He discussed his “mistake” of opposing a national holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., and said, “If we are wrong on a position, we then should admit it.” But when Joy Behar asked whether he would admit that the Iraq invasion was a mistake, McCain answered flatly, “No”:
BEHAR: Do you admit now that it was a mistake to go into Iraq?
MCCAIN: No. … The problem was not the fact that we went in, to be honest with you. The problem was the mishandling of it for nearly four years. If we had done the right thing from the beginning –
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: We would have been in Afghanistan.
MCCAIN: But Afghanistan is not in trouble because of our diversion to Iraq.
BARBARA WALERS: Why do people think it is, that we don’t have the troops there that we need?
MCCAIN: I know a lot of people think that and we do need more troops there.
Watch it:
In fact, the U.S. commitment to Iraq has continually drained resources from the fight in Afghanistan. Appearing on PBS’ Newshour in January, former CentCom Commander William Fallon pointed to Iraq to explain the resurgence of the Taliban in 2007 — the deadliest year for U.S. soldiers there:
Well, back in 2001, early 2002, the Taliban were pretty much vanquished. And I wasn’t over there during the intervening years. But my sense of looking back is that we moved focus to Iraq, which was the priority from 2003 on, and the attention and the resources focused on a different place. There’s been some resurgence in the Taliban. This is a country — Afghanistan needs a lot of work in the business of rebuilding itself.
The strain on the troops created by the war in Iraq has clearly left fewer resources for the fight in Afghanistan. Last week, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Richard Cody insisted that the “Army is out of balance” and that the “current demand for our forces… exceeds the sustainable supply.”
Before leaving, McCain assured the women of The View that, as president, he would “get” Osama bin Laden “and bring him to justice.” Apparently McCain is overlooking the fact that the reason bin Laden is still on the loose is because the fight in Iraq diverted attention from perusing the terrorist leader in Afghanistan.
With the bulk of our ground forces deployed to Iraq, we've been unable to prepare for or deploy for other contingencies in other places. We are not training to full spectrum capabilities. We are not engaging sufficiently with partner militaries. And we cannot now meet extra force requirements in places like Afghanistan.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
MCCAIN: But Afghanistan is not in trouble because of our diversion to Iraq.
McClueless.
April 10th, 2008 at 1:45 pmMcCain: The 100-year war candidate.
April 10th, 2008 at 1:47 pmOnly 285 days left before our 8 year nightmare of incompetence, arrogance and deceit comes to an end.
Q: What’s the difference between Little Johnny McNumbNuts and GDumbya?
A: McNumbNuts can’t lift his arms above his shoulders after being tortured by his North Vietnamese captors. That’s it. That’s all. There are no other differences.
April 10th, 2008 at 1:47 pmI guess wingnuts have gotten so used to making outlandish claims with a straight face that they don’t even stop to consider “does this make sense?” anymore before they blurt something out. In that respect, McCain makes a perfect candidate for the Republican Party.
“Does this make our side look good?” is the only thing they consider before speaking.
April 10th, 2008 at 1:51 pm(Typo: I don’t think it’s “Whoppi” Goldberg.)
April 10th, 2008 at 1:53 pm“As president”? — I thought candidates typically refrained from speaking in hypotheticals. McAsIf he will be president. The 100 years in Iraq and I am clueless about economic matters policies I just do not sense are winning strategies.
April 10th, 2008 at 1:53 pmralph the wonder llama Says:
April 10th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
“Does this make our side look good?” is the only thing they consider before speaking.
Well, it ain’t working. McCain’s statement doesn’t make anyone look good, it does, however, make him look like a fooking idiot, LOL.
April 10th, 2008 at 1:56 pmWhen Baba Wawa and Whoopi make you look like a complete liar and idiot, you really, really, really SUCK at what you do.
April 10th, 2008 at 1:57 pmMcCrazy assumes we have an unlimited supply of death to deal.
April 10th, 2008 at 1:59 pmJohn McCain is just a walking “sound bite” of bull$hit and trivia. He doesn’t have an original, logical, or intelligent personal idea in his brain.
“Grandpa” McSame’s addled brain isn’t capable of wrapping itself around the myriad of problems created by the Bushitcos which need fixing.
Simply put: He’s too old, too tired, AND too sick (yes, invasive melanoma is a death sentence) to do the job.
April 10th, 2008 at 1:59 pmYeah but Lizzy Hasslebeck will save McCain.
/sarc
April 10th, 2008 at 1:59 pmI’d venture to say that John McCain is the biggest “bull$hit artist” we’ve seen in a very long time.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:00 pmAs they say: Brains talk and bull$hit walks! Don’t let the door hit you in the arss on the way out, McBullcrapper.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:01 pmJust goes to show you how little McCain knows about military strategy after half a century of so-called experience.
A report published by the Army War College in January 2004 criticized the Bush administration’s global war on terrorism as “unfocused” and contended that the war in Iraq is “unnecessary” and a “detour” that has diverted attention and resources from the threat posed by Al Qaeda.
The report warned that the administration’s global war on terrorism may have set the United States “on a course of open-ended and gratuitous conflict with states and non-state entities that pose no serious threat to the United States.”
Its as if during WW II the allies had deployed the majority of its troops in an attack on Spain, because, well you know, Franco is a fascist.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:02 pmJust these totally inaccurate comments on this show about Afghanistan proves that this man is Bush #2! If we’d put our resources where they belonged in the first place (Afghanistan and not Iraq) we would have had OBL. Fact is that we took our eye and resources off the ball. Or maybe it was never OBL after all whom we chose to name as the perpetrator of 911?
Who was it that alluded to OBL already being dead? Sibel Edmonds?
Sure, McNumbNuts is trying to spin it both ways. Trying to make the case for winning in Iraq while blaming our failures in Afghanistan on what??? Not being there when that was the location of the supposed boogeyman?
I don’t buy one shred of any of it. I don’t buy that OBL was ever the boogeyman at all with this false flag operation. He was just a convenient, family-buddy, target who once worked for the CIA. Could it be that he is still a double agent?
Too many unanswered questions which we’ll discover once this fool leaves office…..that and the fact that he’s tanked this country to the ground fiscally.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:06 pmNew Book: McCain Once Physically Attacked Fellow Congressman
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/08/new-book-mccain-once-phys_n_95595.html
Excerpt: At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain’s hair and said, “You’re getting a little thin up there.” McCain’s face reddened, and he responded, “At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.”
April 10th, 2008 at 2:06 pmWhoopi Goldberg had it 100% right!
April 10th, 2008 at 2:06 pmIronic that he such make such blinded and insane statements on a show called “the view.” And before any ThinkProgressWatch people come on and tell me i’m being ageist. I’m not. Although, McCain probably does need a sherpa to get out of bed in the morning. I love the older generation dearly – Just not those hell bent on destruction.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:07 pmOnly because you and I have the ability to consider whether something makes sense when assessing its value as information.
Wingnuts seem to have devolved beyond that.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:07 pmThere seems to be a lot that McCain doesn’t and won’t “get”. Osama Bin Laden is on that long list. So is the Presidency.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:08 pmDid Hurley have an orgasm when McShame showed up?
What a loser….
April 10th, 2008 at 2:08 pm“We’re fighting them over there so we can fight them over there. And over there. And there. And somewhat East, West, North and South of there. And some other places.”
April 10th, 2008 at 2:10 pmLt. Colonel Fred Seamon Says:
April 10th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Its as if during WW II the allies had deployed the majority of its troops in an attack on Spain, because, well you know, Franco is a fascist.
When this all settles down, it will become obvious that Bush invaded Iraq to prove his balls were bigger than Daddy’s.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:11 pmI’m sorry but this OLD MAN doesn’t understand the facts. He is still fighting the Viet Nam war because he thinks we should have stayed their too. In fact if we had he would have died in a POW camp. But McInsane doesn’t understand that part. If we hadn’t withdrawn from Viet Nam they wouldn’t have let him go. Does he understand that? If you ask him, he’d say and I think the did say, we should have kept fighting. The problem with OLD men trying to fight the was they fought in is, times change and so do situations on the ground. That’ why old guys like me still talking about “when I played football, or when I used to box”. We are has beens and just don’t want to admit it.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:14 pm.
McDoubleSpeak
MCCAIN: But Afghanistan is not in trouble because of our diversion to Iraq.
MCCAIN: I know a lot of people think that and we do need more troops there.
.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:20 pm“Apparently McCain is overlooking the fact that the reason bin Laden is still on the loose is because the fight in Iraq diverted attention from perusing the terrorist leader in Afghanistan.”
Perhaps the problem is that we’ve been PERUSING him. I can’t help but feel that law enforcement would be more effective if they were able to catch him instead.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:22 pm25 – actually, he didn’t log enough combat flight time to kill thousands of anyone. he was pretty good at wrecking expensive jets though.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:23 pmWell, yeah, just like Al Qaeda is an obsure Shi’ite sect being armed and trained in Iran.
Duh. Everybody knows that.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:27 pmThis appears to be another trap that so many liberals have fallen for. Like Iraq, U.S. troops have no business occupying Afghanistan, a country, like Iraq, that has never threatened anyone in these United States. Too many Americans have fallen for the ruse that Afghanistan has become the “good war” while U.S. troops continue to unjustifiably bomb Afghan villages. Having U.S.forces in Afghanistan is, like in Iraq, never going to win the hearts and minds of the the Afghan people.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:35 pmSince US troops are tied up in Iraq Bush/McCain needs NATO to do their dirtywork in Afghanistan, so they can keep doing whatever the hell they’re doing in Iraq.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:42 pm#30 is a funny comic strip. Is it syndicated?
April 10th, 2008 at 2:44 pmdanishpigkartoon Says:
April 10th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
So, we’ve “wiped” Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Iraq? Good, can we bring the troops home now? Why not?
April 10th, 2008 at 2:46 pmre: #30 – clearly education and journalism are failing our public in dangerous ways.
how can we have citizens running around thinking the things that this person evidently does??
April 10th, 2008 at 2:47 pmMaybe it’s me but he seemed to ignore Whoopi when she said Afghanistan and responded to Joy and Barbara.
Either way, he’s still a warmonger.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:50 pmIS ANYONE LISTENING?
HE JUST CALLED IRAQ A “DIVERSION“.
THAT’S CONTRARY TO A GOAL.
TRAITOROUS IDIOTS.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:51 pmNow THIS cartoon troll of which you speak clearly needs help. Medical help. I believe, based on the disjointed, rambling nature of its posts, that it is suffering from some high-grade fever.
Do you think the RNC pays for health care for its troll employees?
April 10th, 2008 at 2:51 pmErroll Says:
April 10th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Exactly! What evidence was used to justify the war in Afghanistan, anyway?
April 10th, 2008 at 2:52 pmExactly! What evidence was used to justify the war in Afghanistan, anyway?
Something to do with an oil pipeline as I remember…
April 10th, 2008 at 2:57 pmDo you think the RNC pays for health care for its troll employees?
No – it’s a pre-existing and required condition.
April 10th, 2008 at 3:00 pmWhat does it say about America that the girls at The View ask better questions than the American Congress?
April 10th, 2008 at 3:03 pm#30 You like John McInsane have lost your mind if you think that the enemy is wiped out in Afganistan. Just because Faux News tells you to think that, it’s not true. Why are the top Generals at the Pentagon saying we need more troops in Iraq. You saw John McInsane was it on the video of this visit to the view. If you didn’t see him say that, play the video again. I know he’s not on Faux News channel, but you can’t say you only believe half of what he says my friend. That just don’t wash. Look you so called conservatives don’t want to face facts. The war in Viet Nam is over and so is the one in Iraq.
April 10th, 2008 at 3:05 pm>Senator McCain,is clearly,not as astute as he was a few years ago.I remember when things started to go really bad in Iraq,he was on one of the Sunday news shows,several times.He always called for Bush to send more troops,but naturally Bush said they didnt need more troops.If Bush had listened then things may not have gotten so badly out of control.What he said then made good sense.Bush,being the screw-up that he is waited four more years and then sent more troops.After thousands more had died and the country completely destroyed.I dont beleive he(McCain)is competent enough to be president.He is clearly confused on several differemt vital issues.Some of the remarks he made today on the Veiw were just completely unreliable.I do not trust Obama either,judgmentwise.He is very intelligent,but not up to the task at this point in time.After a few more years in the senate,I think he will make an excellent commander in chief.I dont question his credibility nor his integrity.I just would be more comfortable if he had a few more years in government training.I’m afraid we just dont have many real choices in this election.
April 10th, 2008 at 3:30 pmCincigal74 @#44
There is no need to reproach yourself concerning Obama’s credibility and integrity since Obama [as well as Clinton] has consistently voted to have the funds which are propping up the war machine sent to Iraq [despite Congressman Kucinich having said, apparently to no avail, that there is already enough money in the pipeline to provide for the welfare of the troops who are in Iraq], thus ensuring that Iraq will remain occupied by U.S. forces and that more American soldiers will return to this country in coffins and that even more of them will come back severely burned, blinded, brain damaged, crippled, paralyzed, missing their limbs, suffering from the effects of PTSD. Yet this alleged agent of hope and change allows this occupation, this less than noble cause, to continue unabated. It should be obvious that the soldiers and the people of Iraq have no friend in Barack Obama.
April 10th, 2008 at 3:49 pmApparently McCain is overlooking the fact that the reason bin Laden is still on the loose is because the fight in Iraq diverted attention from “perusing” the terrorist leader in Afghanistan.
Perusing? Perusing? How about “pursuing”?
April 10th, 2008 at 8:16 pmJust one more in a long, long list of things that McBush knows nothing about and HE’S RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT. Anyone scared yet?
April 11th, 2008 at 8:49 amYet another instance of Republicans studiously avoid connecting the dots. The only way they can remain loyal to their party and ideology is to convince themselves that life is just a random series of unrelated events.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:50 amIt is frightening that he almost became president.
February 26th, 2009 at 2:25 pmIf only Condi saved her dressessohbet instead of cleaning them. But in today’s twisted America, I don’t believe anything would happen if George Bush was cetcaught in bed with a dead girl AND a live boy. And it all procedes with a cheeky grin and a sickening smugness that is as arrogant as it is insultingBedava mp3 indir.
April 11th, 2009 at 1:04 pm