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Zakaria: McCain’s Plan For More Troops ‘Just Willing More American Deaths’

This Morning on ABC, commentator and foreign policy scholar Fareed Zarkaria slammed John McCain’s plan to send more U.S. troops to Iraq, saying it “will not work.” Zakaria explained that “we have enough troops” but the Iraqi government won’t let them “go after the militias.”

According to Zakaria, sending more U.S. troops to Iraq in this context is “just willing more American deaths.” Watch it:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2006/11/moretroops.320.240.flv]

Transcript:

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ZAKARIA: Senator McCain who I have a lot of respect and like him has been saying for three years we needed more troops. His policy today will not work. We have enough troops to go after Muqtada al-Sadr, the key Shiite religious leader whose militia is causing us this trouble. We can’t do it because the Iraqi government won’t let us. It is causing enormous political pressure. So right now we have an Iraqi government that does not allow us to search for our own soldier. We had to abandon a search, is in cahoots with a shiite militia that has captured americans. The point is not here that you need a military or political solution. Obviously you need both. The point is we have an iraqi government that cannot, will not make any of the decisions that will supplement this military.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Even if we had more troops it wouldn’t work?

ZAKARIA: There is no question that if you had more troops and still can’t go after the militias, can’t offer amnesty to the Sunni insurgents, the core political decisions we have to make do not depend on more troops but political compromises that this government, this ruling coalition can’t make. Sending in more troops in that context is just willing more american deaths.