McCain Educates The Joker On Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — For the first time since September 11, 2001, America is having a vigorous national debate about how to succeed in Afghanistan. This debate is entirely worth having. Whenever America sends its citizens into harm’s way, it must do so with eyes wide open.
Though no veteran would ever think of himself as “pro-war,” I believe that the fight in Afghanistan is critical to our national security. Our goals there are achievable and success is worth the continued sacrifice.
We must succeed in Afghanistan for many reasons, but one stands above all: the world walked away from Afghanistan once, and it descended into a cauldron of violence, hatred and human rights atrocities that served as the base for the worst terrorist attack in history against our homeland.
We cannot let that happen again, and we cannot let the Taliban and its al Qaeda allies conquer Afghanistan once more. Failure of this kind would also destabilize the entire strategically vital region, including nuclear-armed Pakistan.
We know what it takes to succeed in Afghanistan: a resolute commitment to the principles of counterinsurgency, which turned Iraq around during the surge.
I am confident that properly resourced counterinsurgency policy, adapted to the unique culture and geography of Afghanistan, can lead to success there. Our entire military chain of command supports this approach, as do our NATO allies, which they made clear at their recent defense ministerial meeting in Bratislava.
I supported President Obama when he called for a counterinsurgency plan in March, and I did so again when he deployed Gen. Stanley McChrystal to lead the command in Kabul. I agree with our commander’s assessment of the security situation as “deteriorating” and that our civilian and military leaders urgently need more resources, including more combat troops, to turn the tide toward success.
I sympathize with our president, because sending men and women into harm’s way is the most difficult decision that a commander-in-chief must make. However, Americans are already serving in harm’s way in Afghanistan, and the sooner we can provide the reinforcements and resources they need, the safer and more successful they will be. So I am urging President Obama to move as quickly as possible to fully support Gen. McChrystal’s request for more troops.
It is true that the Afghan government is not as strong or credible as we would like, but that should not deter us from committing more civilian and military resources now. Local governments in counterinsurgency environments are usually weak and fledgling. There is an insurgency in the first place because it seeks to exploit the local population’s dissatisfaction with its government. As long as Afghanistan is insecure, it is unreasonable to assume that governance will improve.
That is why protecting the population must be job one right now, and in the immediate term, much of that work must be done by U.S. and NATO troops. As security improves, however, we will be able to train capable, battle-tested Afghan security forces that can defend their country.
We can break the insurgency’s momentum, enabling Afghans to reconcile with former fighters who are willing to lay down their arms. And we can create an environment of safety in which it is more realistic to expect Afghan leaders to meet the high standards of their fellow citizens and their international partners — namely, the provision of justice and opportunity, the protection of human rights and a crackdown on corruption.
Ultimately, Afghans will judge the legitimacy of their government not only by the result of one round of voting, but by its performance in delivering basic services.
Success in Afghanistan will emerge, as it did in Iraq, when local leaders and citizens are more and more able to take responsibility for governing and securing their own sovereign country without substantial international assistance. This won’t be perfect or easy, but it will allow America’s fighting men and women to leave Afghanistan with honor, and it will enable Afghans to build a better, more peaceful future. That is our goal, and we must stay in the fight until it is won.
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Barry just doesn’t want it called a ’surge’.
So he’ll vietnamize the Afghans and then hose them the same way.
‘Come on… You still got 9 fingers left. Vote with one of those.’
Our enemies are on the move…. America has put a cowardly egomaniac in charge and soldiers will die. Maybe John should have tried to defeat the little Marxist when he had the chance rather than run a “Clean” campaign.
John McCain did pull his punches. But in fairness, there were a lot of factors that made it a terrible years for Republicans no matter who would have been running and McCain consistently polled far better than any other Republican — financial crisis creating economic uncertainties favoring Democrats, Bush unpopularity (as unfair as that was), Bush Administration bailout (Paulson and Bernacke deserve to be shot), the media acting as propagandists for Obama, Obama money advantage (7 to 1). As a result, the campaign was about the economy. But everyone should have known that the world was not going to stand still and that the choice of the President must always, always be concerned who is better qualified to be Commander in Chief. There was no contest here.
It is an excellent column by Senator McCain. He would have been an excellent Commander in Chief.
You jest. John boy is a pseudo republican full of nothing but air and platitudes. He talks and does nothing. George Sorros picked him for the Repub nominee for a reason.
I’d take him over Obama.
I don’t think so. I’ve known Senator McCain (he supported my father in his quest to make a difference) for a long time (ever since he took Barry’s place) and he would have been a commander in chief we could have respected. It’s unfortunate because his campaign manager(s) could never hold it together. It is hard to do the right thing and have to worry how your campaign is going. I’m angry with our country and the mess we are in, but at least we would have had a leader with experience. His family is remarkable. I’ve known his wife Cindy since we were both 10 because I went to grade school and high school with her. Their boys have served and/or are serving our country. She and John have a child with learning issues and I know she did everything (not the nanny) to help this child and they succeeded. Mrs. McCain has had some issues and she confronted them. Now, she has survived a stroke and she is just like the rest of us, albeit with a little more cash.
Let’s lay off Sen. McCain. Thank God he is still in there fighting for what is right. He has only served our country to the best of his ability. How many people do you know that have devoted their life to making our country better, rather than complaining (like me) and not giving up. My hero is Winston Churchill, among others. He said a lot of things, but what is relevant to us all is never, never, never, never give up.
George Sorros is pathetic. I hope he has health problems.* He is evil incarnate. For whatever reason he is hell bent on ruining our country–not his country.
I am sad that John McCain did not win the election. He would be doing the very best he could do. You cannot ask for more.
*Really big, big, big health problems.
“my friends,my friends”,shut the fuck up mcshame.
If you had something to say,you should have said it last year
watching him campaign was like watching two 90 year olds fuck.
I respect what you said and I said the same thing. I’m sorry he was not able to win the election because all of us would be better. Let’s give him a break and let him come into his own. He might surprise us.