McCain Learning Curve: 100 Weeks Too Long

John McCain's campaign put out a memo this past weekend, urging reporters to check out an op ed piece in The Union Leader regarding the senator's statements on Iraq.

On Jan. 3 in Derry, Sen. McCain was asked about President Bush's comment that U.S. forces could be in Iraq for as many as 50 years. Here is McCain's response:

"Make it a hundred. . . We've been in Japan for 60 years. We've been in South Korea for 50 years or so. That would be fine with me, as long as American, as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed.

McCain thinks it would be OK to keep American forces in Iraq to serve as a deterrent against al-Qaida -- as long as "Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed." That means, obviously, their presence would be maintained there in the absence of war.

Setting aside the flawed logic of essentially saying, "We should station troops on Mars, as long as we can get them there fast, and they can breathe without spacesuits," I am prepared to take McCain at his word. He thinks Iraq is like Korea or Japan, or will be soon, a relatively peaceful, safe place for the US to stage a long-term troop presence. .

Let's see how McCain has been at judging conditions in Iraq, and at forecasting the country's future. First, though, a quick look at the McCain assessment of Iraq's present.


While that clip is illustrative, it doesn't prove a lot by itself. Let's look a little deeper.

It is tempting to sift through the internet to find quote after quote from McCain and other Republicans saying that the war is almost over, and given six more months everything will be great. But, see, America knew all of that in 2004 and still voted for Bush. They don't seem to mind if you're wrong, as long as you're decisive!

I could crunch a bunch of facts and figures and tell you how much this is costing, I could show you the human consequences of this war, I could go over the political benchmarks which have not been reached or attempted.

All of this has been done before, and more thoroughly than I ever could. No, I don't want to show you that John McCain doesn't know what's going to happen in Iraq. I want to show you that he doesn't know what's going on now. He says he would only keep troops in Iraq for 100 years if Iraq were peaceful, like Japan or Germany.

I still remember the last time McCain went to Iraq and told us everything was great there, how he could walk freely in the marketplace, apparently unaware of the hundred U.S. troops and squadron of gunships which allowed his leisurely stroll.

I take McCain at his word that he will only keep troops in Iraq if it's like Japan or Korea. My problem is, he seems to think it's almost like that now.