War hero John McCain, after talking to the men on the ground in Iraq, endorsed the "surge" before George W. Bush did.

Barack Hussein Obama continued to denounce it and demand that we retreat from Iraq until he had his nose rubbed into reality during his campaign stop in Iraq--then he claimed that we don't have to worry about what will happen to the Iraqis if we retreat because the "surge" is working.

The bottom line is that McCain was right about Iraq, and the best excuse that you could offer for Obama is that he knows nothing about world affairs and would be a totally incompetent Commander-in-Chief.

Well at least we won't have to worry about Obama militarizing the Iraq-Pakistan border.

Good thing McCain's so competent.

Two points Mr Schenk,

1-A "war hero" is someone who does something valliant under fire, not someone who survived the POW experience. It is bad enough Bush cheapened the term hero by calling just about anyone a hero, but McCain has no commendations for courage under fire. He served honorably-I respect his unwillingness to accept an early release from prison, but it doesnt change the fact that he was a POW and nothing more during the war. Were it not for his daddy, he wouldnt have had the chance to go home early-how does it make him a hero to be a POW with a famous dad?

2-McCain supported going to war and still supports the war. The war was based on lies and no evidence has come out to change this-so McCain was WRONG as was the entire Bush administration. And the surge was a FAILURE-the Iraqi government did not use the stable environment in Baghdad to get their affairs in order-they in fact went on vacation while the US troops did the job they could not-and of course with those troops busy in Iraq, Al Queida and the Taliban gained ground in Afghanistan.

So please-put down the pom poms, take off the miniskirt, and live in reality.

"McCain was right" You mean there is a stable, central, democratic government over all of Iraq?

Or did the purpose of the "Surge" shift again, just like McCain's justifications for the invasion to begin with?

Actually McCain always advocated more troops. He opposed the invasion as envisioned by the Bush administration and from the start called for massive troop deployment.

I think McCain or Obama will be a far better CIC than Bush could have ever hoped to be. McCain knows the cost of war, and Obama is probably smart enough to listen to people that know war, instead of leading with his gut like Bush.

But in the end, I think people miss the most important aspect of this election, and that is and always has been that Dick Cheney wil be the fuck gone. No one, no one period, will ever be as bad as Bush because Cheney has been the anal fount from which all this crap has spewed anyway.

The fact that violence is down does not make the surge the right thing to do. You put that many boots on the ground of course violence will go down. The point of the surge was to give room for government reconciliation, has that happened? No. Iraq has a giagantic budget surplus but they cannot even get the electricity on. We paid the SOI not to shoot us, the Iraqi government won't pick up the tab when the money we gave them runs out. Do we pay them again or will they start shooting again?

And I like that you bring up the King of Jordon by using Obama's middle name. Abdullah Hussien. One of our greatest allies in the Middle East like his father before him.

I would remind you Mr. Schenk, Captain McCain USN (Ret) embraced the Iraqi exile Amed Chalibi. Anyone claiming to be astute in foreign affairs, would have distanced themselves from this character, let alone letting him lead them down the primrose path!

Only when things started going badly in Iraq, did brother John jump on the band wagon, and state we should have gone in with more troops, as General Shinseki had pointed-out to congress.

With Senator McCain's background, and further education at the National War College, why didn't he, as a senior senator back the good General at the time?

If these are indications of the senior senator's being right about things, I'm for giving the junior senator a chance at the helm - - unless you can convince me otherwise?

Actually, the Iraqi government has met most of the benchmarks set down by Congress. But you won't hear that from some of the commentators here because they're still reading last year's propaganda sheet.

Every time you read the words "No, the surge has not worked!", pay attention to the arguments in support--it's as if they've all read the same DailyKos diary from back in December and are parroting the arguments word for word. Seriously, it's like the left version of dittoheads--I wish they would quit because it's bad enough when the right does it.

Re: "Seriously, it's like the left version of dittoheads--I wish they would quit because it's bad enough when the right does it."

Except, of course, that you will only post a complaint when the Left does it, never the Right. They always get the automatic Conservative FREE PASS, just like George W. Bush.

"Every time you read the words "No, the surge has not worked!", pay attention to the arguments in support--it's as if they've all read the same DailyKos diary from back in December and are parroting the arguments word for word. Seriously, it's like the left version of dittoheads--I wish they would quit because it's bad enough when the right does it."

Oh please. Liberals are not like conservatives. We dont get our ideas or thoughts from a single place like the nice organized Fox viewers. In fact I have never gone to the Kos websie-not even sure what its HTML is. My ideas are my own. Of course its nice to know Im not alone in what I think and why.

But the fact remains that the primary goal of the surge was to help the Iraqis get their government together so we could let them take over. This has not happened. Any other accomplishment of the surge is moot-as others have said put that many boots on the ground anywhere and things get less violent.

What conservatives refuse to do is be accountable for the fact that none of the reasons given for the invasion were not true, that claims the expense would be on the Iraqi government were not true, and finally, that the surge would result in forming the new Iraqi government were not true.

And lastly, what they also dont acknowledge is that one direct result of the surge was that the reduced force in Afghanistan allowed the combination of Al Queida and the Taliban to get a new foothold there and to re-launch their poppy business.

The "victory" of the surge was a pyrhic one (yes I probably mis spelled that).

RML

Your a loon.

McSame is wrong on just about every issue, especially this one.

Oh by the way Neo-clown - getting your Ass shot down and captured does not make you a hero and does not qualify you for President.

Further- finishong at the bottom 1% of your class at Annapolis should have indicated to the Navy that this guy was likely to be a poor pilot (he crashed five planes) and was likely to do something stupid that would result in capture.

Well you know the rest.

Only imbeciles would vote for this imbecile.

If the surge has worked and has stabilized the legislature to the point that we can leave, then why is the Bush administration and the Pentagon both fighting the Iraqis on setting up a time table to leave.

If violence has indeed subsided tot he points that our troops are no longer needed on the ground, or at leas to let the Georgian troops go. They really should be home protecting their own country from outside aggression (or fighting for reunification/annexation or what ever the hell is going on depending on the time of day and wind direction).

If Iran has not established a foothold through insurgency and humanitarian support, then why are we still worried about what a sovereign nation wants to do. Or the fact that sectarian violence is not delaying the much delayed elections (been over four years now since the purple fingers of their fate were displayed to the world, when are they giving us another finger?)

So, please, if the surge has worked, you would be able to tell us how all these benchmarks have been met and what the next step is since we are only parroting what we read, give us a bedtime story.

Though not necessarily a McCain supporter The Real RML (is there a fake RML?). I would point out to you Senator McCain was awarded the Silver Star Medal.

Since being in the hands of the enemy who are torturering you day-in-and-day-out, and not losing the faith, qualifies in my mind, as heroic achievement under fire.

His not accepting early release is another matter. He simply did what I would expect a commissioned officer to do. Though I will assure you, there were those among him that didn't.

Offuscating the issues with a lead-in on his war record is disingenuous.

"Except, of course, that you will only post a complaint when the Left does it, never the Right."

How can you say that when you know nothing about me? I'm quite equal opportunity when it comes to criticizing idiots.

"Oh please. Liberals are not like conservatives. We dont get our ideas or thoughts from a single place like the nice organized Fox viewers."

Ah yes, this is the Anna Karenina argument (to paraphrase): "All conservatives are alike, but every liberal is special in his own way."

"In fact I have never gone to the Kos websie-not even sure what its HTML is."

And I bet you don't even own a TV!

"But the fact remains that the primary goal of the surge was to help the Iraqis get their government together so we could let them take over. This has not happened. "

Have you not been following the news? The Iraqi government has made enormous gains in the past year. Their military has greatly improved and their government is getting it together. They sure as hell have managed to do a lot more in the past year than our own government!

"Any other accomplishment of the surge is moot-as others have said put that many boots on the ground anywhere and things get less violent."

Please... the opposition to the surge rested on the idea that more troops would simply make it worse and lead to higher casualties. The surge's overall goal was to give the Iraqi government time and space to make political progress. But its immediate goal was to suppress the violence, stop the sectarian conflict, and give the players confidence to engage in real political negotiations--i.e. stop the violence long enough let politics work. So how can you say the surge failed?

"If the surge has worked and has stabilized the legislature to the point that we can leave, then why is the Bush administration and the Pentagon both fighting the Iraqis on setting up a time table to leave."

For the same reason that neither is proclaiming outright victory--it could all unravel if we pull out prematurely. For once we've managed to get it right--how about we not shoot ourselves in the foot in the process (on the other hand, we're talking about Bush, so I would still put good odds on that...).

"So, please, if the surge has worked, you would be able to tell us how all these benchmarks have been met and what the next step is since we are only parroting what we read, give us a bedtime story."

I'm sure you know how to use Google, so do your own research.