[Peace-discuss] Democrats' hypocrisy on parade

[C. G. Estabrook]

[It's particularly disgusting to see these Democrats use the war -- which they 
have so mendaciously defended -- against McCain, because they could have stopped 
it at any time.  McCain is a war criminal (in a Democratic war) and apparently a 
collaborator with his Vietnamese captors (a can of worms the Democrats don't 
want to open -- or perhaps are holding in reserve).  It's probably worth voting 
against him in states where it might matter. But it's hard to take seriously a 
critique from Susan Rice, who was in the Clinton State Department, and 
subsequently insisted that "humanitarian intervention" demanded the US bomb 
Khartoum.  Or that of Rahm Emanuel, who as chair of the House Democrats' 
election committee supplanted anti-war Democrats (such as Christine Cegelis in 
the IL 6th CD) with properly pro-war replacements. (And there's no need to say 
much about Kerry and Reid.)  Unlike the Democrats, McCain is honest about his 
position: he wants Iraq to be a base for US troops as some 137 countries around 
the world are -- "what's important is the casualties."  In fact, both he and 
Obama admit that the [policy will be decided by the military (and that's where 
it's being decided, right now).  McCain uses almost the identical words as Obama 
adviser Samantha Power in saying that Iraq war policy will be decided by 
"conditions on the ground and the recommendations of commanders in the field." 
--CGE]


	Dems pound McCain for new Iraq quote
	By MIKE ALLEN | 6/11/08 10:34 AM EST Updated: 6/11/08 11:49 AM EST	

The Obama campaign and Democratic leaders accused Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) of 
being confused and heartless after he told NBC’s “Today” show Wednesday that 
it’s “not too important” when U.S. troops return from Iraq.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said on a quickly organized Obama conference call that 
McCain’s comment was “unbelievably out of touch with the needs and concerns of 
most Americans,” saying that to families of troops in harm’s way, “To them, it's 
the most important thing in the world.”

Kerry claimed “an enormous, fundamental flaw in his candidacy for the 
presidency, which supposedly has hung on his strength as commander in chief and 
his understanding of foreign policy.”

Susan Rice, an Obama foreign-policy adviser, accused McCain of “a real 
disturbing, even disconcerting, pattern of confusing the basic facts and reality 
that pertain to Iraq.”

The “Today” show statement, which McCain went on to explain, is damaging because 
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has pledged to immediately begin withdrawing combat 
troops.

McCain, trying to mitigate the fallout from his January remarks that U.S. troops 
might be in Iraq for 100 years, predicted last month that “most” troops would be 
home by the end of his first term.

Trying to take the offense, McCain’s campaign posted a YouTube clip of the 
exchange.

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said: “The Obama campaign is embarking on a false 
attack on John McCain to hide their own candidate’s willingness to disregard 
facts on the ground in pursuit of withdrawal no matter what the costs. John 
McCain was asked if he had a ‘better estimate’ for a timeline for withdrawal.

“As John McCain has always said, that is not as important as conditions on the 
ground and the recommendations of commanders in the field. Any reasonable person 
who reads the full transcript would see this and reject the Obama campaign’s 
attempt to manipulate, twist and distort the truth.”

The exchange that has Democrats licking their chops began when co-host Matt 
Lauer asked about the surge strategy in Iraq: “If it's working Senator, do you 
now have a better estimate of when American forces can come home from Iraq?”

McCain replied: “No, but that's not too important. What’s important is the 
casualties in Iraq, Americans are in South Korea, Americans are in Japan, 
American troops are in Germany. That’s all fine. American casualties and the 
ability to withdraw; we will be able to withdraw. General [David] Petraeus is 
going to tell us in July when he thinks we are.

“But the key to it is that we don't want any more Americans in harm's way. That 
way, they will be safe, and serve our country and come home with honor and 
victory, not in defeat, which is what Senator Obama's proposal would have done. 
I’m proud of them. And they're doing a great job. And we are succeeding and it's 
fascinating that Senator Obama still doesn't realize that.”

Kerry, saying McCain is “really having a debate with himself” on Iraq, said the 
“Today” show comment was part of a “policy for staying in Iraq” and “underscores 
… the broad array of contradictions in John McCain’s statements about Iraq.”

“It is really becoming more crystal clear to a lot of Iraq that John McCain 
simply doesn’t understand it – that he confuses who Iran is training, he 
confuses what the makeup of al-Qaeda is, he confuses the history … of what has 
happened between Sunni and Shia and how deep that current runs,” Kerry said.

Rice criticized “real confusion and lack of understanding of the situation in 
Iraq and, indeed, the larger region, that John McCain evidenced yet again in his 
comments on the ‘Today’ show.”

Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was first out of the gate with a 
statement, calling McCain’s comment “a crystal clear indicator that he just 
doesn’t get the grave national-security consequences of staying the course. … We 
need a smart change in strategy to make America more secure, not a commitment to 
indefinitely keep our troops in an intractable civil war.”

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) said McCain had 
“displayed a fundamental misunderstanding about the situation in Iraq, our 
strained military, and American troops and their families.”

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