soc.veterans

"LEROY KNEVIL" wrote in message
news:47e6fa65$0$13880$8f2e0ebb@news.shared-secrets.com...
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/23/mccain-pushed-for-war-in-_n_92955.html
>
> As America's war in Iraq enters its sixth year, Sen. John McCain is hoping
> that his long effort to send thousands more U.S. troops -- a "surge" that
> has helped lower casualties -- will propel him into the White House.
> But McCain's record on Iraq is decidedly mixed. If the Arizona Republican
> proved prescient in his calls for a military buildup, many of his other
> predictions and prescriptions turned out wrong.
>
> Here is a look back at five years of John McCain on Iraq.
>
> On the Run-Up to War
>
> "Look, we're going to send young men and women in harm's way and that's
> always a great danger, but I cannot believe that there is an Iraqi soldier
> who is going to be willing to die for Saddam Hussein, particularly since
> he
> will know that our objective is to remove Saddam Hussein from power."
> John McCain, September 15, 2002.
>
> "But the fact is, I think we could go in with much smaller numbers than we
> had to do in the past. But any military man worth his salt is going to
> have
> to prepare for any contingency, but I don't believe it's going to be
> nearly
> the size and scope that it was in 1991."
> John McCain, September 15, 2002.
>
> "He's a patriot who has the best interests of his country at heart."
> John McCain, on Ahmed Chalabi, 2003.
>
> On Saddam's Weapons of Mass Destruction
>
> "Proponents of containment claim that Iraq is in a "box." But it is a box
> with no lid, no bottom, and whose sides are falling out. Within this box
> are
> definitive footprints of germ, chemical and nuclear programs."
> John McCain, February 13, 2003.
>
> "I remain confident that we will find weapons of mass destruction in
> Iraq."
> John McCain, June 11, 2003.
>
> On Being Greeted as Liberators
>
> "Absolutely. Absolutely."
> John McCain, asked by Chris Matthews, "you believe that the people of Iraq
> or at least a large number of them will treat us as liberators?" March 12,
> 2003.
>
> "Not only that, they'll be relieved that he's not in the neighborhood
> because he has invaded his neighbors on several occasions."
> John McCain, asked by Chris Matthews, "And you think the Arab world will
> come to a grudging recognition that what we did was necessary?" March 12,
> 2003.
>
> "There's no doubt in my mind that we will prevail and there's no doubt in
> my
> mind, once these people are gone, that we will be welcomed as liberators."
> John McCain, March 24, 2003.
>
> On a Rapid Victory and Mission Accomplished
>
> "I think the victory will be rapid, within about three weeks."
> John McCain, January 28, 2003.
>
> "It's clear that the end is very much in sight...It won't be long. It,
> it'll
> be a fairly short period of time."
> John McCain, April 9, 2003.
>
> "Well, then why was there a banner that said mission accomplished on the
> aircraft carrier?"
> John McCain, responding to assertion by Fox News' Neil Cavuto that "many
> argue the conflict isn't over," June 11, 2003.
>
> "I have said a long time that reconstruction of Iraq would be a long,
> long,
> difficult process, but the conflict -- the major conflict is over, the
> regime change has been accomplished, and it's very appropriate."
> John McCain, June 11, 2003.
>
> "I'm confident we're on the right course."
> John McCain, March 7, 2004.
>
> "We're either going to lose this thing or win this thing within the next
> several months."
> John McCain, November 12, 2006.
>
> "My friends, the war will be over soon, the war for all intents and
> purposes
> although the insurgency will go on for years and years and years."
> John McCain, February 25, 2008.
>
> On the Safe Streets of Baghdad
>
> "[There] there "are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk
> through those neighborhoods, today."
> John McCain, after touring a Baghdad market wearing a bulletproof vest and
> guarded by "100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and
> two
> Apache gunships overhead, April 1, 2007.
>
> "There's problems in America with safe neighborhoods as we well know."
> John McCain, March 8, 2008.
>
> On President Bush and His Team
>
> "We are very fortunate that our president in these challenging days can
> rely
> on the counsel of a man who has demonstrated time and again the resolve,
> experience, and patriotism that will be required for success and the
> hard-headed clear thinking necessary to prevail in this global fight
> between
> good and evil."
> John McCain, on Dick Cheney, July 16, 2004.
>
> "I think he strengthened our national defenses. I think he has a good team
> around him."
> John McCain, on President Bush, September 3, 2004.
>
> "I said no. My answer is still no. No confidence."
> John McCain, on whether he had confidence in Bush Defense Secretary Donald
> Rumsfeld, December 15, 2004.
>
> On a Permanent American Military Presence in Iraq
>
> "We cannot keep our forces indefinitely staged in the region. Were we to
> attempt again to contain Saddam, we would eventually have to withdraw
> them.
> The world is full of dangers and, more likely than not, we will need some
> of
> those brave men and women to face them down."
> John McCain, February 13, 2003.
>
> "We have had troops in South Korea for 60 years and nobody minds."
> John McCain, June 7, 2007.
>
> "Make it a hundred."
> John McCain, told that President Bush had said American troops could
> remain
> in Iraq for 50 years, January 3, 2008.
>
> "I asked McCain about his 'hundred years' comment, and he reaffirmed the
> remark, excitedly declaring that U.S. troops could be in Iraq for 'a
> thousand years' or 'a million years,' as far as he was concerned."
> David Corn, January 3, 2008.
>
> "The U.S. could have a military presence anywhere in the world for a long
> period of time."
> John McCain, February 20, 2008.