Posted on 03/28/2008 8:47:21 AM PDT by vietvet67
WASHINGTON -- Asked at a New Hampshire campaign stop about possibly staying in Iraq 50 years, John McCain interrupted -- "Make it a hundred" -- then offered a precise analogy to what he envisioned: "We've been in Japan for 60 years. We've been in South Korea for 50 years or so." Lest anyone think he was talking about prolonged war-fighting rather than maintaining a presence in postwar Iraq, he explained: "That would be fine with me, as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed."
And lest anyone persist in thinking he was talking about war-fighting, he told his questioner: "It's fine with me and I hope it would be fine with you if we maintained a presence in a very volatile part of the world."
There is another analogy to the kind of benign and strategically advantageous "presence" McCain was suggesting for postwar Iraq: Kuwait. The U.S. (with allies) occupied Kuwait in 1991 and has remained there with a major military presence for 17 years. We debate dozens of foreign policy issues in this country. I've yet to hear any serious person of either party call for a pullout from Kuwait.
Why? Because our presence projects power and provides stability for the entire Gulf and for vulnerable U.S. allies that line its shores.
The desirability of a similar presence in Iraq was obvious as long as five years ago to retired Gen. Merrill McPeak, one of Barack Obama's leading military advisers and his campaign co-chairman. During the first week of the Iraq War, McPeak (a war critic) suggested in an interview that "we'll be there a century, hopefully. If it works right." (Meaning, if we win.)
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
It’s the same thing with his singing “bomb Iran”. Anyone who has seen the full clip, INCLUDING the questions that lead up to it, would realize that McCain was actually making fun of one guy in the audience who seemed to think we should attack Iran today instead of continuing to press for a diplomatic solution.
We're still in Bosnia - where clinton said all our troops would out by Christmas - back in the 90’s...
bump
Yeah but he didn’t specify which century/millenia!
We’ve been in Cuba for 110 years.
“It’s fine with me and I hope it would be fine with you if we maintained a presence in a very volatile part of the world.”
No. It’s not fine with me.
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