More McCain

John McCain launched his retrofitted campaign yesterday with an opinion piece in the Washington Post. McCain argues that the war in Iraq has been terribly bungled but is on the road to victory now, "the surge" is showing signs of progresss. Among his claims:

For the first time, our delegation was able to drive, not use helicopters, from the airport to downtown Baghdad.

Your comment suggests that it's safe to drive now. My question is how many troops and helicopters escorted you along that route, John? Is it secure for high value targets all the time? Was your plane able to land without the gut-wrenching corkscrew descent needed to frustrate attackers?

For the first time, we met with Sunni tribal leaders in Anbar province who are working with American and Iraqi forces to combat al-Qaeda.

Actually, the Sunni tribal leaders have never been big fans of al-Qaeda except insofar as they can make common cause against American occupiers. Few anlayts expect al-Qaeda to have much future in Iraq once US troops are gone.

Extremist Shiite militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr is in hiding, his followers are not contesting American forces, sectarian violence has dropped in Baghdad and we are working with the Shiite mayor of Sadr City.

Thousands of Moqtada supporters rallied today and heard him say,

"Iraqi Army and Police: Do not get drawn in behind the Occupier. For it is an obvious enemy to you." He said, "The armies of darkness represented by the Occupation forces, and more especially the great evil, America, have begun sowing the seeds of comflict, whether openly or through their agents--who have sold their land and their honor."

Iraqi army and police forces are increasingly fighting on their own and with American forces, and their size and capability are growing. Iraqi army and police casualties have increased because they are fighting more.

Here's how one returning Ameican describes our Iraqi partners:

...Christensen said the worst violence was saved for Iraqi groups that assisted in the American reconstruction of the country, such as the Iraqi Security Forces. “If there is one group of people that they hate more than us, it’s the Iraqi Army,” he said. “If they catch wind that one of our convoys is working with the Iraqi Army, they’ll fight to the death. You take a few minutes for yourself before you (leave the base) on missions like that.”

Despite these welcome developments, we should have no illusions. This progress is not determinative. It is simply encouraging. We have a long, tough road ahead in Iraq. But for the first time since 2003, we have the right strategy. In Petraeus, we have a military professional who literally wrote the book on fighting this kind of war. And we will have the right mix and number of forces.


I could have sworn you wanted a LOT more troops for "the surge" but now I guess the lower number works for you. As for the right strategy, I recall it was the right strategy 40 years ago against another insurgency under another set of bright and capable generals. I'm still skeptical.

And finally, John, perhaps after touring with General Petraeus you could spend some time with Iraqi bloggers or this British officer.