McCain’s “100 year” comment
By JR Hoeft | Friday, April 4th, 2008 | PoliticsThere is an excellent article up on Real Clear Politics by Gregory Scoblete, a freelance writer out of New Jersey, who accurately identifies the true debate we should be having about McCain’s comment about staying in Iraq “100 years.”
The Democrats have chosen to dishonestly hang the “100 years” sound-bite around McCain’s neck. In doing so, they’re missing the real millstone: McCain’s analogies. There is simply no real parallel between the role of the U.S. military in South Korea (or Kuwait, or Japan) and Iraq. It is McCain’s suggestion that those deployments are applicable models for the U.S. in Iraq, not a quote out of context that should be the focal point of the debate.
Scoblete makes an excellent point and goes on to discuss how South Korea, Japan, Germany, Kuwait, etc. are different models for U.S. presence and why they are different models…namely secure post-war nation states vice a country embroiled in sectarian violence.
It would be wise for Democrats to seize upon the real debate, but even wiser for McCain to clarify.
Whoever does so first will have the advantage.
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Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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4 Responses to "McCain’s “100 year” comment"
WW2 ended in 1946 – 62 years ago. I wonder what the greatest generation would have thought if told we would stay in Japan, Germany, Italy and a number of other places for 100 years? Those countries were not the friendly, capitalist places we know today. No one can foresee what Iraq will look like in 62 years no matter what we do, but the idea of having a presence there is certainly not disturbing to me. John McCain has correctly stated that what the people of the country want is an end to the fighting and terrible human loss – not an end to being there.
It is a shame politics today are sound-bite and not substance oriented.
I suspect if said, and edited in the “right” way you could make an argument for “getting out” of Virginia or Texas!
The article makes an excellent point though — those places were conquered and faced a far greater external threat that warranted us to stay — North Korea, China, the Soviet Union.
Unless we are prepared to say Syria, Iran and AQ are external actors who could takeover, Iraq.
Personally, I believe that, and welcome the discussion.
That’s all this author is trying to say — Democrats demonizing McCain for the sound-bite without actually discussing or debating the substance of it.
I am going to add to but sorrowfully be unable to engage in continuing conversation.
Personally I think we need to get out of Iraq as soon as possible. However a helter skelter retreat is inadvisable. What happens if one side or another of the body politique in Iraq comes to power in Iraq and engages in inhuman repression of the vanquished foe? (Think Sunni over Shia or vice versa.)
Do we really want that on our conscience? We made the mess, and we are unwilling to make the sacrifices necessary to clean up the mess we made? Even if you were against our invasion of Iraq (like I was) are you unwilling to accept that our nation invaded anyway, and that by invading shouldered some responsibility for the final outcome?
Perhaps you want change? Well if the change you want is changing towards turning our backs on our responsibilities for the messes we created I think I am going to stand against you. Perhaps the masses will once again shout me down. I’m used to it. I stood up against the Iraq invasion and we did it anyway. I am not going to now support a helter skelter withdrawal only because it is popular. I think we are going to continue to be responsible for what happens after we withdraw. If the leftist extremists force premature withdrawal (no pun intended) I am going to at least partially blame them for the aftermath.
[...] “overextended”, which is a highly subjective, and “100 years”, which is a quote taken out of context, the question is a pretty darn good [...]
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