TheLastManInAmerica

            When it comes to the right way to handle the war in Iraq, Republican senator John McCain says Barack Obama has “failed” to make the right decisions by not supporting last year’s troop surge and also his reluctance to acknowledge its success. Never the one to support the war, the Illinois senator has come under fire from McCain as he tours the globe to bolster foreign relations. The tour has created a spike in popularity for the presumptive Democratic nominee but back home Senator McCain has gone on the offensive, attacking Obama’s continued stance against the surge and using it as a compass to gauge his future plans for the war.

            Addressing veterans in Colorado, McCain said of his  support of the surge, “I believe my judgment passed the test. And I believe Senator Obama’s failed.” And as he rides the success of the strategy that, at one time, it seemed only he supported, McCain has been using it as leverage to prove himself the better choice for Commander-In-Chief. “Given the opportunity to choose between failure and success,” McCain said, “he chose failure. I cannot conceive of a Commander-In-Chief making that choice.”  

With Obama pushing for a complete withdrawal of troops in 16 months, McCain has pushed back, convinced that pulling out now would result in disaster and jeopardize any success gained there. McCain himself believes that a withdrawal needs to be based on “conditions on the ground”  and has refused to consider a fixed schedule for redeployment until the country is fully secure. Once again taking Senator Obama’s opposition to last year’s troop surge into account, McCain said, “We face another choice today. We can withdraw when we have secured the peace and gains we have sacrificed so much to achieve are safe. Or we can follow Senator Obama’s unconditional withdrawal and risk losing the peace even if that results in spreading violence and a third Iraq war.”  

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