Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who is vying for his party’s presidential nomination, on Thursday sharply criticized Democratic White House hopefuls for wanting to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq before their job is done.
“Leading Democrats and presidential candidates spurn a clear-eyed assessment of the opportunities and difficulties ahead and a strategic grasp of the consequences of an American defeat for whistling past the grave yard alternatives, which seldom rise above the level of sound bites and that lack, either by design or inexperience, even a crude understanding of the realities of our situation,” McCain said in a speech to the Hudson Institute in New York.
Among Republican presidential candidates, McCain is most supportive of the ongoing troop surge in Iraq and many observers are convinced that his chances in the GOP primary are closely tied to the success of the strategy currently in place.
McCain said that Democratic presidential candidates “ought to be able to demonstrate that their positions on Iraq and the long war against Islamic extremists are the product of sober reasoning and their promise of more realistic statecraft is based on, well, reality.” However, he argued, this is not the case.
“They argue nothing has changed in Iraq over the last six months despite the incontrovertible evidence of improvements,” McCain said. “They argue we can fight al Qaeda better by ceding the battlefield to them in Iraq.”
The senator also accused Democrats of “political cowardice to the far left wing of their party,” a reference to their reaction to an ad from MoveOn.org that refers to Gen. David Petraeus as “Gen. Betray Us.”
However, McCain also said that no matter what course the U.S. chooses, victory against Islamic extremists is inevitable.
“While our ultimate victory is not in doubt, the length and intensity of this struggle remain to be determined,” McCain said. “It’s up to us.”
The senator, the ranking member on the Armed Services Committee, proposes increasing defense spending and adding more troops to a U.S. military that is not built to confront new threats.
“To a large extent, our military is still configured to fight enemies that no longer exist,” McCain said. “Our stealth bombers, aircraft carriers, and nuclear submarines may make the difference in a future conflict, but they do little to win our current struggles against terrorists from the Horn of Africa to the Hindu Kush.”
The senator also took a shot at his GOP rivals, asserting that they lack the experience to make the kind of decisions they would be required to as soon as they win the presidency.
“Tough talk or managerial successes in the private sector aren’t adequate assurance that their authors have the experience or qualities necessary for such a singular responsibility,” McCain said in a swipe at his rivals. “We have to make far-reaching reforms to our government to prepare for the long threat our enemies plan for us, and the cruel and desperate means they will employ to harm us. You don’t just talk about or manage such changes, you lead them.”
