Wednesday, February 25, 2009

John McCain Calls the Troops "Losers" (If You Use GOP Rules)

Remember when it was treasonous to say we were losing a war? Specifically, when Harry Reid said we were losing the war in Iraq, SC Senator Lindsey Graham went on Wolf Blitzer and charged that Reid called the troops "losers?" 

So I guess by GOP Rules, Honorable John McCain Who Was a POW just called U.S. troops "losers."

"When you aren't winning in this kind of war, you are losing. And, in Afghanistan today, we are not winning," McCain said in remarks delivered at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank. 

I look forward to Senator Graham's scathung denunciation  of McCain's treason. Disgraceful. McCain used to be a POW, you know. 

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're being disingenuous here. Senator Graham said:

"Let's don't declare this war lost, because you're telling Petraeus and all these soldiers that Barbara just talked about they're losers. They have not had the opportunity...to implement this strategy."

So he never indicated or hinted at all that anyone was being treasonous. He was merely saying that we should call them losers because the surge had just been started and hadn't had long enough to work yet. He went on to say:

"And if I may finish my thought, if I may finish my thought, those who, no matter how well-intentioned, are calling for our withdrawal, deadlines and timelines that inform the enemy about how to beat us, are in fact the authors of a greater war. The Bush administration screwed this up early on by not having enough troops. I support the surge. I'll take the consequences of its failure. Give it a chance. But if it all fails we're going to have a bigger war."

Now, you can disagree with what he's saying, but there is no basis to claim that Graham is calling anyone a traitor or even implying it. He is saying that people are criticizing too early.

And McCain is not calling anyone a loser. He is saying that America is not winning the war there and needs to step up its efforts. He's not claiming it's a lost cause or calling the soldiers or strategists losers.

In fact, the article states that McCain approves of Obama's 17,000 additional troops, but he feels more will be needed. McCain is warning that the war in Afghanistan is going to get worse before it gets better.

Whatever other faults McCain has, it is simply a lie to state that McCain is calling any troops losers, or that he is implying that. At least not from the article you linked to.

JD Rhoades said...

Obviously, John, the point here went straight over your head. Try again.

John McFetridge said...

Before people start talking about losing, it would be great if someone would explain exactly what "win" means in Afghanistan.

Canadian troops have been on the ground in Afghanistan for years.

JD Rhoades said...

it would be great if someone would explain exactly what "win" means in Afghanistan.

OBL's head on a pike would be nice.

Anonymous said...

OBL's head on a PIKE? A fish with a turban! Both are equally absurd...bin Laden will die a natural death, if he hasn't already.

LongHairedWeirdo said...

"Let's don't declare this war lost, because you're telling Petraeus and all these soldiers that Barbara just talked about they're losers.

Here's the thing.

If GM tried to bring out a new line of trucks. And, after spending ten times the worst case estimates (and, please note, they fired the guy who made that worst case estimate, for not being a team player), was able to implement a new strategy and get a four wheeled vehicle that was, technically, a truck - not pretty, and it might break down - to market, you wouldn't talk about the "victory" that GM pulled off in bringing that truck to market.

You wouldn't blame the workers who produced the trucks if they did their jobs well; you wouldn't blame the metallurgist who came up with the proper alloys to use, if those were good choices; you wouldn't blame the electrical engineer who designed the ignition, if the ignition worked to spec. But you would not paint it red, white, and blue and call it a win for mom and apple pie.

More importantly, you would scorn the fools at GM who drove the idea in such an incompetent manner.

Yes, Iraq was a terrible loss.

And people were criticizing that *far* too late.

And it's a matter of historical fact that people who opposed the war were called traitors, and that these attacks were not condemned; they were quite acceptable.

That Dusty is pointing to the entire Republican Party's actions, rather than letting criticism be nitpicked to death, is not a flaw.