McCain has been a long time supporter of the war in Iraq. He has supported President Bush in his efforts and plans for the war on terror. In 2002, McCain voted in favor of an invasion of Iraq. He has remained consistent with this vote since then.
When asked about the war he said,
“I agreed with the President’s difficult decision to go to war in Iraq. I remain fully supportive of his determination not to leave Iraq until the freely elected government of that country and its armed forces are able to defend their country from foreign and domestic enemies intent on thwarting the will of the Iraqi people to create a civil society in which the rights and security of all Iraqis are protected.”
I would like to ask you guys a question about the war in Iraq. Did we go to war for the reasons stated above? Or did we engage in war for other reasons such as oil? I have heard charges of a war for oil throbbed against the president. Such an idea has never gained significant momentum but there are still plenty of people holding onto this notion. What do you think?
John McCain said this about the troop increase:
“I’ve been a bit surprised at the level, at the amount of progress that they’ve achieved with only two, and now three, of the five brigades. I’ve also been not surprised but sorry that some of this activity has gone outside of Baghdad.”
When asked about a timetable for a troop withdrawal, McCain responded saying that political settlement cannot be attained until violence is contained within Iraq. He commented that the United States has had great success in Iraq but that the mission is not yet over.
“I have no Plan B. … I cannot give you a good alternative because if I had a good alternative, maybe we could consider it now. Every alternative that I know of that is keyed to a date for withdrawal, which that would dictate, is chaos in the region. And genocide.”
As you can see McCain feels strongly that to withdrawal our troops would leave the region in pandemonium. Do you agree with his sentiments? As of now, it is evident that the war in Iraq will be heavily impacted by whoever finds their way into the office of the President.
