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McCain Says He Knows How to Win in Afghanistan–What’s He Waiting For? |
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Sen. McCain brags that the surge in Iraq has succeeded, despite the fact that the surge has failed to meet benchmarks Bush set to measure its success and despite the fact that, 18 months after the surge began, the war continues, with no end in sight.
Now, McCain argues that changing the tide in Afghanistan, where the Taliban is making a comeback and an increasing number of American soldiers have been killed in recent months, is as simple as doing the same thing in Afghanistan that we have done in Iraq.
McCain brags that “I know how to win wars“. My question is: why doesn’t McCain implement his plan for Afghanistan now? He has the president’s ear and claims to have turned the president around on Iraq–why not do the same now for Afghanistan? Why wait, especially as the situation is taking a turn for the worse?
In fact, Iraq is not a model of success. McCain claims that he knows how to win wars, but the surge, while a tactical success (US troops, once again, performed admirably), has not done anything to resolve Iraq’s poliitcal crisis and shows no signs of ending the war.
If McCain has a plan to fix things in Afghanistan, he should present it to Congress and the president. Otherwise, his plan seems to be more about winning an election than winning any war.
