John McCain 'past angry' on Afghanistan

Republican Sen. John McCain, who has been urging the White House to support a significant new troop deployment in Afghanistan, says he is "past being a bit angry.''

"I'm disappointed that we haven't made a decision,'' McCain (R-Ariz.), said in an appearance on "Fox & Friends" this morning. "The fact is, we already have men and women over there, and, the longer we delay in sending them the needed resources they need, the greater danger they are in. And that is just a fundamental fact of warfare."

President Obama is considering the recommendations of Gen. Stanley McChrystal for a deployment of tens of thousands of additional troops in Afghanistan. McCain, who challenged Obama for the White House, has been urging him publicly to accept McChrystal's strategy for the way forward after eight years of war in Afghanistan, where the U.S. has deployed nearly 70,000 troops, including a boost of 21,000 this year

"I am past being a bit angry; I am just very disappointed,'' McCain said. "I hope the president will make the right decision soon, and, believe me I also want to emphasize, half measures won't work."

See the full report on McCain, Obama and Afghanistan in the Swamp.

-- Mark Silva

Photo: John McCain. Credit: Getty Images

Comments

[missoula]

If he is so worried about our soldiers, why doesn't he call for a complete withdrawal? McCain is after all the poster child for our failure in Viet Nam. All the horror and torture he went through, 50 thousand dead soldiers, and what did it get us? Afghanistan is like the reincarnation of Viet Nam. When will we ever learn? We can't win there, and there is nothing to be gained. Worse, we have motivated the Taliban to try to take Pakistan and their nukes, destabilizing a neighboring country just like we did to Cambodia. GET US OUT OF AFGHANISTAN NOW!

[mike]

we don't have an ally in Afghanistan that would allow us to win. McCain should know what inhospitable terrain Afghanistan is for us and lower his expectations of what it is possible for us to achieve there. And be aware that our presence there makes very useful propaganda and motivation for our enemies in the Muslim world. A mainly Christan army in a Muslim country is a big deal.

[Vietnam era gal]

Yup - why is it so often the old guys sitting safely at home who cry for war? Obama's doing the right thing taking some time to figure this out. Personally, I think we should cut our losses and get out. Learn from the lessons of history....

[Eric Bressler]

Shorter John McCain, "YOU KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!"

[Afghan deployed]

Easy to bash McCain when the president is not only leaving us in Afghanistan, but also ignoring us. At least McCain wants to do something about the situation.

Keep making spewing your ignorance and I'll continue to defend your right to be and idiot.

Sleep well tonight. I'll try.

[jack]

just more nonsensical BS out of this old fart.

[jj]

just more nonsensical BS out of this old fart.

[Carl]

As I look at my TV Guide I see a movie that reminds me of John. The commies must be very upset over the loss in our recent election of the Mancurian candidate.

[Common sense]

"President Obama is considering the recommendations of Gen. Stanley McChrystal for a deployment of tens of thousands of additional troops in Afghanistan."

Before we all go attack Sen. McCain some more, let's consider the fact that nobody -- not Obama, not McCain, nobody -- understands the situation in Afghanistan better than the General. He was given a job to do, this is what he feels he needs in order to get the job done. From a strictly practical point of view, the General knows he needs the additional troops if he's going to launch a successful campaign.

From a political point of view, this decision was essentially made when Obama first decided to send additional troops to Afghanistan. To deny these additional troops at this point is just silly. He just okayed TWICE this many troops to be deployed. If he doesn't follow up here, this will only be fodder for his opponent in 2012.

From a world-image point of view, the decision is a little more difficult. On the one hand, you want to get out, save your troops, and allow Afghanistan to run itself as Iraq is starting to do. On the other hand, if you let Osama get away, you're encouraging him to continue his behavior and encouraging others to join. "We can defeat the evil Americans, even when they come looking for us. They can't defeat us." We cannot fail here.

The situation in Afghanistan is different from that in Iraq on several levels. Firstly, we caught the leader in Iraq quickly, allowing the country to begin to stabilize sooner. If we leave Afghanistan, the chance is there for the old leader to stage a coup and destroy the fragile new government of Afghanistan. Secondly, Iraq was the war where we had no international support -- we were taking shots in the dark that they were a threat to us, and the other nations of the world saw this. We have support from other countries in Afghanistan. The cause of the war was seen as noble. Remember, there was an *actual* threat from Afghanistan.

Obama was right to see Afghanistan as different than Iraq. And now he has very real capital invested in the war in Afghanistan -- the members of our Armed Forces -- not to mention the political capital at home. I don't see that Obama has much of a choice with this one, so I'm kind of annoyed that it's taken so long to decide as well.