John McCain letter to Bush: The foundation for the surge?

The letter to the president came from a senator with a unique vantage point from which to judge military operations.

When President Bush was weighing whether to "surge" the American troop deployment in Iraq, Sen. John McCain weighed in, speaking with the authority of his years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi during the Vietnam War.

McCain has long held that the United States lost the Vietnam War because it lacked the will to win, and in a letter to Bush written on Dec. 12, 2006, he made that same point as it applied to Iraq.

"The question is one of will more than capacity," McCain wrote to the president.

He added:

As the world's richest country, with 1.4 million troops under arms, and having contained sectarian conflict in the Balkans in the 1990s, we have the capacity to properly resource this war. It is my strong belief that we need to begin doing so immediately. If we are not willing to provide the troops necessary for victory, however, victory itself will be impossible.

McCain's letter was disclosed today in the Washington Times, which splashed the story across the top of its front page and presented the letter as "the climax of a 3 1/2-year effort to persuade the president to send more troops to Iraq."

"Surging five additional brigades into Baghdad by March" was the step Bush must take, McCain wrote, according to the Times.

Bush, whose cellar-dwelling standing in public opinion polls makes his support for McCain's Republican presidential bid a mixed blessing, acknowledged the senator's support for the surge.

He told the paper:

John recognized early on that more troops would be needed in order to achieve the security necessary for the Iraqis to make the political progress we're seeing now.

McCain, of course, has made no secret of his support for a surge; he was public in doing so from the start. But the letter draws in stark terms the differences over Iraq policy at the time of the surge between McCain and Sen. Barack Obama, who was then building his Democratic presidential campaign on his opposition to the war.

And it firmly links McCain to the president's policies.

-- James Gerstenzang

Photo: Sgt. Matthew Roe/10th Public Affairs Operations Center

Comments

John McCain has said for a very long time that he voiced his opinion to the president about needing more troops. This comes as no surprise. I am not sure your point about this article except to try to say that McCain and Bush have the same policies????? I would highly doubt that. Recently a very liberal friend mentioned how much he liked McCain even though he very much was against the war. I am not sure he could vote for McCain but he conceded that he believes that McCain only tolerates Bush as a president believing they differ considerably about spending, party blindness, and reaching across the aisle. McCain is the ONLY candidate that has habitually tried to compromise with the democrats. Obama has made it very clear the last few months how much he loathes Republicans. This was the guy that assured those same republicans that he wanted only unity. I do not feel the warmth.

[Joseph]

Regardless of McCain's letter this illegal war in Iraq should never have happened. Even I knew we needed more troops does that say that I am a presidential candidate or our president a moron?

[William O'Neill]

You draw the wrong conclusions. Actually it links Bush to McCain's policies...
Here's hoping your messiah wins.

[pacificGatePost]

It is time to give Iraqis their nation back before too few are left to remember that most Shiite, Sunni or Kurd Iraqis described themselves as Iraqis above all else and religious or sectarian group members second…..

http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2008/04/why-fear-withdrawal-from-iraq.html

[Wes in St. Paul]

President Bush: "John recognized early on that more troops would be needed in order to achieve the security necessary for the Iraqis to make the political progress we're seeing now."

GEN Eric Shinseki gave Bush the same advice 5 years ago - that at least 200-300,000 Soldiers and Marines would be needed to secure peace in Iraq. Bush didn't listen to the advice given to him by the Army Chief of Staff, and because he didn't, a lot of good young men died needlessly. He is completely and utterly incompetent in his role as Commander-in Chief.

[Kay B. Day]

You might make the point the surge worked, just as the Vietnam War would have worked had it not been for inept Democratic party officials. McCain was right and he was right before Bush thought of it. Check your own archives for Christ sakes. Your own paper carried the story after the NYT splashed McCain's letter excerpts across its own front page. Journalism has really gone down hill.