Like the folks at Powerline, I don’t always agree with the senior Senator from Arizona. But, when John McCain is right, he’s right, particularly on foreign affairs/military policy (where he usually agrees with the president) and on federal spending (where he is frequently at odds with the Administration). In taking issue with those fair-weather Democrats demanding a timetable for our troops withdrawal from Iraq, the good man from the Grand Canyon State has this to say:
Anyone reading the amendment gets the sense that the Senate’s foremost objective is the draw-down of American troops. What it should have said is that America’s first goal in Iraq is not to withdraw troops, but to win the war. All other policy decisions we make should support, and be subordinate to, the successful completion of our mission.
Morality, national security and the honor our fallen deserve all compel us to see our mission in Iraq through to victory. . . .
We have told insurgents that their violence does grind us down, that their horrific acts might be successful. But these are precisely the wrong messages. Our exit strategy in Iraq is not the withdrawal of our troops, it is victory.
Exactly.