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McCain: Send 10,000 More Troops to Iraq
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) urged the Bush administration Thursday to commit more troops and resources to confront the insurgency in Iraq. McCain – a likely GOP candidate for the White House in 2008 – firmly chastised Democrat calls for the president to withdraw forces as early as next year. "Instead of drawing down,” McCain told listeners at the American Enterprise Institute, "we should be ramping up, with more civil-military soldiers, translators, and counter-insurgency operations teams.” McCain called for 10,000 more troops to increase America’s presence to 165,000 in Iraq.
Story Continues Below He responded directly to a proposal by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) to reduce troop levels in Iraq by 20,000 in the near future. That, McCain said, would be "a major step on the road to disaster.” McCain represents an opinion rarely discussed in the mainstream media coverage of the war in Iraq: Republican disenchantment with President Bush’s allegedly unfocused direction of the war in Iraq, as opposed to general – more liberal - opposition to the war. He called for a new strategy on the ground as well, saying the Pentagon should concentrate on securing and holding insurgent strongholds rather than spreading forces throughout Iraq. "Our forces cannot hold the ground indefinitely,” he said, "and when they move on to fight other battles, the insurgent ranks replenish and strongholds fill again. Our troops must then re-enter the same area and re-fight the same battle.” McCain then challenged critics of the war. "America, Iraq, and the world are better off with Saddam Hussein in prison rather than in power. Does anyone believe the stirrings of freedom in the region would exist if Saddam still ruled with an iron fist?” "Does anyone believe the region would be better off if Saddam were in power, using oil revenue to purchase political support? Does anyone believe meaningful sanctions would remain or that there would have been any serious checks on Saddam’s ambitions?” "The costs of this war have been high,” McCain said, "especially for the over 2,000 Americans, and their families, who have paid the ultimate price. But liberating Iraq was in our strategic and moral interests, and we must honor their sacrifice by seeing this mission through to victory.”
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