McCain targeted in anti-war ad, '1,000 years in Iraq'

This is all the republican wide stance cheap shot party has. McLames' rebutal to hussein about that was then but this is now arguement holds zero water. McLame has the same mentality of Bush and had he been president at the time of 9/11, he would have done the same thing as Bush. We don't need another Bush in the Whitehouse. People can't afford gas in their cars or food on the table and all this bozo has is Iraq. Their own party doesn't like him...enough said.

Look for the rabid right to somehow call this vet a traitor. Remember...you can only be a true hero if you get shot down and held as a POW. The wide stance party will tell you who the real heros are..you can bet on that. McLame has no vision for America other than to bankrupt us in Iraq. From the party whos president allowed 9/11 to happen on his watch...I feel real safe. The stability in the Middle East that Bush promised has been amazing. Actually, there isn't one thing promised about this war that has materialized. The hate America republican party will be the ruin of us.

He can't even unite his own party...and with support for the Iraq war nowadays, watch for this salmon to fall far short.

I can anyone vote for McLame? Read up people! The war is hurting us at home, I believe the war and the economy are tied together. McLame will be another Bush just in a different suit.
Don't vote for him!

From the party of no timeline because you tell the enemy your plans, comes their favorite report. The drudge report. Once again the right shows they really don't care about the troops. The hate machine on the right doesn't care who they put in danger.

The fervor of the voters this primary season is in response to the personalizing of issues by George Bush. McCain will suffer if he aligns himself with the Bush Monarchy.....
http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/02/28/the-personal-presidency-of-george-w-bush/

billy billy billy you ignorant.... obamonation is more payroll taxes military dismantled (aka jimmy carter) obama-ramma is going to ram you you liberal sheepal

I find the continued distortion of his statement obnoxious.

Can we be honest for once?

He did not say 1,000 years, he said 100 years. It was not 100 years of occupying Iraq, it was having a long-term presence in Iraq.

Having said all of that - I completely disagree that we should be there any longer than necessary. I do not see a need to be there "100" years in any capacity.

But I am tired of the political distortions, from all sides, that take a statement someone makes and twists it until it doesn't even resemble the original comment.

Rose Forrest has a right to her opinion and more right than most due to her service. I thank her for that. I would ask that all Americans carefully consider the cost of staying in Iraq and the cost of leaving. The matter and rightness of our being there or not is not the main point at this time. The matter of how to leave and ensure a stable Iraq is the point. The point of keeping Iran in check is a key issue. These are vital to our security for the near and far future. McCain understands this as do most of us that have served. We will need to maintain a military posture in that area for years to come. That is the reality that exists and the one we will have to accept. As a young Reserve Marine Cpl. told me recently after completing his 3rd combat tour, "we're doing good Sir. We are making a difference. The kids are smiling and playing soccer now". Think carefully about the cost of giving that away.

Wesley Clark is on the Board of Advisors for VoteVets.org.
I have started a site to "Draft Clark for VP!" for Obama.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/WesleyClarkVP

VoteVets.org is leading the attack against McCain. They aren't waiting for McCain to come after Obama, and then mounting a weak counter-attack. Wes Clark was a General in the United States Army and he knows how to confront the enemy and win!

Clark has been a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton in 2008, but now it has become obvious that Obama will be the Democratic Party Presidential Candidate. Once Clinton bows out he will become the best possible choice for Vice President.

Obama/Clark in 2008!

The matter and rightness of our being there or not is not the main point at this time.
Posted by: LtCol Barry Turpin USMC ret | February 29, 2008 8:39 AM

This arguement holds no water. McLame would have made the same poor choice Bush made. It's a matter of making the right decision the first time. This new tact of claiming it doesn't matter how we got here is a way of sidestepping the fact that this is the very same party that got us into this mess in the first place.

billy billy billy you ignorant.... obamonation is more payroll taxes military dismantled (aka jimmy carter) obama-ramma is going to ram you you liberal sheepal

Posted by: carlos rivera | February 29, 2008 8:26 AM

I guess I forgot to press 1 for english. Ya want to run that by me again?

Notice how the main stream media is complicit in perpetuating the Iraq Occupation. They tout the "surge" as a success even though reduction of casualties is solely the result of reduced operations, cease fire deals with some warlords, and complete withdrawal from some parts (south) of Iraq.

As to Obamanation: After he is sworn into office, look for some new insurgence activities that will give him justification to cancel his stated "plan" to withdraw our troops. The bases being built there will be utilized for decades to come. The US Embassy building being constructed there is larger than the Vatican.

The one-party RepubliCrat system in conjunction with the main stream media is playing the American "sheeple" voter like a Stradivarius. That is the price a nation pays for laziness and apathy. If they had only listened to Ron Paul.

Goodbye America - Hello Amerika.

I'm voting for Barack Obama in November, assuming he wins the nomination. That said I think for reasons of clarity it should be pointed out that John McCain was opposed to the war and the strategy initially. Unfortunatley he buckled under to the Bush administration as he has so many other times. I'm endlessly amazed that Mr McCain has let these people, who have never had his best interest in mind screw with him. I hate to call it like it is, but that's a large part of the reason why I can't support him. Good guy, American hero, and patriot. Still despite the fact that I agree with him on a good many issue like immigration reform (anathema to hard core conservatives) I just can't support him this time around. I feel like we need a fresh vision. That person for me is Mr Obama.

Iraq is still a mess and we need a different perspective on how to extricate ourselves from the untenable position we're in there. I hope Barack gets Jim Webb on board as his running mate. I think that would go along way to allaying many peoples fear about a percieved lack of military understanding. I feel confident he has the intellect to surround himself with capable people to address foreign affairs. 1,000 years war??? I think not.

Obama 2008

p.s. I still thin McCains Bagdad shopping spree was pathetic. What were you thinking John???

No one is calling this veteran a traitor, least of all Senator John McCain. If I remeber right, it was a group like Moveon.org that was thowing around name calling like "Traitor".

Votevet should consider their name (several of us vets were offended when the VFW endorsed a non-vet over Tammy Duckworth).

Vote for a Veteran for Commander in Chief of the US Armed Forces. Their is only one left standing, and rather than attacking him with trivial partisan shots, veterans should support those who have stood by them through thick and thin.

Col. Turpin: How pompous of you to think that our military can change 5,000 years of unrest in the Middle East. Unless we keep significant forces there forever, the puppet government we put in place there will be overthrown a week after we leave. As to the Iraqi children playing soccer, I'm more worried about my own children and how they will suffer when we go bankrupt supporting our illegal activities in Iraq.

The democrats have no candidate with anything near McCain's leadership experience so they have to resort to distortions and lies like this.

This issue is a winner for McCain. Going up against a failure in Iraq for political success candidate like Obama will only further illustrate difference between him and McCain, who said "I'd rather lose and election than a war."

Bring on the anti-american.

Chris...Your support of a vet is commendable. To bad your own party doesn't support vets. For votes, they'll say anything about a vet to win the power. Look at what they did to Kerry. The wide stance republican party only cares about power, not vets.

This issue is a winner for McCain.
Posted by: Jeff | February 29, 2008 9:29 AM

The Iraq war sure is a winner for the right. With the amount of people who now think this was the biggest mistake, he'll need a little more than his one trick pony. The man himself says he's not good with economics...Brilliant! He certainly is NOT what we need. He is a clone of the mentality that got us there in the first place. Bring on the anti-Americans who do not have a clue how to help America.

RE: LtCol Barry Turpin USMC ret | February 29, 2008 8:39 AM

>Rose Forrest has a right to her opinion and more right than most due to her service. I thank her for that. I would ask that all Americans carefully consider the cost of staying in Iraq and the cost of leaving. The matter and rightness of our being there or not is not the main point at this time. The matter of how to leave and ensure a stable Iraq is the point. The point of keeping Iran in check is a key issue. These are vital to our security for the near and far future. McCain understands this as do most of us that have served. We will need to maintain a military posture in that area for years to come. That is the reality that exists and the one we will have to accept. As a young Reserve Marine Cpl. told me recently after completing his 3rd combat tour, "we're doing good Sir. We are making a difference. The kids are smiling and playing soccer now". Think carefully about the cost of giving that away.

A quick withdrawal from Iraq would add to the chaos there and make it am extraordinary hotbed of terrorist activity. It would also damage America's prestige and amount to a slap in the face of the troops fighting there. A hard and fast arbitrary deadline offers our commandeers in the field, and our diplomats in the region, insufficient flexibility.

Herbie is afraid a quick withdrawl will be a mistake. Too bad he didn't think going in was a bad mistake. Somehow trusting the same mentality that got us into it in the first place just doesn't make a lick of sense.

Herbie...Where you also one of the ones who said we would be greated by flowers?

Posted by: Herbie H. | February 29, 2008 10:05 AM

Announcing that we intend to remain in Iraq for the foreseeable future (100 years) adds to the chaos there and contibutes to it being a hot bed of terrorist activity. It damages America's prestige and amounts to a slap in the face to the soldiers fighting there.

A hard and fast statement that we intend to permannetly occupy Iraq aids our enemies in showing that the US never intends to leave and will maintain a permanent imperial presence. It undermines statements by our diplomats and military officers to the contrary.

mccain has gone from maverick to bush clone in the last 8 yrs. it's a mystery as to why. if you can't beat them join them? i can't go along with his ideas on iraq. $2.4 trillion and rising while we have tax cuts in place is a recipe for financial disaster. all while the siuation in afghanistan is bad and the troops there are shortchanged in what they need. i'm for incouraging the iraqi government to partition into 3 countries and sharing the oil revenue, if they can't (or refuse to find a way to peaceful co-existence) in the end we may have to just walk away from the country. not a good prospect but a better one than the continued financial destruction of our country. the lessons of our involvement in Viet Nam went unheeded. thats why we are at this point. the "surge" is just delaying the inevitable.

Remember, they refer to General Petraeus as "General Betray Us." Pretty much says it all.

I don't support this war, but I commend those who have served when called upon, their duty and sacrifice make this country the beacon it is..
Or was???

Obama was spot on when he said, in essence, Bush, McCain, and everyone who voted for the war (Clinton) drove the bus into the ditch. Now, should we be carefully getting out of the ditch, or should we just sit around and do nothing?

Look, for all you chuckleheads who think we can just pull out every soldier and be done, we're in the ditch, deal with it. Haliburton has built us the largest "embassy" in the world, we might pull back a majority of troops, but we WILL have a presence in Iraq for years, just like S. Korea, Japan, you name it. What we should be focusing on is trying to get the bus out of the ditch without further damaging it.

And continuing this metaphor, if its our bus that is in the ditch, why does it seem the Iraqi government is up at the soda shop while we are digging out the mud from under our wheels? Their boots are clean, our soldiers boots are bloody.

You cant remove religious animosities. You cant solve the middle east with guns and bombs and hope the image of Iraqi children playing soccer is worth the cost to our country and more importantly MY children. How can we in good conscience continue on this expensive path when we know we are spending money we DONT have! We are in deficit to other countries, we are practically in a recession, we are ALL in credit cards and mortgages and gas and food prices up to our ears, yet we continue to fund without any questions this war, as if to cut back troop levels and funding is unpatriotic. My kids might have something to say in a few years about this "checkbook patriotism".

Fix OUR infrastructure!
Rebuild OUR military!
Secure OUR borders and ports!

The bus is in the ditch, do we sit inside and just keep spinning our wheels, or do we accept the reality, pull up our britches and get to work fixing this situation?

Slow, orderly withdrawal. Timelines not for us, but timelines for the Iraqi governement to stand up or deal with us leaving. If they wont step up, we should step out.

Our country is falling apart before our very eyes, but we pump billions into Iraq and buy Chinese made plasma tvs on our credit cards.

Sorry for the long rant, but come on America, get over yourself, get over your stupid silly partisan bickering and lets buck up and get the work done. A majority of the country is becoming obese, lazy, American Idol watching, over our heads in debt, entitlement cry babies.

Meanwhile we have brave soldiers dying and being shot at while rebuilding Iraqi schools. Nice.

I am a Vietnam army veteran. I am an old white man. I am a math teacher. I'll be damned if if would ever vote for a Republican. They got us into this Iraq mess. For oil. Just for oil. All the other reasons are camouflage. And somebody needs to lead in the cleanup of all the other disasters delivered by the Bush-Cheney administration. We need a more rational Supreme Court. We need a functional FEMA. We need a sensible education policy. My God, the list goes on and on. No Republican administration will begin to address all this.

Hey...with over 450 posts on Hussein...whats in a name..huh?

Jeff,
The MoveOn Ad actually said they would have no choice to refer to him as General BetrayUs if he used his moment before Congress to parrot White House talking points that the war is going well instead of giving an honest assessment. The ball was in his court from the time he allowed himself to become a part of the political message of the White House.

Bill, the name you should be worried about isn't "Hussein" it's "Barry."

Hillary Clinton has started comparing him to that other Barry who used to be a senator from Arizona.

I guess she learned this from campaigning for Goldwater in Texas in 1964.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/02/clinton-ad-asks.html

Col. Turpin: How pompous of you to think that our military can change 5,000 years of unrest in the Middle East. Unless we keep significant forces there forever, the puppet government we put in place there will be overthrown a week after we leave. As to the Iraqi children playing soccer, I'm more worried about my own children and how they will suffer when we go bankrupt supporting our illegal activities in Iraq.

Posted by: USAF Vet Dan | February 29, 2008 9:22 AM

I gotta agree with you Dan. This fiasco is gonna do exactly what OBL and his crew wanted all along. To hit us in the wallet. Same reason they targeted the Trade Center buildings. You hit the nail on the head. We're being played like a fiddle!

Dan, do other people not understand this???

I'm also an old VietNam veteran and just like my feelings about VietNam I don't care what garbage political hacks get us out of Iraq.
We lost a lot of men in VietNam just for cheap tennis shoes and labor.
We are doing the same for cheap oil. I like none of these phony AMNESTY for ILLEGALS candidates...and I lean DEMO..guess I'll sit this one out!

john, I don't think you got the latest DNC memo. It says to drop criticism of Petraeus, because under any objective standard, his strategy is working. It also says to "shift" arguments to lack of political progress, which would involve Crocker, not Petraeus. Other memos you may have missed: Drop all "civil war" rhetoric. Drop the rhetoric that the "surge" will fail because increasing American presence will only increase violence. Keep in mind our goal: Absolute and humiliating failure in Iraq. It is your patriotic duty to minimize and attack the credibility of anyone who even suggests any progress in Iraq. Keep up the good work, but make sure you get the latest memo, as previous arguments have become obsolete. Thank you.

- Howard Dean. YEEEEOOOWWWW!

John, that's not calling him general betray us? Are you a normal person? Did you see the ad with "General Betray Us" in big letters?

He DID give an honest assessment and things ARE going better in Iraq according to every measurable military and political statistic.

Dear Gentlemen,
It appears that I created some good discussion with my comments. Good. For the record I will point out a few points to be considered.
1] The President can only commit limited numbers of American troops to combat for a very limited time.
2]Congress has to concur with continued utilization of troops after the initial period of presidential commitment
3]Iraq constantly violated the terms and intent of agreements and signed treaties that resulted from the Gulf War
4] Iraq plotted the assasination of a US President
5]Iraq had a long history of chemical warfare and attempted nuclear development
6] Iraq had a well documented history of support for radical organizations that targeted US citizens and interests
7] the UN failed to step up to the plate in a meaningful manner
Did I support the initiation of the war? No, not the way it was spun.
Did I support the strategy of the war? No, it was a strategic disaster. You can't do war on the cheap. Not enough troops to win the peace.
Am I prepared to leave at this point? No,I fully believe the cost of premature departure will be exceeded by future costs that originate in this historically unstable but economically vital region.
Does the possibility of my son going worry me. Every day, especially as he now contemplates a military career.
Few warriors want to fight a war but none want to lose once commited. If you haven't been there you won't understand that line of thought.
This is much deeper than politics or party affiliation but again for the record on wars fought
and party in power review the following.
WWI - Democrat
WWII - Democrat
Korea - Democrat
Vietnam - Democrat
Gulf War - Republican
Iraq - Republican

Well ltCol....I've been there....and from my view,I saw boys like myself die for a failed political policy. I would say this is a failed political policy and see no reason to lose more brothers over it.

Bill,
I respect your opinion as I trust you respect mine. This is what the Democratic process is all about. The ability to have open well thought out discussion on issues and let the electorate make the determination. Semper Fidelis

The war in Iraq is draining our military resources and personnel. We can no longer sustain training at home and our personnel shortfalls prevent us from filling positions that keep our forces well supported.

Socially, our forces are dealing with all time highs in DUIs, domestic abuse, mental health issues, and suicide. Many attribute these issues to combat stress, time away from family, and lack of supervision.

I'm disturbed that I'm only now starting to see the focus shift from Iraq to Afghanistan and that this will inevitably lead to a greater presence where we should have been from the beginning. I'm disturbed because I see it as the current administration's effort to escalate our "forgotten war" in order to increase McCain's chances for a stronger showing in November and that the public's vote will be swayed out of fear once again.

Help a vet... vote Obama.

Again reporter Mark Silva donates free Tribune advertising to whatever left wing group happens to email him an ad.

As far as I know, the Democrat National Committee doesn't pay the salaries of "Swamp" journalists. The question is, would the articles be any different if the DNC did?

For Bruce:
Nobody emailed me the ad. I saw it repeatedly on a cable news network and found it noteworthy that anti-war ads are running against a candidate who is campaigning with his support for the war. Tribune Co. pays the check.
-- Mark Silva

All the Dems need to do is tie McCain to Bush and this bloody, unnecessary war and they should win in a landslide. I'll vote for either Clinton or Obama, but I have to admit I favor Obama because he didn't vote for this monstrous mistake.

ltCol....of course I respect your opinion. Maybe you could tell our friends on the right that blanket calls of being a traitor, or America hater of democrats....reminds me of many brothers have given their all for our country, and many, many of them were democrats.

I couldn't agree more. It's time to bring home the troops, close all borders and take care of our own sick and homeless.

Nice try Vince. "McLame" is head and shoulders above "Hussein", in substance and accomplishment. You must be one of the Barackomaniacs that look forward to a Todd Stroger style presidency. You shilling for Mayor McCheese as well?

Jeff,
You poor ignorant bastard. Political reconcilliation was a component of the surge. Until that objective has been achieved the surge is a failure. To pretend otherwise is to stand on an aircraft carrier and declare "Mission Accomplished". You don't win football games by having more first downs than your opponent, you win by finishing the job and putting the ball across the goal line.

WHY ARE WE THERE AT ALL??

100 years or 1000 years, you have not justified ONE year or ONE day in Iraq.

Sure, the nutcases in Saudi and Iran cheer Saddam's removal but it did nothing for US.

You control their oil, but we don't need their oil. Just force auto-oil companies to sell a plug-in EV on the free market, allow people to buy them, and they finance their rooftop solar system with the money NOT spent on oil.

It's all about oil, why not admit it, McInane??

LtCol. Barry Turpin, your points are all valid. I have to agree that unfortunately we know must consider the long range effects of leaving Iraq. I do however think that electing John McCain will do nothing to provide answers. I truely belive he will allow the very people that influenced him to support a war he did not agree with to dictate policy. My hope is that whoever gets elected will explore involving other countries to a greater extent in solving the problems in that region.

Thanks for your service to our country. Have a great weekend.

Lt. Col. Turpin--Do you think this is an accurate representation of the current situation in Iraq? Also, do you think there is any realistic hope of a political solution?

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/18722376/the_myth_of_the_surge

This ad is very wrong, in my opinion.

It decieves the viewer by making false statements about John McCain's positions and statements regarding protecting Iraq from al-Queda and other Islamofascist jihadists. It also portrays the child as a sacrifice for the Iraqi people, even though we do not currently have a draft, and she wasn't drafted.

This is a very disturbing disinformation ad using an innocent child as a pretext to propagandize against defeating the beggings of the formation of a sharia-law Islamic caliphate armed with massive amounts of WMD's and other armaments of warfare, that may be used against the rest of the planet.

Information from the U.S. government has already revealed to us documents about their plans, including making Baghdad the capital city of their new super-state caliphate.

Last time I checked, Islamofascism as a political, religious Movement is very much alive. Just ask Iran's Ahmadindjad, who is currently killing Americans there to grab Iraq for his own, to add to Lebanon, Gaza Strip...then Israel? Then America?

They have tried several times to hit us here. They are very likely to repeat this much more often if they have a base.

al-Qaeda=the base

Go McCain-Romney 2008!

If one candidate’s trying to scare you and the other one’s trying to get you to think, if one candidate’s appealing to your fears and the other one’s appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope."
-Bill Clinton, 2004

MCCain is fearmonger a same as bush and I will be very stupid to vote for him.

In response to dt and the rolling stone story. I do think it is possible to have a political settlement in Iraq in time. The $64.00 question is how much time and at what cost? The story does point out m,any troubling questions. Asz with any news article I will assume some is factual and some is possibly sensationalized and questionable. I can tell you what servicemen have told me that are there and have been there. The surge is having a positive impact. These are not Cols. and Generals that have possible political considerations. These are young enlisted Marines in Anbar and National Guardsmen in Bagdad. These are young company grade officers that are in the streets with their men and women. They are motivated and positive. The frustration they have voiced is that the media is not showing the good news and progress that is being made. The progress may be slow and measured but it is going forward. I feel that the political possibilities are there if time can be given. We tend to forget that our experiment in Democracy had a period of maturation that began in 1619 and lasted until 1787. I don't advocate staying that long but I feel we have a honor bound responsibility now, since we created this situation, to see it through for a while longer.