McCain: Iraq success within reach by Jill Zuckman
Saying “we are no longer staring into the abyss of defeat,” Sen. John McCain speaks to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Kansas City this morning, laying out his vision of the situation in Iraq just one day before General David Petraeus testifies before Congress.
McCain will tell his audience that the U.S. “can now look ahead to the genuine prospect of success” in Iraq. And he defines it this way:
*The establishment of a generally peaceful, stable, prosperous, democratic state that poses no threat to its neighbors and contributes to the defeat of terrorists.
*The advance of religious tolerance over violent radicalism.
*A level of security that allows the Iraqi authorities to govern, the average person to live a normal life, and international entities to operate. It is a situation in which the rule of law, after decades of tyranny, takes hold.
*And it is an Iraq where Iraqi forces have the responsibility for enforcing security in their country, and where American troops can return home, with the honor of having secured their country’s interests at great personal cost, and helping another people achieve peace and self-determination.
Those goals, McCain will say, “are within reach.”
McCain, who just returned from a visit to Iraq, takes on both the Democratic candidates for president who are advocating for withdrawing troops calling their plans “the height of irresponsibility.”
“Some would withdraw regardless of the consequences. Others say that we can withdraw now and then return if trouble starts again,” McCain will say according to prepared remarks. “What they are really proposing, if they mean what they say, is a policy of withdraw and re-invade. For if we withdraw hastily and irresponsibly, we will guarantee the trouble will come immediately. Our allies, Arab countries, the UN, and the Iraqis themselves will not step up to their responsibilities if we recklessly retreat. I can hardly imagine a more imprudent and dangerous course.”
McCain will also defend himself against Sen. Barack Obama’s charges that he would keep troops fighting in Iraq for 100 years.
“I do not want to keep our troops in Iraq a minute longer than necessary to secure our interests there,” he will say. “Our goal is an Iraq that can stand on its own as a democratic ally and a responsible force for peace in its neighborhood. Our goal is an Iraq that no longer needs American troops. And I believe we can achieve that goal, perhaps sooner than many imagine.”