GENERAL FOREIGN POLICY
Claim 1: McCain will say his foreign policy is different from that of George W. Bush.
Reality: On the critical issues from advocating the invasion of Iraq only days after 9/11 to declaring premature victory in Afghanistan to saber rattling on Iran and refusing to use tough diplomacy John McCain's policies are in lock step with those of George W. Bush.
After 9/11, John McCain advocated attacking Iraq, Iran, or Syria instead of staying focused on the real threat in Afghanistan. "That's where the tough part of this whole scenario is going to begin. And that is that, after the Taliban are overthrown -- which I believe they will be -- I have very little doubt in my mind -- after bin Laden is either taken prisoner or killed and his network is destroyed, then what's next? Obviously, Iraq is still bent on -- Saddam Hussein is still bent on developing weapons of mass destruction. Obviously, the Iranians are still supporting terrorist organizations, as are the Syrians. That's where the tough choices and decisions are going to be made." [MSNBC, Hardball, 10/3/01]
Like George Bush McCain completely misjudged the difficulties of invading Iraq, saying that the war would be "easy." McCain said, "I believe that the success [in Iraq] will be fairly easy." McCain also said, "I believe that the United States military capabilities are such that we can win a victory in a relatively short time... I believe that we can win an overwhelming victory in a very short period of time." In January 2003, McCain again predicted the same about invading Iraq, saying, "we will win this conflict. We will win it easily." In March 2003, McCain repeatedly said that US troops would be welcomed as liberators. Chris Matthews asked McCain, "Do you believe that the people of Iraq or at least a large number of them will treat us as liberators?" McCain answered: "Absolutely. Absolutely." Two weeks later, McCain said: "There's no doubt in my mind that once these people [loyalists to Saddam] are gone that we will be welcomed as liberators," McCain said. [MSNBC, Hardball, 3/12/03; 3/24/03; CNN, "Larry King Live," 9/24/2002; CNN, 9/29/02; CNN.com, 1/22/2003]
McCain has consistently failed to accurately assess the situation in Afghanistan, calling the war in 2005 a "remarkable success" and said that "nobody in Afghanistan threatens the United States of America." On CNN McCain said, "[C]ould I add, it was in Afghanistan, as well, there were many people who predicted that Afghanistan would not be a success. So far, it's a remarkable success." On Fox, McCain said, "Think we should have had a larger peacekeeping force. But nobody in Afghanistan threatens the United States of America and nobody is running terrorist training camps to orchestrate attacks on the United States of America." [CNN, 3/2/05. Fox News, "Hannity & Colmes," 4/10/03]
Claim 2: John McCain will tout his judgment saying he hates war.
Reality: John McCain has taken a dangerously aggressive approach to foreign policy advocating attacking six different countries in the last eight years. Moreover, McCain retains many of the same Neocon advisors who pushed for the war in Iraq in the first place.
In 2000 McCain called for overthrowing the regimes of Iraq, North Korea and Libya - In 2000 Republican primary campaign McCain argued that the United States should overthrow Iraq, North Korea and Libya. "McCain called Tuesday for the overthrow of Iraq, Libya and North Korea if they continue to develop weapons of mass destruction. "I'd institute a policy that I call 'rogue state rollback.'" [Agence France Presse, 2/16/2000]
Less than a month after the 9/11 attacks McCain advocated going after Syria and Iran. "After bin Laden is either taken prisoner or killed and his network is destroyed, then what's next? Obviously, Iraq is still bent on -- Saddam Hussein is still bent on developing weapons of mass destruction. Obviously, the Iranians are still supporting terrorist organizations, as are the Syrians. That's where the tough choices and decisions are going to be made." [MSNBC, Hardball, 10/3/01]
After 9/11, McCain supported invading a number of countries. During an appearance on CNN's "Newsnight with Aaron Brown," John McCain said, "once we take care of the problem in Afghanistan and eradicate al Qaeda, and either kill or capture bin Laden, then we have to move to the next country." [CNN, "Newsnight with Aaron Brown," 11/23/01]
McCain's extreme foreign policy views have made him the Neocons' candidate the past decade. In the 2000 campaign, McCain argued that the United States should overthrow Iraq, North Korea and Libya in a policy he called "rogue state rollback." Neoconservatives have had a prominent role in the McCain campaign. "Mr. McCain and his aides were consulting regularly with the circle of hawkish foreign policy thinkers sometimes referred to as neoconservatives -- including Mr. Kristol, Robert Kagan and Randy Scheunemann, a former aide to Mr. Dole who became a McCain campaign adviser -- to develop the senator's foreign policy ideas and instincts into the broad themes of a presidential campaign." Robert Kagan, one of the most prominent neoconservatives, also wrote McCain's speech at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. [Agence France Presse, 2/16/2000. NY Times, 8/16/08. WSJ, 3/6/08. Wonk Room, 3/17/08. NY Times, 4/10/08]
IRAQ
Claim 3: McCain will say he has long been a critic of the war in Iraq.
Reality: McCain was an early supporter of the Iraq War linking Saddam Hussein, al Qaeda and weapons of mass destruction. He supported the Rumsfeld strategy of going with a minimal number of troops and said the war would be "easy." He continued to argue for staying the course until 2006.
McCain fully endorsed the Bush-Rumsfeld plan for invading Iraq with few troops. On Face the Nation in 2002 McCain said, "I think we could go in with much smaller numbers than we had to do in the past... I don't believe it's going to be nearly the size and scope that it was in 1991." McCain, like Rumsfeld, thought air power would make up for fewer troops and like Rumsfeld, he never thought about the aftermath. McCain said on Larry King in 2002, "Our technology, particularly air-to-ground technology is vastly improved. I don't think you're going to have to see the scale of numbers of troops that we saw, nor the length of the buildup, obviously, that we had back in 1991." He said later on Hardball, "I believe that the kind of technology and the kind of military that we have today doesn't require massive numbers of troops. You might have noticed the conflict in Afghanistan, we had a few soldiers on the ground and used very incredibly accurate air power." McCain later predicted in late 2002 McCain said that "We're not going get into house-to-house fighting in Baghdad." [CBS, Face the Nation, 9/15/02. CNN, Larry King Live, 12/09/02. MSNBC, Hardball, 10/16/02. CNN, Late Edition, 9/29/02]
McCain was one of the most fervent war supporters and supported the President's approach throughout the course of the war. McCain was a cheerleader for invading Iraq, said "I believe that we can win an overwhelming victory in a very short period of time." He hyped the threat of Iraq saying Saddam Hussein is a "threat to civilization." He also said that failing to remove Saddam from power would "make the violent century just passed seem an era of remarkable tranquility in comparison." In the midst of looting following the invasion McCain praised Rumsfeld, saying "I'm a great admirer of Rumsfeld." He added "I think the president is blessed to have two extremely talented people (Powell and Rumsfeld), experienced people, working for him, and others, but particularly those two." [CNN Late Edition, 9/29/02. Washington Times, 2/14/03. MSNBC Hardball, 4/23/03]
McCain said Bin Laden and Saddam connected because they share "common cause." "But what I think it's ample evidence of is that bin Laden will do anything he could to harm the United States of America, and he has common cause with Saddam Hussein who will do anything he can to harm the United States of America. And the two of them together can make a very potent recipe." [NBC Today Show, 2/13/03]
McCain said mistakes were made but favored continuing the President's failed strategy saying that we need to "stay the course" with the President's Iraq strategy in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006. McCain was a forceful advocate of continuing the President's approach in Iraq. Throughout 2004, 2005, and 2006 McCain consistently said we should "stay the course" in Iraq. In 2005 on ABC McCain said "some serious mistakes were made, but...I think we've got to stay the course here." In 2006 McCain said on CBS Bush had "laid out recently a pretty cogent argument why we must, quote - I hate to use the phrase - stay the course'[in Iraq.]" [NPR, 4/28/04. ABC News, 10/24/04. Fox, 8/14/05; ABC News, 9/25/05; CBS News, 6/29/05; The Hill, 12/8/05. MSNBC, 6/8/06. CBS News, 9/24/06]
Claim 4: McCain will take credit for the "surge" and argue that the troop increase is responsible for the entire decline in violence and that as a result we have succeeded.
Reality: Military leaders have acknowledged that there were numerous reasons for the reduction in violence including a willingness to talk to our enemies though the Anbar Awakening and the ceasefire with Muqtada al-Sadr. In fact, McCain confused the sequence of events in Iraq arguing that the troop increase caused the Anbar Awakening, even though the Anbar Awakening came first. Moreover, General Petraeus has warned that it is too early to declare victory as John McCain and his allies are doing and that political progress is still slow in coming.
A number of factors caused the reduced levels of violence in Iraq, including a willingness to talk to our enemies in the Sunni insurgency, and the Shi'a cleric Muqtada Al Sadr. Levels of violence in Iraq have fallen because of four factors: 1) the increased American military presence and new counterinsurgency tactics; 2) an alliance among a number of Sunni tribal groups against Al Qaeda in Iraq; 3) the segregation of the population along sectarian lines, thanks to massive ethnic cleansing; and 4) a cease fire by Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army. [Washington Post, 9/8/08]
McCain confused the history of the surge. McCain misstated the history of the surge in an interview with Katie Couric. McCain said, "Colonel McFarlane [phonetic] was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening. I mean, that's just a matter of history." In reality, the Anbar Awakening preceded the surge. [CBS, 7/22/08]
The Anbar Awakening, which began well before the President's announcement of the "surge" in January 2007, was crucial to the decline in violence. The Obama campaign was quick to note that the Anbar Awakening began in the fall of 2006, several months before President Bush even announced the troop escalation strategy, which became known as the surge. (No less an authority than Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, testified before Congress this spring that the Awakening "started before the surge, but then was very much enabled by the surge.") Furthermore, progressives noted that the sheik who helped form the Awakening, Abdul Sattar Buzaigh al-Rishawi, was assassinated in September 2007, after the troop escalation began. [NY Times, 7/24/08]
General Petraeus himself has pointed out that the situation is more complicated than how John McCain and his allies portray it. "This is not the sort of struggle where you take a hill, plant the flag and go home to a victory parade... it's not war with a simple slogan." [BBC News, 9/11/08]
AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN
Claim 5: McCain will say he wants to send more troops to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Reality: McCain has continued to make Iraq the number one priority and has not explained how he will keep large troop levels in Iraq while meeting the requirements in Afghanistan and elsewhere laid out by military commander and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He has shown little interest in Afghanistan saying we can just "muddle through" in 2003 and declaring victory in 2005. In fact, McCain had no policy on Afghanistan until July 15, 2008 and Afghanistan did not come up once in all of the major speeches during the Republican National Convention. Meanwhile, Barack Obama and progressives have been sounding the alarm for years.
McCain has not said where these troops will come from and his focus continues to be on Iraq. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mullen, noted that more U.S. troops are needed in Afghanistan to help control an increasingly active insurgency but, due to the war in Iraq, insufficient forces are available for such action. "I don't have troops I can reach for, brigades I can reach to send into Afghanistan until I have a reduced requirement in Iraq," Mullen said. "Afghanistan remains an economy of force campaign, which by definition means we need more forces there. We have the ability in almost every single case to win from the combat standpoint, but we don't have enough troops there to hold. That is key to the future of being able to succeed in Afghanistan." Despite this, McCain has called for a long-term commitment to Iraq that would not allow us to have the necessary troops for Afghanistan. [Washington Post 7/2/08. NY Times, 7/02/08]
McCain has shown little interest in Afghanistan compared to Iraq, believing we can "muddle" through in Afghanistan. After a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington D.C., McCain was asked about the deteriorating scenario in Afghanistan. He said, "There has been a rise in al Qaeda activity along the border. There has been some increase in U.S. casualties. I am concerned about it, but I'm not as concerned as I am about Iraq today, obviously, or I'd be talking about Afghanistan. But I believe that if Karzai can make the progress that he is making, that -- in the long term, we may muddle through in Afghanistan." [McCain Speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, 11/5/03]
Afghanistan was completely ignored at the Republican National Convention, despite gravely deteriorating situation. Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, in a harrowing assessment for West Point, said that Afghanistan "is in misery," yet John McCain and his fellow conservative Republicans offered nothing to address this spiraling crisis. Afghanistan went unmentioned in all the major Republican convention addresses, a glaring absence that echoes the Bush Administration's neglectful policies toward the country, and the broader region. [General Barry McCaffrey, 7/30/08. President George W. Bush, 9/02/08. Senator Fred Thompson, 9/02/08. Senator Joseph Lieberman, 9/02/08. Mitt Romney, 9/03/08. Mike Huckabee, 9/03/08. Rudy Giuliani, 9/03/08. Governor Sarah Palin, 9/03/08]
Until July 15th 2008, McCain had no strategy for Afghanistan included in his national security policy platform. Until July 15, 2008, John McCain's website contained no articulated strategy for Afghanistan. There is still scant mention of a strategy, in either his national security policy section or his Iraq policy section. [John McCain.com, 7/15/08]
Progressives have called for more troops and a greater focus on Afghanistan for years. After years of neglect, deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan are raising questions for President Bush and John McCain. Democrats have been there all along - and since 2002 have been making the case that Iraq is distracting us from the main fight against Al Qaeda. Senator Kerry made this argument a central part of his campaign in 2004 and Barack Obama has been very clear about the importance of Afghanistan since early in the primary campaign. [NSN, 7/15/08. Senator Barack Obama, 10/2/02. Senator Barack Obama, 8/01/07. Senator Biden, NY Times, 3/2/08, NY Times, 10/1/03. John Kerry, U.S. Presidential Debates, 9/30/04. Senator Reid, 7/12/07. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Larry King Live, 4/24/2008. Senator Jack Reed, 3/15/07. Senator Carl Levin, 3/4/2008]
