Johnny Mac And The War In Iraq

There is no question that John McCain displayed a superior foreign policy knowledge and experience base at the first presidential debate. Still, there were some obvious points where Obama was able to call McCain out.

The first was on the issue of "tactics" and "strategies" as they pertain to the surge in Iraq. Here's what they said last night (I've removed some of the tangential discussion for length):

OBAMA: ... But let's get back to the core issue here. Senator McCain is absolutely right that the violence has been reduced as a consequence of the extraordinary sacrifice of our troops and our military families. They have done a brilliant job, and General Petraeus has done a brilliant job. But understand, that was a tactic designed to contain the damage of the previous four years of mismanagement of this war.

MCCAIN: I'm afraid Senator Obama doesn't understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy... And this strategy, and this general, they are winning. Senator Obama refuses to acknowledge that we are winning in Iraq.

OBAMA: That's not true.

MCCAIN: They just passed an electoral...

OBAMA: That's not true.

MCCAIN: An election law just in the last few days. There is social, economic progress, and a strategy, a strategy of going into an area, clearing and holding, and the people of the country then become allied with you. They inform on the bad guys. And peace comes to the country, and prosperity. That's what's happening in Iraq, and it wasn't a tactic.

Well, actually, it was a tactic. According to Joe Klein of TIME magazine (I really like them), "As for McCain's remark about Obama not knowing the difference between a tactic and a strategy—McCain was wrong. The counterinsurgency methods introduced by David Petraeus in Iraq were a tactical change, a new means to achieve Bush's same strategic end of a stable, unified Iraq. If Bush had decided to partition the country, or to withdraw, that would have been a change in strategy."

McCain himself implied that the surge was a tactic when he suggested that a similar tactic would be beneficial in addressing urban crime...



The other issues McCain failed to rebut were his positions and predictions of how the war would play out...


Honestly, I think a lot of independent and undecided voters might feel less uncertain of McCain's judgment, especially as it pertains to the war in Iraq, if he would admit to the fact that he was wrong about the war. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, it diverted our focus from al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, and it has increased Iran's influence in the region.