John McCain's shocking concession on the Iraq War: it was a "mistake"

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Last edited Fri May 25, 2018, 11:15 PM - Edit history (1)

In his new memoir, McCain says he’s to blame for the war.

Sen. John McCain has made a shocking admission: The Iraq War was a “mistake,” and he’s taking the blame.

In his new memoir, McCain who is battling brain cancer, writes that the Iraq War “can’t be judged as anything other than a mistake, a very serious one, and I have to accept my share of the blame for it,” as Politico reports.

McCain is among the most hawkish Republicans in the Senate and was an ardent supporter of the George W. Bush administration’s decision to go to war with Iraq and a later US troop surge. As Michael Hirsh writes at Politico:

McCain became, in fact, the first supporter of a “surge,” years before Bush and other Republicans did. “I came out of the Vietnam War convinced that frankly we could have won, and we had it won,” he told me in 2014. “Just as I believed we had the Iraq conflict won after the surge — and for which I sacrificed everything, including my presidential ambitions, that it would succeed.”

McCain’s defense of the Iraq War was unwavering, even when it became increasingly clear that the United States’ stated intention of establishing democracy in Iraq was not only unrealistic but would take hundreds of thousands of lives. (If you want more about the neoconservative ideology behind the war, how the Bush administration convinced the nation to get into it, and how it turned out, read Max Fisher’s Vox explainer.)

In 2005, when 66 percent of the country viewed the Iraq War unfavorably, McCain redoubled his commitment to the strategy:

“Securing ever-increasing parts of Iraq and preventing the emergence of new terrorist safe havens will require more troops and money,” McCain said then at an event with the American Enterprise Institute. “It will take time, probably years, and mean more American casualties. Those are terrible prices to pay. But with the stakes so high, I believe we must choose the strategy with the best chance of success.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/john-mccains-shocking-concession-on-the-iraq-war-it-was-a-mistake/ar-AAxNXcL?li=BBnbfcL

[Volaris]

1. I'd agree with his assessment.

Barack Obama won that campaign on being right about going into Iraq in the first place. If McCain had had the same vote record, he would have run on it, AND HE WOULD HAVE WON. I'm glad I'm not the only one who knows it now.

Good for him for owning it. Imminent death has a way of doing that to people tho I suppose...

[JI7]

2. No he wouldn't. He lost because of the crashing economy

And would have lost anyways.

[Volaris]

4. I disagree.

My opinion is that the electorate was pissed that the Iraq war was bungled as bad as it was, and en masse we decided that we wanted the smartest person we could find to see if there was a way to fix it. The economy was part of it (and I'll admit Obama handled that much better than McCain). But McCain was losing already based on his position on Iraq. The wrecked economy just compounded and already-existant issue (him not being the smartest of all possible choices).

That's my opinion and I'm stickin' to it (unless someone can present evidence to the contrary).

[TexasBushwhacker]

10. Let's not forget the Palin effect

I realize she is the darling of the deplorables, but to those folks in the middle, the true independents and undecideds, in the swing states, she was clearly unqualified. At McCain's age, 72 in 2008, he needed a solid VP. I know middle of the road Republicans who voted for Obama because of her.

[JI7]

17. Trump is even less qualified than Palin. But straight white xtian ignorant bigot

Men are held to lower standards.

[Volaris]

33. Yep the electorate overall didn't want a crazy person in the white house.

The Deplorable clearly didn't like that. Not one it the bit. Nosir not on our watch u can't tell me, I do what I wannnnt.

So in response they elected the craziest person they could find. One can draw a direct line from Obama Derangement Syndrome to pResidebt Shortfingers.

[politicaljunkie41910]

12. He lost because he grandstanded during the crashing economy by saying he was leaving the campaign

trail because of the collapsing economy, to go and fix it. Only once he got there he had no plan and just stood around doing nothing, saying nothing. Treasury Secretary Henry Hank Paulson had expressed how dire the situation was and how the Congress needed to act immediately, which Congress was reluctant to do. McCain sat in the meeting stunned and said nothing. Obama began asking the Fed Chairman questions and he seemed to take over the conversation with the Fed Chair with a sense of calmness, while at the same time recognizing and understanding the sense of urgency. He showed leadership in the crisis while everyone else in the room just sat there in shock, not knowing how to respond to the crisis. It was his finest moment to date (I believe) and solidified his "No Drama Obama" reputation. I believe it also won him the election once they returned to the campaign trail. It was apparent that the moment called for a calm and rational response which was what Paulson was seeking, and the Congressmen and women were unwilling to act in accordance with the sense of urgency Paulson said was needed. McCain faded into the background with the rest of the "Congressional leadership".

In a dramatic meeting on September 18, 2008, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke met with key legislators to propose a $700 billion emergency bailout. Bernanke reportedly told them: "If we don't do this, we may not have an economy on Monday."[237] The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which implemented the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), was signed into law on October 3, 2008.[238]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007%E2%80%932008

[JI7]

13. That hurt him but he would have still lost anyways. He would have lost without Palin also

[Pope George Ringo II]

31. It was big, no doubt about it.

There were other factors, and I'm a big proponent of the argument that a large--arguably nearly "swing"--block of American voters just get fickle every eight years and want to "give the other guys a chance", but when the economy is doing what it was in 2008 and Republican answers were getting the results they were, it gets nearly impossible for a party to hang onto power.

[Rorey]

3. Meghan is his fault too

Just sayin'

[JI7]

14. No meghan is responsible for her own ignorance and bs

[Iggo]

5. We knew that before it started, John. So did you. (n/t)

[gratuitous]

9. Got that right

And for our trouble, we got called terrorists and appeasers. Just bunch of dirty fucking hippies, a focus group.

Now it's a mistake. Fuck you very much, John.

[Martin Eden]

18. The case for war was bogus before it started, and ...

... the idea that the US occupying force could turn Iraq into a stable democracy and ally was at best the wishful thinking of ignorance.

McCain was a big cheerleader, but there was plenty of blame to go around. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and the real architects are war criminals.

Democrats who voted for the IWR never have and never will get my vote in a primary.

[Hekate]

6. Staring the Grim Reaper in the face, realizing confession is good for the soul. We always knew ...

...you had a soul, Johnnie, and the grief of Nicolle W and Steve S are proof of that as well.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. We had Saddam in a box with the sanctions and no fly zones.

Iraq was strong enough to be a bulwark against Iran but not so strong as to be able to threaten its neighbors.

[wellst0nev0ter]

15. Plus there was that sectarian/ethnic balkinization

Just waiting to get out of that pandora's box.

[UTUSN]

8. Note to Johnny: We here knew that back at the time. And we weren't the entitled spawn of an Admiral.

And we knew Sarah on sight and the KEATING5 and lots of other things.

[Wounded Bear]

11. A mistake that will, unfortunately, outlast you...

We'll be paying for that one for many more years.

[pangaia]

16. sorry, buddy. Useless confession. Feel better now?

Well, lots of dead and maimed people sure don't.

[BigmanPigman]

19. Well said!

[Blue_true]

20. Terrorist came to Iraq after we got rid of Saddam and his sons.

They were evil, there is little doubt about that, but there was an even worse threat in ISIS waiting to be freed, which we freed by invading Iraq.

[johnp3907]

21. He's still lying.

It wasn’t a mistake. It was a scam.

[Ferrets are Cool]

22. You taking blame won't bring back the lifes that were ruined and lost because of a war

for oil and daddy issues. One MILLION men, women and CHILDREN were killed for that little mistake. War criminals are strutting around in our country today. FUCK THEM ALL.

[Mr.Bill]

23. So how about donating your massive personal fortune

to the veterans horrifically damaged by that little mistake, John. The human toll here is huge.

[YOHABLO]

24. Well,the biggest lie yet was from the Bush adm.about Iraq.But then impeachment was "off the table"

Republican administrations are corrupt. They always have been, and probably always will be. Pay to play thugs and con artists. Remember how Cheney and Co. were going to divide up Iraq's oil fields. What's up with that? I'm very sorry about McCain's health problems, but he really should have known better back then.

[ck4829]

25. Kick

[raging moderate]

26. It was worse than a mistake.

It was a crime.

[tazkcmo]

27. I love the smell

Of cowardice in the morning. Where was this frank assessment before we killed a million Iraqis? Before we lost even one service member? Before we shipped bails of cash to pay off war Lord's and local militias?

I sure wish our politicians would show the same level of honesty while they're in office.

[exboyfil]

28. McCain: Sorry Joe the Plumber

I spent your Social Security Trust Fund in Iraq., and you didn't even get a cool Mission Accomplished T-shirt.

[Sneederbunk]

29. Unfortunately right there, next to Palin, as part of his legacy.

[greatauntoftriplets]

30. A bit late to the party, isn't he?

[hatrack]

32. "Shocking" how? Admitting that it was a mistake? Duh.

"Shocking" in that he's making this statement now? In the face of death? How could anyone consider that "shocking"? People say all kinds of things when they're near the end - even truthful things.