John McCain says that phased withrawl is not a strategy

[Fovea]

but a retreat.

For someone with a military history, I am shocked that Sen. McCain does not consider retreat a valuble strategy.
Indeed, I can think of at least one major 20th century war that primarily conisisted of one continuous retreat.
There is even a missile named after the strategy.

Can you name that war, John? No? Funny, your boy George looks a bit more like Chiang Kai-Shek every day.
Perhaps a strategic retreat from Iraq, in order to secure Afghanistan might someday seem like a smart idea to you too. Sadly, be then we will have lost the war on terror, which is to say we will have been thouroughly and totally ejected from the middle east, AND locked out from access to oil from any of the new islamist states we foment. From here on in, I plan on referring to Saudi Arabia as 'The Islamic Republic of Arabia.'

The sad thing is that we don't even have enough troop to be long marched out of the ME. We will be engulfed in a sectarian war that results in us attempting to shoot our way out of the Baghdad airport, and a running retreat to our only remaining allies in the region, the Kurds/Turks. If GWB gets his way, we will be in the next world war before we know it.

And don't expect the Taleban and the tribal Pakistani jihadists to be quiescient while the whabbists are treating us like an empty tin can on a dirt road.

[democrank]

1. Well, John, let`s just stay there forever then.

Surge and kill, surge and kill, surge and kill. Sounds like a plan.

[Fovea]

7. Yes Surge Sweep, Retreat Bomb, Retreat Bomb some more.

That will be the natural history of this campaign.

We will help both sides turn on us. When we bomb iran we lose the shia, when we attack syria we will lose the sunni.

Whither shall we stand then?

[snowbear]

2. Heard that McCain's appearance on MTP Sunday was DEAD ASS BORING !!!

I didn't watch it, but Big Ed was swamped with callers from Miami to Anchorage and everywhere inbetween -- who thought he was unbelievably dull.

Evidently Tim Russert was even bored out of his mind with the interview.

[hashibabba]

6. I couldn't believe it. He looked and sounded like he'd been

taking too many tranquilizers. Just a lump sitting there with his lips barely moving! It seemed very strange.

[Fovea]

8. I think he is highly medicated

from botox to placidil to jack daniels to cocaine and viagra. I think he is rewarded by Rove and Cheney with all the drugs that he can do.

"And all (s)he wants to do is dance!" -Glen Fry

[LeftCoast]

11. He was absolutely listless. I couldn't believe he was actually running for Pres!

It was like he had no energy at all. I think he knows his 'McCain Strategy' gambit blew up in his face when Bush decided to actually use it.

[teryang]

3. Naval War College Defense Economics 101

Cost benefit analysis is the key to wartime strategy. Future costs and future likely benefits are the only relevant considerations. Future costs- potentially unlimited. Future benefits - no politician even McCain has said that there is a likelihood of success with current policies or escalation.

McCain is playing to an audience, a fundamentally unreasonable audience, by pretending he never took the course.

[Fovea]

9. There is no current strategy in the war on terror.

Because no one can define an actual set of attainable goals for our forces that might constitute victory conditions. Generally when you set out to defeat an abstract noun, all the precision bombing in the world won't help.

Therefore, the only conclusion that the end conditions are conquest/control of nations with resources/strategic concerns in the region. You don't get to stand down from those conflicts, ask Rome.

And speaking of Rome, I think it is entirely possible that we will never pump as much oil as we spend in dollars in Iraq. We are poised to suffer an even greater 'catastrophic victory' in the middle east, indeed, a victory from which America will not recover.

[teryang]

10. I couldn't agree more

I'd note that the conflation of the so called war on terror with the effort of colonial conquest in Iraq is an obvious fraud. Yet, I don't even accept the notion pushed by William Clark and democratic politicians that the war in Iraq is taking resources away from a purportedly legitimate "war on terror" elsewhere, say in Afghanistan or Somalia.

The "war on terror" is a fraud from A to Z.

The strategy of divide and conquer could be pursued with a de minimis presence of Americans in Iraq. The ultimate objective is to create a compliant neo-colonial regime that will deliver it resources and capital to English and American corporations. This is not attainable.

Stability is not sought currently as the crisis now in progress has enabled the US to coerce the Arab OPEC states to lower the price of the oil and bail out the federal reserve's petrodollar. They've made a virtue out of a spectacular failure. It's a work in progress.

[Fovea]

12. I always figured that there were a slate of actual goals

none of which have to do with terrorists.
One of the goals I saw was making Texas Oklahoma Kansas oil profitable again. Back in the 90s, I believe they were calling that pricepoint ~65 dollars a barrel. Getting the price level up to levels where Alberta tar sands and Citgo's heavy crude would also put pressure on Arabic OPEC states.

Having a profitable domestic price level means greater political power and profit for the Houston Mafia. It would have worked a lot better if Kenny Boy and company had not been playing so amazingly fast and loose with their accounting. After all, only the BFEE is allowed to cheat and walk, a la Neil and Silverado.

But I think there was a much grander plan in the beginning involving using energy costs to flip several blue states as one element (it worked in California) . I think the collapse of Enron and K-street has made it almost, but not quite moot.

[BuyingThyme]

4. Hmm... Is that another doctrine?

Maybe we should call him John McDoctrine.

[devilgrrl]

5. Each and every soldier has to be held for 5 years and tortured to satisfy McCain...

eveyone has to go through what he did! That's what he wants! Prove me wrong!