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McCain or Obama? In either case, you are buying a pig, lipsticked or not, in a poke. But the language of Obama and what it reflects is far more worrisome than the language of McCain, though he is, admittedly, stuck to Tarbaby Iraq. And if he continues to be stuck to Tarbaby Iraq, he may lose the election. (Of course, Obama wishes us out of Tarbaby Iraq but into Tarbaby Afghanistan and that, it is clear, now also means Tarbaby Pakistan.) All McCain has to do is say something like the following:
"The surge has worked. And that is why we can now draw down our troops, and remove ourselves. That is why it is time for the Iraqis to do their part, and to rebuild their country. It makes no sense for the United States, which is suffering economically from the stratospheric rise in the price of oil, to continue to send tens or even hundreds of billions to Iraq -- so much of it, we know, has been diverted by grand theft and corruption -- when they have a surplus that is now close to one hundred billion. We have repeatedly asked that they begin to spend this money, but they have not done so.
“And it makes no sense for us, either, to remain in Iraq indefinitely, when our military is so stretched, and when the terms and conditions imposed by the Iraqi government are so very different from those imposed by other countries, by our close allies in NATO.
“What does make sense is for our troops to be ready for all kinds of eventualities outside Iraq, where we have done enough, and more than enough. What does make sense is for us to work with our closest allies to make sure that we, or they, are able to deal with Iran's nuclear threat, and to make sure that the wherewithal is supplied our ally Israel to deal with what for it is a mortal threat. We do not want to see a nuclear cloud over Jerusalem, destroying its people and its monuments. We do not want to see a nuclear cloud elsewhere over the Land of Israel, or what many of us call by another name: the Holy Land.
“There are those who think that we must not allow Israel to be able to protect itself from a mortal peril, the one that threatens Israel and the Middle East, and Infidels elsewhere, the one emanating from the Islamic Republic of Iran. They think this because, as one official said, disgracefully, "we don't want to have any interference with our policy in Iraq and Afghanistan."
“But this makes no sense. We have done what we can do in Iraq. If the Iraqis turn on us, it will not be because Israel, protecting themselves and, not incidentally, protecting the entire Infidel world too, sets back for a decade Iran's nuclear project. Instead, it will be because of other, deeply-held beliefs that we have for too long ignored. Those who think we should allow our closest ally, Israel, that prevented Saddam Hussein from building a nuclear weapon when it bombed Osirak, and that prevented, just a few months ago, the Syrians from installing a North Korean nuclear installation that potentially could threaten not only Israel but a wide swath of territory, including Lebanon and Turkey, and parts of southern Europe, should understand that what happens in Iraq and Afghanistan are far less important at this point than what happens in Iran, and whether or not the Islamic Republic of Iran is permitted to obtain nuclear weapons.
“That is why I have concluded that it is time to face new facts in Iraq. The position of the Iraqi government is such, and its demands on the continued presence of our troops there are so constraining, that it is time to go.
“They have been given much. They have been freed from a monstrous dictatorship. We have poured men and money and materiel into that country. And now, it is time, soberly and in order, taking with us all of our equipment lest it fall into the wrong hands, out. Not because Jihad is no longer a threat -- but because, you see, it is.”
Wild applause, McCain wins the election.
Posted by Hugh at September 12, 2008 6:46 AM
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Actually allueded to taking out forces, when the iraq gov't forces take over and its happening right now.
Posted by: ZenaWarriorPrincess![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 12, 2008 7:32 AM
McCain or Obama? In either case, you are buying a pig, lipsticked or not, in a poke.
(In the article)
Standard Election process, I would say. However, when McCain chose Sarah as VP, that changed the game. She is a reformer in her own party, brilliant, beautiful, steady, experienced at state politics in all levels, has an 80% approval rating in Alaska, is a person of the people (not elitist), and can talk over the MSM if and when necessary. It is to McCains credit that he chose such a person.
Just look at what Obama chose for VP. Go figure.
Posted by: Spot on at September 12, 2008 9:07 AM
PMK- In our area they are now predicting an 80% voter turnout here. The last several presidential elections have been around 35-55% here. This is the largest predicted turnout number I have seen. Something is going on out there.
Posted by: Spot on at September 12, 2008 9:18 AM
Spot On,
That's right. And it's probably increased Democratic registration, new voters and some dead voters for good measure.
McCain is said to have a lead among "likely voters". See if it holds up. There are still seven weeks to go.
Is yours a battleground state? NJ isn't. This state has been blue since 1992.
at September 12, 2008 9:45 AM
100% agree. I did not know about this website until after the start of the Iraq war, so I didn't realize how Islam contained within itself forces that would so powerfully work against democracy.
Since discovering this site and learning the truth about Islam, I still thought it was important for there not to be an impression of defeat of the US military.
I realize that if in places like Turkey, a country that had a genuine home-grown pro-western leader can still end up as the Turkey of today (with the apparent spiral of tomorrow), that Iraq will inevitably decompose no matter how long we stay unless Islam itself was being actively marginalized.
At this point, declare victory and leave.
Posted by: JSobieski at September 12, 2008 10:14 AM
The 'surge' has not 'worked'. All that has happened is that the US got a bigger shovel to try and shovel
sht against the tide. The tide has gone out, that's all, but it will come back in surge or no surge.
There is no good reason for the US to be in Iraq continually manning the shovels. Shoveling ====in Iraq is dangerous and costly, it's time to let the Iraqi's shovel for themselves. And yes, the tide will come back in, but there won't be any Americans in the way, only tents and mosques to run over.
Let them be pre-occupied with each other, maybe the camp of Islam will implode...
Posted by: duh_swami
at September 12, 2008 10:32 AM
Yes, I know the "surge has not worked" in the larger sense. I keep writing that it leads to a result that does not help us. But it was not I speaking, but John McCain. , We know that no matter, Iraq remains devoutly Muslim, and that means that the spirit of compromise is lacking (it can be imposed, briefly, by the Americans, but will disappear as soon as the Americans do), and that aggression and violence, with which Qur'an, Hadith, and Sira are so full, are not unexpected but natural.
Tthere has been no intelligent recognition of how the outcome in Iraq could not only allow for the widening of fissures between Shi'a and Sunni and not only in Iraq, and if the Kurds are backed in their autonomy-grading-into-independence, this would raise, this would put firmly on the world stage, the matter of Islam as a vehicle for Arab supremacism, and would offer hope, or inspire, other non-Arab Muslim peoples, such as the Berbers, or black Africans in Darfur, to see that the Arab yoke can be thrown off (or, at the very least, those many non-Arab Muslims can demand far better conditions of treatment from their Arab masters and overlords, for the Arabs, who make up only 20% of the world's Muslims, can be put on the defensive about Islam "as the vehicle for Arab supremacism" -- a phrase to repeat ad nauseam, until it has been impressed on too many brains to be ignored).
When I put the phrase "the surge has worked" into the mouth of John McCain, I was merely offering a little style indirect libre (political division), knowing he could n0t say otherwise, but trying to incorporate this phrase -- "the surge has worked" -- into a larger narrative, supposedly seamless, that would allow him to go beyond, to signal to American voters that yes, he too is fed up with Iraq, he too sees the colossal squandering, at this point, of resources (men, money, materiel), and in fact, he, John McCain, is far better positioned to remove American forces than is Barack Obama, who will have to worry about Republican howls of protest, whereas McCain, war hero, will not.
If you want out of Iraq, and pronto, and a rethinking of the "war on terror" so that it becomes far less a matter of boots on the ground and far more a matter of deploying low cunning, then McCain is, some may think (why, I may think), a better bet. Obama, on the other hand, wants out of the frying pan of Iraq, into the fire of Afghanistan and, especially, hopeless Pakistan.
That is the tack to take. It will be interesting to see if the McCain campaign is sufficiently intelligent and aware to take it.
Posted by: Hugh at September 12, 2008 10:41 AM
PMK- We are leaning McCain in our state.
Posted by: Spot on at September 12, 2008 10:50 AM
There is no good reason for the US to be in Iraq continually manning the shovels.
by duh_swami
Should we be ANYWHERE in the Muslim world? How about Kuwait? Saddam is dead. His older sons are dead. The Iraqis are busy with their own issues, killing one another.
With the price of oil so high, the emir can afford his own army and (surprise!) the Kuwaitis could take responsibility for their own future. If they want to remain independent they should be prepared to defend their country against even Muslim invaders. Can we pull out of Kuwait? Qatar? Anything WE do for them is a wasted effort. It's expected. It's nothing less than they deserve, as Muslims. It doesn't get us anywhere.
at September 12, 2008 10:56 AM
Spot On,
Thanks. Not here. Here Barack is set to win New Jersey. It's already in the blue column.
at September 12, 2008 11:00 AM
There's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip.
Posted by: Hugh at September 12, 2008 11:14 AM
I was not criticizing you Hugh...about the surge, I basically agree with your position on Iraq...and Jihad...
Posted by: duh_swami at September 12, 2008 11:17 AM
The slip-cup-lip remark was a comment prompted by the posting just above that placed New Jersey, as various as Princeton (with Paul Muldoon) and Hoboken (with Frank Sinatra's birthplace) and the Piney Woods (with all those trees), as being firmly in the Obama column.
McCain has to get out that economic message more, the one that Theodore Roosevelt first copyrighted, about his opposition to the "malefactors of great wealth," and to make clear that it is not merely the individual malefactors, but the system that makes their miching malefaction possible, including the nauseating adoration of the Very Rich (not to be confused with the Adoration of the Magi, or adoration of the magisterial or of some magister ludi) as demonstrated in the reverential treatment of this or that Soros or Gates as some kind of sage, instead of what they are, animated bank accounts.
Posted by: Hugh at September 12, 2008 11:41 AM
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