You’ve got to hand it to Sarah Palin: she’s got the brass balls to try to put the Iraq war in the plus column for McCain and the Republicans, trashing Obama on the campaign trail on the issue of the troop surge. As I argued here, the Iraq war did not begin in early 2007, it began in early 2003, and it remains one of the worst foreign policy disasters in American history. Much as the Republicans would like us to forget the pre-surge years, they matter. The surge cannot be understood without them. McCain outspokenly promoted an Iraq invasion very soon after 9/11. He also helped spread the falsehood that Saddam Hussein was behind the 2001 anthrax attacks.
Covering this ground yet again is dreary but necessary work, since McCain and Palin are determined to rewrite history and hoodwink the American people shamelessly between now and November.
Far from transforming Iraq into a beacon of Middle Eastern democracy, the invasion nearly transformed Iraq into a failed state, awash in loose weapons and anarchy and sectarian hatred. It made the U.S. appear a bumbling giant in the eyes of the world. Soldiers were sent into harm’s way without a plan or adequate armor. Sure, in time, McCain proved to be a critic of Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld incompetence, but a lot of good it did.
The surge, combined with other factors, has merely managed to stave off failed-state status for Iraq. The end result for the beleaguered country remains far from clear. And this after arrogant assurances that the war would last six months and cost relatively little. For the GOP ticket to claim the high ground on this issue is galling — almost as galling as the fact that Palin, when asked about the surge in December 2006, was tepid about it at best, insisting that we need to have a clear “exit strategy” in view. It’s an extremely rare instance of Palin expressing not just an opinion, but even an interest, in foreign policy. And it’s markedly at odds with McCain’s position at the time.
One Comment
When did the Republicans talk about change? They are no indications they are supporting change, in fact I think the Dems have corraled most of the fanfare for change. Funny how liberals say they want change and when they get the opportunity they end up with the same ol' crap and even fight amongst themselves to prove they can screw it up even worse.