An Error of Historic Proportions
Children of Kandahar
Asked whether he thought the war in Afghanistan could be won with fewer troops than Gen. Stanley McChrystal has reportedly requested, Sen. John McCain said, “I do not.”
The Arizona Republican, spoke in a wide-ranging interview that aired Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“I think the great danger now is a half-measure, sort of a - you know, try to please all ends of the political spectrum,” McCain told CNN chief national correspondent John King. “And, again, I have great sympathy for the president, making the toughest decisions that presidents have to make, but I think he needs to use deliberate speed.”
Disregarding requirements that have been “laid out and agreed to” by Central Command head Gen. David Petraeus and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen “would be an error of historic proportions,” McCain said when asked whether 10,000 or 20,000 additional troops in Afghanistan would suffice.
McCain’s dire warning was echoed by moderate Sen. Dianne Feinstein, head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said U.S. troops would be put in “jeopardy” if Obama does not listen to McChrystal.
“I don’t know how you put somebody in who’s as crackerjack as Gen. McChrystal, who gives the president very solid recommendations, and not take those recommendations if you’re not going to pull out,” the California Democrat said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“Adm. Mullen and Gen. McChrystal and Gen. Petraeus have said the situation is deteriorating. Just over the last several days, as you know, week or so, we’ve lost 10 more brave young Americans. And the longer we delay the decision, the longer it will be before we provide them with what the needed resources are,” McCain said on “State of the Union.”
“Should we risk going against the advice and counsel of our best and strongest advisers, those we’ve given the responsibility? … This is a very tough decision, but I do again argue for some deliberate speed, because our allies in the region are beginning to get the impression that perhaps we are wavering,” McCain added.
Reuters reported that winning ground is one thing. Convincing Afghan villagers you will not leave, abandoning them to a vengeful Taliban, is a bigger challenge for U.S. Marines.
Abandonment of the innocent populace in a war-torn country to a vengeful enemy, like the U.S. did in Vietnam, would leave yet another scar on our moral conscience.
