McCain's Record on Iraq

Steve Chapman's latest article at Townhall takes apart the political theory that McCain will be strong on Iraq. That might be true with the base, but he says it will play differently in the general election.

McCain says the current "strategy is succeeding in Iraq." His apparent definition of success is that American forces will stay on in huge numbers as long as necessary to keep violence within acceptable limits. We were told we had to increase our numbers so we could leave. Turns out we had to increase our numbers so we could stay.

Five years after the Iraq invasion, we've suffered more than 30,000 dead and wounded troops, incurred trillions in costs and found that Iraqis are unwilling to overcome their most basic divisions. And no end is in sight. If you're grateful for that, thank John McCain.

The thing is, I don't think we can count on Democrats to underline this failure of judgment. Rather Democrats have been more inclined to concede the war ground to the Republicans rather than run the risk of being accused of being weak on terror.