John McCain’s Rejected ‘NYT’ Editorial (Full Text)
Senator John McCain submitted an editorial to the The New York Times as a rebuttal to the one the paper published last week by his rival Senator Barack Obama on his plan for Iraq. The paper rejected McCain’s editorial and op-editor David Shipley said, “It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama’s piece. To that end, the article would have to articulate, in concrete terms, how Senator McCain defines victory in Iraq.” for them to consider publishing it.
Here is the full text of McCain’s rejected editorial via Drudge:
In January 2007, when General David Petraeus took command in Iraq, he called the situation “hard” but not “hopeless.” Today, 18 months later, violence has fallen by up to 80% to the lowest levels in four years, and Sunni and Shiite terrorists are reeling from a string of defeats. The situation now is full of hope, but considerable hard work remains to consolidate our fragile gains.
Progress has been due primarily to an increase in the number of troops and a change in their strategy. I was an early advocate of the surge at a time when it had few supporters in Washington. Senator Barack Obama was an equally vocal opponent. “I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there,” he said on January 10, 2007. “In fact, I think it will do the reverse.”
Now Senator Obama has been forced to acknowledge that “our troops have performed brilliantly in lowering the level of violence.” But he still denies that any political progress has resulted.
Perhaps he is unaware that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has recently certified that, as one news article put it, “Iraq has met all but three of 18 original benchmarks set by Congress last year to measure security, political and economic progress.” Even more heartening has been progress that’s not measured by the benchmarks. More than 90,000 Iraqis, many of them Sunnis who once fought against the government, have signed up as Sons of Iraq to fight against the terrorists. Nor do they measure Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s new-found willingness to crack down on Shiite extremists in Basra and Sadr City—actions that have done much to dispel suspicions of sectarianism.
The success of the surge has not changed Senator Obama’s determination to pull out all of our combat troops. All that has changed is his rationale. In a New York Times op-ed and a speech this week, he offered his “plan for Iraq” in advance of his first “fact finding” trip to that country in more than three years. It consisted of the same old proposal to pull all of our troops out within 16 months. In 2007 he wanted to withdraw because he thought the war was lost. If we had taken his advice, it would have been. Now he wants to withdraw because he thinks Iraqis no longer need our assistance.
To make this point, he mangles the evidence. He makes it sound as if Prime Minister Maliki has endorsed the Obama timetable, when all he has said is that he would like a plan for the eventual withdrawal of U.S. troops at some unspecified point in the future.
Senator Obama is also misleading on the Iraqi military’s readiness. The Iraqi Army will be equipped and trained by the middle of next year, but this does not, as Senator Obama suggests, mean that they will then be ready to secure their country without a good deal of help. The Iraqi Air Force, for one, still lags behind, and no modern army can operate without air cover. The Iraqis are also still learning how to conduct planning, logistics, command and control, communications, and other complicated functions needed to support frontline troops.
No one favors a permanent U.S. presence, as Senator Obama charges. A partial withdrawal has already occurred with the departure of five “surge” brigades, and more withdrawals can take place as the security situation improves. As we draw down in Iraq, we can beef up our presence on other battlefields, such as Afghanistan, without fear of leaving a failed state behind. I have said that I expect to welcome home most of our troops from Iraq by the end of my first term in office, in 2013.
But I have also said that any draw-downs must be based on a realistic assessment of conditions on the ground, not on an artificial timetable crafted for domestic political reasons. This is the crux of my disagreement with Senator Obama.
Senator Obama has said that he would consult our commanders on the ground and Iraqi leaders, but he did no such thing before releasing his “plan for Iraq.” Perhaps that’s because he doesn’t want to hear what they have to say. During the course of eight visits to Iraq, I have heard many times from our troops what Major General Jeffrey Hammond, commander of coalition forces in Baghdad, recently said: that leaving based on a timetable would be “very dangerous.”
The danger is that extremists supported by Al Qaeda and Iran could stage a comeback, as they have in the past when we’ve had too few troops in Iraq. Senator Obama seems to have learned nothing from recent history. I find it ironic that he is emulating the worst mistake of the Bush administration by waving the “Mission Accomplished” banner prematurely.
I am also dismayed that he never talks about winning the war—only of ending it. But if we don’t win the war, our enemies will. A triumph for the terrorists would be a disaster for us. That is something I will not allow to happen as president. Instead I will continue implementing a proven counterinsurgency strategy not only in Iraq but also in Afghanistan with the goal of creating stable, secure, self-sustaining democratic allies.
The ‘Times’ continues to make itself more and more irrelevant in being a non-biased, solid source to find the latest news in our society today.
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Jesse Jackson has had a very rough two weeks. First his hurtful & dirty comments about Barack Obama were aired last week on Fox News where he stated he wanted to cut Barack’s nuts off.
And today we find out that he used the extremely offensive word ‘nigger’ during another portion of the tape when he was discussing how Barack had been talking to African-Americans.
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Tim Russert, TV newsman and host of NBC’s Meet the Press, died tragically this morning at the age of 58-years old. He reportedly died from a heart attack.
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Bill Clinton mistresses Gennifer Flowers and Paula Jones are now telling the entire world what exactly happened sexually between them and Clinton before he became President of the United States.
The two women, whose names were widely known in the early 1990s as they claimed sexual encounters with Clinton, have created a Web site offering videos of their thoughts on Clinton, his wife Hillary and other matters surrounding their involvement with the man who was Arkansas governor at the time.
Hillary likely would have done the same to help pay off her campaign debts, but she couldn’t remember anything sexually ever happening between her and Bill besides the night Chelsea was conceived.
Both affairs with Flowers and Jones took place while Bill was governor of Arkansas.
I think I will save my money this time and wait for Ashley Alexandre Dupre to spill what happened with her and Governor Eliot Spitzer.
Sphere: Related ContentCrazy Kucinich Attempts to Impeach Bush
Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich, in another attempt to appear relevant, has introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush.
Kucinich and other liberal Democrats, including Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), have sought the removal of the current administration, arguing that Bush and Cheney have lied to Congress and the American public about the reasons for invading Iraq in 2003 and abused their offices in order to conduct the “War on Terror” following the 9/11 attacks.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats are unlikely to impeach President Bush. Many democrats believe it would divide the party. Also, Bush leaves office in less than eight months.
If Kucinich and Ron Paul were to fight in a Mixed Martial Arts bout who would win?
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Black Entertainment Television (BET) founder and Charlotte Bobcats owner Bob Johnson is pushing the Congressional Black Congress and the Democratic party to come together and add Hillary Clinton to the Barack Obama ticket as his Vice President.
Johnson, the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, has reportedly sent a letter to Rep. James Clyburn of the Congressional Black Caucus, in which he appealed for CBC members to help. “I, as a longtime supporter of Senator Clinton and the Democratic Party, urge you to do everything possible to unify this party to win the Presidential election in November. For me and millions of other Democrats, I believe that the most important step that you can take now is to encourage the Congressional Black Caucus to urge Senator Obama to select Senator Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential running mate.”
I have to agree that a Obama-Hillary ticket would unify the Democrats and make John McCain’s chances of reaching the White House very difficult.
Sphere: Related ContentState Senator James Marzilli Arrested for Sexual Assault
Massachusetts State Senator James Marzilli was arrested on Tuesday for trying to sexually assault a stranger on a park bench. He groped, lied and then led the Krispy Kreme badges on a foot chase that naturally led to his arrest (come on politicians aren’t known for their diet and exercise either).
State Sen. James Marzilli was arrested in Lowell yesterday after he allegedly attempted to sexually assault a stranger sitting on a park bench, gave police a false name and then led officers on a foot chase that ended in a downtown parking garage, law enforcement officials said.
Marzilli (D-Arlington), absolved of a separate sexual assault accusation last month, now faces a slew of new charges after yesterday’s alleged attack, which police said occurred in broad daylight on a busy street.
Like all good political scandals his wife was there to bail him out of jail and stand by his side..
Yes, the truth is always stranger than fiction!
Sphere: Related ContentBarack Obama’s Democratic Nomination Victory Speech
Text of Barack Obama’s Democratic nomination victory speech from Tuesday night in St. Paul, Minnesota.
“Tonight, after fifty-four hard-fought contests, our primary season has finally come to an end.
Sixteen months have passed since we first stood together on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. Thousands of miles have been traveled. Millions of voices have been heard. And because of what you said — because you decided that change must come to Washington; because you believed that this year must be different than all the rest; because you chose to listen not to your doubts or your fears but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations, tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another — a journey that will bring a new and better day to America. Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.
I want to thank every American who stood with us over the course of this campaign — through the good days and the bad; from the snows of Cedar Rapids to the sunshine of Sioux Falls. And tonight I also want to thank the men and woman who took this journey with me as fellow candidates for President.
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With Hillary Clinton bowing out of the Presidential race and taking Bill with her the question becomes who will make the hotter First Lady?
Vote regardless of party affiliation. This has nothing to do with who you want to win the White House but simply which of the two First Lady candidates is more attractive. Yes, Bill for sure would have been the most sexual of the three.
Both women are attractive ladies but you only get one vote. So make it count!
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Super woman Hillary Clinton in all reality is expected to finally concede the Democratic party’s nomination to Senator Barack Obama tonight according to her campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe.
Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said Tuesday that once Obama gets the majority of convention delegates, “I think Hillary Clinton will congratulate him and call him the nominee.”
The outcome could come by the end of the day with some choreography by the party’s superdelegates. The party insiders were lining up behind Obama at a rate that could seal the nomination once results are in from Montana and South Dakota — or even before.
Hillary is still expected to win South Dakota by nearly 25% tonight. She reportedly was attempting to have Barack pay part of the campaign debt she amassed trying to beat him before conceding. Good luck with that one!
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Bill Clinton and aging actress Gina Gershon are being linked together for being naughty under the sheets.
If true it should come as no surprise since the libido charged ex-President has mountains of free time on his hand now days. He also has a very absent wife, even when she is not running for the Presidency.
Now if Billy wants to make the big headlines then he needs to bed an actress that is currently selling out theaters.
Sphere: Related ContentBarack Obama Finally Leaves Trinity UCC Church
Barack Obama and his family finally resigned their membership at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago after nearly 20 years of faithfulness to the church. Obama finally realized that you don’t need political enemies when you have a church home like Trinity.
“It’s clear that now that I’m a candidate for president, every time something is said in the church by anyone associated with Trinity, including guest pastors, the remarks will be imputed to me, even if they totally conflict with my long-held views, statements and principles,” he said, praising the congregation and church leaders for their work in the Chicago community.
“It’s not fair to the other members of the church who seek to worship in peace, so our faith remains strong and I suspect we will find another church home for our family.”
In Obama’s May 30 letter to the church, he wrote that his relationship with the church had been “strained” by the statements of Wright.
The decision comes after Father Michael Pfleger ridiculed and mocked Hillary Clinton from the Trinity pulpit last weekend (see video). Pfleger’s performance seemed to be the knock out punch after retired senior pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s racial and political comments from past sermons surfaced two months ago.
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