In a Senate Armed Services Committee session last month, the following was said:
McCain, a front-running GOP presidential hopeful for 2008, said the U.S. must send an overwhelming number of troops to stabilize Iraq or face more attacks — in the region and possibly on American soil.
At the time, Commanding General Abizaid disagreed:
Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week he believes troop levels should remain steady for now. . . . Abizaid said the American military in Iraq is stretched too thin already, and sending over a bigger, more permanent presence would undercut efforts to force Iraqis to take on more responsibility.
That has now changed. More.
The Generals have their arms twisted:
Top U.S. military commanders in Iraq have decided to recommend a "surge" of fresh American combat forces, eliminating one of the last remaining hurdles to proposals being considered by President Bush for a troop increase, a defense official familiar with the plan said Friday.
Commanders have been skeptical of the value of increasing troops, and the decision represents a reversal for Casey, the highest-ranking officer in Iraq. Casey and Gen. John P. Abizaid, the top commander in the Middle East who will step down in March, have long resisted adding troops in Iraq, arguing that it could delay the development of Iraqi security forces and increase anger at the United States in the Arab world.
I am surprised that Abizaid, a man who has kept his honor intact by and large in this Debacle, would capitulate in this way to the detriment of his soldiers. but there it is.
But the politically important point is that John McCain OWNS the Iraq Debacle now. This will be Bush and Rove's ultimate revenge against McCain. They have now fucked him like he has never been fucked before.
He will now NEVER be President of the United States.