I have been thinking about this whole, I was for "The Surge" when it was not popular and I was right "It Worked" from McBush and how I am sure he will try to make that a "Zinger" in the Debate (If he shows up).
I have some advice for how to answer this specific issue for Barack Obama...if his advisors are reading DKos (as they should be)...
So the question might go like this:
Moderator: On the question of the Iraq war, what is your position on the troop levels and the strategy for your administration? We will start with Senator McCain.
McCain: Thanks for that question. As you all know, I was one of the chief supporters of "The Surge" before it was popular and when the American people were against putting more troops into Iraq. This shows my judgement was right and "The Surge" worked and timetables are wrong. Senator Obama opposed "The Surge" consistently and until recently failed to admit that "The Surge" has been sucessful. This shows my judgment and temperment to be CIC is about winning for the American people and my opponent is wrong about Iraq and does not have the temperment to lead.
Moderator: Senator Obama, the same question to you.
Obama: We all know that Senator McCain supported "The Surge" and that the situation in Iraq has improved since "The Surge". Was the surge necessary to achieve these improvements, hard to say but what we do know is that there were additional reasons in addition to "The Surge" that contributed to the current improvements in Iraq. So to Senator McCain, I give you credit for supporting "The Surge", but I also give you credit for saying,
On March 20, 2003 "the Iraqi people will greet us as liberators"
On April 9, 2003 "It is clear the end is very much in sight"
On April 23 2003 "There’s not a history of clashes that are violent between Sunnis and Shiahs. So I think they can probably get along."
On December 14, 2003 "This is a mission accomplished. They know how much influence Saddam Hussein had on the Iraqi people, how much more difficult it made to get their cooperation."
On March 7, 2004 "I’m confident we’re on the right course."
On October 31, 2004 "I think the initial phases of it were so spectacularly successful that it took us all by surprise."
On December 8, 2005 "I do think that progress is being made in a lot of Iraq. Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course. If I thought we weren’t making progress, I’d be despondent."
Link to quotes: http://mcdac.blogspot.com/...
To hear Senator McCain talk about the war in Iraq, it started with "The Surge". If I were president, we would have not gone into Iraq and those troops would have been used to track down the real terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 and we would be much safer today. The war started over 6 years ago and has cost over 1/2 a Trillion dollars, over 4,000 us lives and tens of thousands of wounded Americans. The real cost of the war will be over a Trillion dollars when we add up all of the veterans costs. This was a war that was sold to the American people as a war that would not cost us anything because of Iraqi oil revenue and would be quick, painless and necessary because of what turned out to be non-existent WMDs...Senator McCain, you were sold a bill of goods from President Bush and bought it "hook, line and sinker". I will have advisors who will challenge me and not just give me information to make the case I want to make.
So Senator McCain that is fine take your credit for "The Surge" but your history of judgement in Iraq is as bad as President Bush's and that is the Change I will bring to Washington.