Would a President McCain be able to win the Iraq War? I highly doubt it, even if he had the full support of Congress and the American people. So why would I state that, at least in terms of respect and trust, I think I could support a petition by McCain to attempt to mend what we have horribly shattered?
The thesis that I cling to in regard to John McCain's support of this folly of a war is that McCain cares about American troops strongly enough to not want a single one to have died in vain - hence his vehemence on "winning" the war. I often wonder if he was so traumatized by the Vietnam War that he doesn't want a recurrence of that crushing emotional and moral defeat, with the corresponding unearned black mark on the rank and file, even if it is, at least for the moment, completely out of his hands. Clearly other politicians, even some within his own party, would disagree with McCain's conclusion that the war must go on, but I don't think any of them - or any of us - have enough reason to believe there is something at work in McCain's rationale beyond the sincerest of good intentions.
At least that's what I really hope is driving him.
I was discussing this with Tim a few moments ago, and he summed up his (and my) sentiments quite nicely:
Since I don't think it's possible to make something of the situation in Iraq by continuing our military presence, I would prefer to cut our losses and let our fallen soldiers have died for hubris rather than letting more soldiers die in the name of the hubris of trying to rescue George Bush from his own legacy.I'm sorry if I caused any confusion with my previous post - I'm no more for the continuation of this war than anyone else with everything to lose from participation in it. I merely wished to express my personal bewilderment over my reaction to the intersection of my respect for John McCain as a man and former POW and the possibility of McCain asking me (and others in my same predicament) to follow his footsteps down a very lonely path.
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