McCain Warns: "There Will Be Other Wars"

The presidential candidate who sang "Bomb bomb Iran" is already looking towards the war after the war in Iraq.

Sen. John McCain told a crowd of supporters on Sunday, "It's a tough war we're in. It's not going to be over right away. There's going to be other wars." Offering more of his increasingly bleak "straight talk," he repeated the claim: "I'm sorry to tell you, there's going to be other wars. We will never surrender but there will be other wars."

McCain did not elaborate who the United States would be fighting. But he did warn the crowd to be ready for the ramifications of current and future battles.

"And right now - we're gonna have a lot of PTSD [post traumatic stress disorder] to treat, my friends," he said. "We're gonna have a lot of combat wounds that have to do with these terrible explosive IEDs that inflict such severe wounds. And my friends, it's gonna be tough, we're gonna have a lot to do."

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The remarks underscore a growing effort on McCain's behalf to keep the political discussion centered on foreign affairs (his strong suit) and not the economy (an admitted weakness). They also reflect a take of America's military policy that is heavily weighted towards combat. Earlier on the campaign trail, McCain posited that U.S. forces could be in Iraq for the next 100 years.

Comments

[osage]

01:37 PM on 01/31/2008

HERE’S THE REALITY INSTEAD OF THE BULLSHIT ABOUT REPUBLICANS BEING FOR A STRONG MILITARY!!!!!!!

One of the biggest lies that uninformed and naively gullible Bush/Republican supporters have swallowed hook, line and sinker is that Bush/Cheney are providing our country a strong national defense, when in fact, what they’ve done is stripped our military’s ability to defend our country against REAL enemies in order to pretend to defend it from IMAGINARY ones. Our nation’s military has been exploited and depleted by the lies and incompetencies of the Bush admininistration with the total support and assistance of the Republican congress and the shameless political pandering of too many Democrats. Too many Americans who believe in a strong national defense, for some ridiculously stupid reason, have bought into the lie that George W. Bush is a worthy commander-in-chief when nothing could be further from the truth as exemplified by our miltary’s current dangerously inadequate state of readiness. It amazes me that there are still people out there supporting John McCain in the deluional false belief that he’s “pro-military” when he’s been complicit as a memeber of the Republican establisment in the overburdening, underequipping and failing to support and grow our military forces to the point that the only way we can defend ourselves is with nuclear weapons. And the result is, we don’t currently have the military might to defend our own soil with boots on the ground. This is a recipe for total disaster. This is why Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice all need to be IMPEACHED!! Americans need to actually KNOW what the Bush administration has really done to put our country in harms way!!! Republicans and Democrats alike need to know just how much lying bullshit they’ve swallowed whole!!!!!

[oregonrain]

01:20 PM on 01/31/2008

War, War, War ..... Fear , Fear , Fear.... just a cookie cutter version of bush .

[foxwise]

12:23 PM on 01/31/2008

mc cain is not to bright, he keeps bringing on wars and more wars, very possible the thoughts in his head go back when he was in the armed service, flash backs from those times can proove to be very dangerous , mc,cain should get himself checked out , he has a mental flaw , and he should at onces get out of the race for the presidency, he would be a danger to this country and its people

[conserve5]

12:03 PM on 01/31/2008

McCain is absolutely right. It's not that he wants war or favors war-if anyone knows his background-they would know that. So by everyone's logic-we should have stayed out of Bosnia(under Clinton) and let the genocide continue? Were we wrong to go into Somalia under Clinton, and try to deliver aid to the starving? Should we not have gone into Afghanistan? Well-we stayed out of Rwanda (under Clinton) to the tune of half a million defenseless people dead after saying we (the UN) would offer protection. But it became politically too risky. Should we have let Germany just take over the world 55 years ago. It's easy to say no war until it is forced upon you or the genocide starts. The more prepared you are (and perceived to be) for engaging in it-the less likely it will occur. The question is -are we in a war for the wrong reason. McCain is willing to fight members of his own party and move on global warming, smart enough to know ANWR is no answer, consider the lower and middle class. Most importantly, he is taking on special interests(such as big oil)-the kind who get you into wars for the wrong reason. But he does tell it like it is. if you can't deal-don't blame him.

[Democrab]

10:33 AM on 01/31/2008

The grand old potty is hell bent on picking losers these days.

[Pleidian]

09:39 AM on 01/31/2008

No John, there won't.

[armadillious2002]

09:19 AM on 01/31/2008

Gee I wonder if America could go the way of the ancient city state of Sparta. They expanded and conquered and then found that they didn't have the people or resources to occupy every country that had come under their control. There was mandatory conscription and virtually all citizens served in the military most of their lives in one way or another.

Bottom line - they were stretched to thin and eventually fell. Maybe it really does pay to study history. One thing that always is repeated throughout history is that it is hard if not impossible to occupy and control an unwilling people.

[Quixotic1]

03:15 AM on 01/31/2008

More wars? Gee I can hardly wait. Iraq has been such an uplifting experience we definitely want more of THAT. It's very important to continue killing as much as possible. Kill, kill, kill, bomb, destroy, maim, mutilate, pillage, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill... and did I mention kill? And... oh... did I forget to say kill? And by the way, kill. And you know what? Kill. And hey, kill. Kill, kill, kill... And while we're at it why don't we blow up the whole F'n planet? This will certainly be the answer to all our problems.

[xfiguy]

10:21 PM on 01/30/2008

I don't know anything about McCain other than he was a prisoner during Nam. I guess being a prisoner is better than being dead, but it does not qualify someone to be President. McCain got my attention quickly when he said "more war". We don't need or want more war. We've had enough. War is not a good option for anybody on either side. Americans are smarter than this, and deserve more than this. We need to exercise caution in all that we do; starting with keeping McCain out of the White House

[malrubius]

06:43 PM on 01/30/2008

At least he's making promises he intends to keep.

[pennyfortheguy]

05:30 PM on 01/30/2008

We'll need war(s) just to thin out the ranks of the unemployed/underemployed. Should see every man and woman between the ages of 18 and 30 under arms via the Draft by Fall of '09 should Squadron Commander John be swept into the White House. At least the 'Halo 3' generation have good eye-hand coordination. Coveted battle skills.

There Will Be Wars
There Will Be Blood.

[Justinpassing]

05:24 PM on 01/30/2008

There will be wars and rumors of wars
There will be whores and they're not rumors
most of 'em hang out in a place called congress

[krb]

04:20 PM on 01/30/2008

He a loudmouth adulterer, a panderer, a liar and a man with little or no convictions. He's a politician that wants to win an election, nothing more!!!! I use to admire his independence, but now he's just another lying politician.

[RMHK]

02:42 PM on 01/30/2008

I think he is dangerous and if he picks Rudy or Lieberman they will be ready and willing. I see the draft being reinstated.

[1love]

12:33 PM on 01/30/2008

u go boy!!!