Conventional Wisdom Surging

Two highly suspect yet seemingly unkillable narratives continue to swirl through the presidential election largely unchallenged: The supposedly undeniable success of "The Surge" in Iraq as touted by Senator John McCain, and the related matter of McCain's reputation as a proven military leader who, in his running mate Sarah Palin's words, "knows how to win a war."

In both cases, this conventional wisdom, echoed in the press and on the campaign trail, are contradicted by actual evidence -- readily available but almost never discussed. We should all be asking how that can be.

So let's compare image with reality, beginning with the surge. The surge in troops that brought an extra 20,000 soldiers to Iraq last year did indeed coincide with a decrease of violence there. But how do we know there is a real cause and effect relationship? One key factor is almost always omitted in discussions of the surge's presumed effects: At the same time the violence declined, the U.S. started paying $30 million in bribes every month to the terrorists.

We are, in short, paying the bad guys not to kill us, as New York Times war correspondent Dexter Filkins' recently explained to a shocked audience during a stop in Los Angeles to discuss his new book, The Forever War.

That's right, our tax dollars have been used to give $300 monthly bribes -- a fortune in Iraq -- to each of more than 100,000 insurgents and militiamen. That's the other surge: a surge in the terrorists' bank accounts. For obvious reasons, McCain and Palin never mention this costly ransom written into the fine print of the surge, although its hard to fathom why Barrack Obama isn't shouting about it every day of the week.

Then there is the matter of McCain's military leadership qualities. I earlier documented how his claimed support for the troops was not born out by his actual votes in the Senate, where he has consistently failed to back legislation and funding for servicemen that veterans groups consider vital, most recently Senator Jim Webb's much-needed revamping of the GI Bill.

Now, given the claim by Palin during the vice presidential debate that McCain knows how to win wars, why isn't the media demanding some evidence to support this crucial claim? What war has he won? It was McCain, after all, who predicted the Iraq war would be over in a matter of months, that American troops would be greeted as liberators, and that he was "right" about the surge (in troops, that is, not bribes).

What does McCain's military career tell us in support of this claim? It begins as George W. Bush's career began at Yale University -- as a silver-spoon legacy admission, thanks to the fact that McCain's father and grandfather were highly respected admirals. John McCain's career, however, was undistinguished at best, marred by three peacetime aircraft crashes that suggest he was either a very unlucky pilot, or a very ungifted one: He lost one plane in training, one by colliding with power lines during a peacetime deployment to Spain, and one while flying to an Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia. McCain went on to fly 23 missions over Vietnam, about twenty hours of combat, before his A-4 Skyhawk fighter-bomber was shot down and he was captured.

He served with honor and courage in the years that followed while facing detention and torture as a prisoner of war - the defining time of his military career if not his entire life. But with all due respect: Being shot down and captured by an inferior enemy force is not evidence that McCain knows how to win wars or how to lead the entire U.S. military. Yet his status as POW hero seems to be the main basis for this conventional wisdom both he and Palin constantly promote.

The major media organizations have been busily fact-checking all sorts of minutiae during the campaign (and, embarrassingly for a few of them, mocking Joe Biden for correctly using the word, "Bosniak" during his debate with Palin), yet these two central claims of the McCain candidacy, about his skills as a war leader and the effects of the surge -- matters on which he has staked his bid for president -- have gone unchallenged until now. I'd like to know why.

Comments

[billinmodesto]

I have heard (and read) that one of the reasons for the so-called "surge sucess" is because the U.S. was at the same time targeting mid-level leader-ship of the insugents. I.e. assassinations. Does this remind anyone else of the Pheonix Program used in Viet Nam by the CIA?

[Lagniappe]

McCain and the POW Cover-up By Sydney H. Schanberg
This article appeared in the October 6, 2008 edition of The Nation.

September 17, 2008

John McCain, who has risen to political prominence on his image as a Vietnam POW war hero, has, inexplicably, worked very hard to hide from the public stunning information about American prisoners in Vietnam who, unlike him, didn't return home. Throughout his Senate career, McCain has quietly sponsored and pushed into federal law a set of prohibitions that keep the most revealing information about these men buried as classified documents. Thus the war hero people would logically imagine to be a determined crusader for the interests of POWs and their families became instead the strange champion of hiding the evidence and closing the books.
Almost as striking is the manner in which the mainstream press has shied from reporting the POW story and McCain's role in it, even as McCain has made his military service and POW history the focus of his presidential campaign. Reporters who had covered the Vietnam War have also turned their heads and walked in other directions. McCain doesn't talk about the missing men, and the press never asks him about them---------------------------------------If you NEVER read another article about McCain and Vietnam,make sure you read this one!

[loebner]

The article states "He served with honor and courage in the years that followed while facing detention and torture as a prisoner of war" As I understand it, he confessed, under torture, or threat of torture, to being a war criminal. This is understandable, but certainly not honorable. There were those in similar circumstance who did not cave.

[moAb]

McCain knowingly informed his captors who he was (son of an Admiral, Chief of US forces in the Pacific at the time) knowing that it would result in improved treatment and conditions for him. This is not to take away that he suffered like many other POWs. However it certainly does not add to his luster and some consider this behavior just part of his "entitled" or "elitist" upbringing (one of wealth and privilege).

[loebner]

The article states "He served with honor and courage in the years that followed while facing detention and torture as a prisoner of war -" However, as I understand the matter, he caved in to torture and confessed to being a criminal.. This is understandable, but certainly not honorable.

[AlteSoldier]

Gail Collins:
"This entire election season has been a long-running saga about the rise of women in American politics. On Thursday, it all went sour. The people boosting Palin"s triumph were not celebrating because she demonstrated that she is qualified to be president if something ever happened to John McCain. They were cheering her success in covering up her lack of knowledge about the things she would have to deal with if she wound up running the country."

[tm68]

Where is the proof that these bribes are true? I would like to know your source for purposes of credibility. Maybe that's why Obama isn't using it- because it isn't true. I would LOVE for it to be true because that would be one more in the Obama column!

[PDinCA]

I don't think McCain really wants to be president at all. He just wants to be commander in chief. The Navy decided he wasn't fit for command, and he's finally figured out a way to overrule them. I think he sees Iraq (or maybe Iran) as his chance to refight the Vietnam war, and win it this time.

[Carsy]

Yes, he is trying to win the Vietnam War.

[grantlingel]

The people we have in charge have no idea what they are doing and if McCain gets in office it will be a lot more of the same.. we need a change now.
http://grantlingel.blogspot.com

[cantabridgia70]

Challenging acepted wisdom is difficult because reality is far more complex than than McCain seems to suggest or than Palin seemingly has the capacity to grasp. It has however been admirably and convincingly done, most recently by Peter Galbraith in the New York Review of Books. Galbraith makes the point that Maliki, our man in Iraq and putative champion of democracy, wants US forces out so he can (1) do unfettered battle with the Sunni Awakening, the US mercenary force that has contributed more than US forces to victory over Al Queda in Iraq, (2) allign Iraq with Iran as a Shiite Islamic Republic. In other words, current US strategy points not to victory but to an alignment that will strengthen the axis of evil. That's not victory.

[AlteSoldier]

Where's John McCain?

Have you visited the McCain campaign's website lately? You'd think it was Sarah Palin running for president. John McCain appears as a tiny dot on the video screen. The rest is Sarah-this, Sarah-that. It's like McCain doesn't exist anymore.

What does this say about the state of the McCain campain, that it's afraid to showcase its most important person -- the presidential candidate.

[karebarron]

The reason is this: It"s convenient and safe! Remember George Bush"s military service records? No? Maybe that"s because the media never went after them either. To question whether John McCain"s service in the military qualifies him for the office of president of the United States would invite phony outrage, which would only serve to further substantiate McCain"s contempt for the media, and his assertions that it is liberal, bias, and oh, by the way, now, unpatriotic! How many news cycles could that suck up, taking attention away from news on the economy? It would be great for McCain if detailed questions about the how being shot down in a plane by an "inferior" enemy, then tortured, qualifies him to be commander in Chief. Then he could regurgitate the answer Sarah Palin gave Thursday to the question of their EXIT STRATEGY from Iraq"the answer they give to most foreign policy questions, without follow up, or demand for more details: The surge worked, Obama refuses to admit it, Obama would raise the white flag¦only McCain is talking about victory!

[useyourbrain]

Team Obama has to get it's military supporters on TV talk shows and commercials to talk truth about the surge -- Wesley Clark, ex POW's, etc.

[CaptainStormfield]

Great idea.. but they probably wont let them on or let them talk truth.

[obamagirl1968]

Where is General Clark when you need him? Pull out Tammy Duckworth, too! Jim Webb can take another swing at him. Better yet, how about someone totally new to the message to deliver the blows.

Obama can go personal without going negative!

[ConcernedCanadain]

The success of the "surge" is open to question.

It is my my understanding that not all military targets have been met and few, if any, political targets can be claimed to have been achieved.

It is interesting to note that McCain's favourite general, Petreaus, refuses to use the word "victory" when talking about Iraq.

As for McCain's naval service, I don't think there is any question that he would never had been admitted to the naval Academy were it not for the fact that his father and grandfather had both attended the school. No Annappolis, no naval career, no POW time, no political career.

One last point, there should be a huge hew and cry to force McCain to authorize the release of his FULL AND COMPLETE naval record. It is my understanding that all that has been made public so far is a two page summary of his two decade plus service career(with no specifics) and 15 pages detailing his medals and ribbons. It would be very interesting to see just what is in the over 600 pages that have yet to see the light of day. One could easily believe that there would be pages and pages of psychological assement regarding his POW experience.

[nobillary1]

Yes we should, Edward! I just don't understand why the media has refused to be honest in their coverage of him and now - lucky us - we have all the lies about his running mate too!

Why doesn't the media also delve into a couple of other questions about John McCain's rhetoric? Such as his "I know how to end the war in Iraq", and his ever-popular "I know how to catch Bin Laden" statements. I keep asking myself, if he's really a Patriot who puts his "Country First" why hasn't he shared his great knowledge with Cent Com and told them what they're doing wrong??

To my mind, there are only 2 answers to those questions:
1. He wants us to vote for him FIRST, THEN he'll shares his secrets. (That would be a form of bribery, no??) 2. He really has no idea how to do either and is just padding his resume with more lies. Ofcourse, in his deluded mind he might REALLY believe he can do those things, but if that's the case I sure don't want to see him elected to the White House in November! If the media isn't doing their jobs now, with only 31 days till Election, what are they waiting for?

I've heard that miracles do happen so we sure could use a few right now to show the world what a McCain Presidency would be like. Full of lies upon lies - just like the man he wants to

[deeppeace]

I am SOOO waiting for someone to turn to Winky Palin and ask, "So tell me, how many wars HAS McC won?" From everything I read, his experience consists of trashing five US aircraft and getting shot down and captured. That's who they want running the country? I think not.