John McCain: In Iraq 4 Evah!

On Anderson Cooper last night, presidential hopeful John McCain said that even if the surge doesn't work, we still have to stay in Iraq until, well, we find something that works. From Think Progress:

COOPER: Is there any scenario in which withdrawing troops would be acceptable to you, or redeploying them?

MCCAIN: Not until we have the situation under control, to the degree that the Iraqi government can exert its influence through most of the country, that you start with the — that you move forward with a political and economic process.

COOPER: So, success is crucial before the U.S. can pull out in any meaningful way?

MCCAIN: That’s my view. And that view, by the way, is held by the majority of experts that I know about the region.

I think McCain need to get to know some new experts. Even still, while his views are extreme when compared to most everyone else, other republicans on The Hill who are supporting the surge are simply doing so just to say they it one last good old college try. From US News and World Report:

US News Political Bulletin hears from GOP strategists with close ties to Capitol Hill that the President and his senior aides are too optimistic about keeping GOP congressional support for the Iraq war over the long term. One senior Republican adviser says Bush has "until April or May" to improve things in Iraq. If he cannot, he could face a GOP rebellion that could result in reductions in spending for the conflict and legislation to start bringing the troops home.

So, they are will to give it a couple of months before they try to save their own skin, huh? This is pandering of the worst sort. They are supporting an accelerated surge so that they can safely say that the surge didn't work and we can finally listen to the voice of the American people.

The time frame is extremely important because they are throwing our soldiers into a meat grinder for political purposes. They are giving the Army only until May to complete the surge they are supporting. The problem? From the Washington Post:

"We don't have the [armor] kits, and we don't have the trucks," [Lt Gen Stephen] Speakes said in an interview. He said it will take the Army months, probably until summer, to supply and outfit the additional trucks. As a result, he said, combat units flowing into Iraq would have to share the trucks assigned to units now there, leading to increased use and maintenance.

No equipment, no problem! Just get back by May and hell, we could save the fuel on sending the equipment over there. Good luck dodging bullets by the way. Any member that is going to support this strategy, and then not even wait for the equipment to show up to call for a redeployment out of the killing zone shouldn't be supporting it in the first place. It is crass, save your ass politics at its worse.