Bending the Third Rail
Because We Should, We Can, We Do
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
St. John Johnson
Digby has commented on St. John McCains Iraq strategy. He notes, quite correctly I think, that McFalwell may get exactly what he is asking for.

A concensus, crazy as it may be, seems to be gelling to send 20,000 more troops into Iraq to train the military and police over the next Freidman Unit. Clearly I think this strategy will be a failure. If so, what does that do to McCain's presidential ambitions? McCain has to know that Iraq is lost. He may be currently counting on the Democrats preventing an escalation of troop levels or Bush ignoring him, then he's able to distance himself from Bush and claim that if we'd just done what he advocated, we would have won.

If more troops are sent in and fail, the war is his.

Here's the punchline of Digby's post:
He's going to be left with no option but to call for even more escalation going into '08 if they do this. I can't help but wonder about the political implications. Perhaps it's just a coincidence that the number is the same and that Abizaid famously said recently that the extra 20,000 weren't necessary. If the Bush administration now "gives" McCain exactly what he's asked for they are effectively passing off the war to him. McCain is positioning himself to be Lyndon Johnson in this thing without even becoming president.
Written at 12:22 PM by Greyhair.
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