Top ten proofs of McCain’s good judgment on Iraq

[Vattel]

(Primary Source: New Republic 10-16-06)

10. In 1998, McCain co-sponsored the Iraq Liberation Act, which committed the United States to overthrowing Saddam's regime and to funding opposition groups.
9. McCain welcomed Ahmed Chalabi, leader of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), to Washington and pressured the Clinton administration to give him money. When General Anthony Zinni cast doubt upon the effectiveness of the Iraqi opposition, McCain rebuked him at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
8. Asked by Chris Matthews in March 2003 whether the Iraqis would treat Americans as liberators, McCain replied, "Absolutely, absolutely."
7. Prior to the war, McCain confidently asserted, "Saddam Hussein is on a crash course to construct a nuclear weapon."
6. McCain indulged wildly optimistic scenarios about how the war might liberalize the Middle East, arguing that "regime change in Iraq" could result in "demand for self-determination" throughout the region.
5. In July of 2006, McCain told viewers of "The Early Show" on CBS that "most of Iraq is pretty well under control."
4. As the war in Iraq unfolded, McCain remained a Chalabi booster. With the Iraqi military crumbling in early April, McCain signed a letter with four other Republican senators complaining that Chalabi's INC was not being funded. Appearing on "Good Morning America," he argued for "bringing in Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress as soon as possible."
3. Though McCain would later criticize the Bush administration for giving the public "too rosy a scenario" about postwar Iraq, McCain was, in fact, a major player in this deception. In May of 2003, he wrote, "Thanks to a war plan that represented a revolutionary advance in military science, to the magnificent performance of our armed forces, and to the firm resolve of the President, the war in Iraq succeeded beyond the most optimistic expectations." Notice the past tense of “succeeded.” He thought that the war was already over.
2. Prior to the invasion, McCain astutely warned that "the interaction we know to have occurred between members of Al Qaeda and Saddam's regime may increasingly take the form of active cooperation to target the United States."
1. McCain now claims that even if he had known prior to March of 2003 how the war in Iraq would unfold, he would still have supported going to war.