McCain: Romney wants US to stay at war in Iraq, Afghanistan indefinitely

10/9/2012 1:41pm by 423

These guys are nuts.

Here’s Romney surrogate, John McCain, explaining to the Today Show how, if Romney had been president instead of Obama, we’d never be leaving Iraq and Afghanistan.  Here’s the transcript, video is below:

LAUER: But in his speech he said things like we need to be bold and decisive. He said what you said, that we’re leading from behind, but that’s pretty standard material for a speech like this. Did he offer specifics? Did he tell voters why he is going to be a game-changer when it comes to foreign policy?

MCCAIN: I’m confident that he did, because, again, America’s role in the world has been one of retreat and disarray.

LAUER: But can you give me an example?

MCCAIN: Sure, sure, Iraq, Iraq. We should have left a residual force there, and it’s now Al Qaeda is back returning and resurgence is there. In Afghanistan, Mitt Romney would have listened to the advice of our military leaders. Instead, [President Obama] decided on his own to withdraw early and often, and we are now in a serious situation there.

And McCain is right about Romney opposing the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. In yesterday’s foreign policy address in Virginia, Romney criticized the President for getting us out of Iraq:

America’s ability to influence events for the better in Iraq has been undermined by the abrupt withdrawal of our entire troop presence

Romney also affirmed during that speech that he’ll stop the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“But the route to war – and to potential attacks here at home – is a politically timed retreat that abandons the Afghan people to the same extremists who ravaged their country and used it to launch the attacks of 9/11. I will evaluate conditions on the ground and weigh the best advice of our military commanders. And I will affirm that my duty is not to my political prospects, but to the security of the nation.”

Keep in mind that Iraq and Afghanistan are already going to cost us $4 trillion. And that’s before Mitt Romney’s plan to keep us there even longer. According to Joe Stiglitz, Iraq alone is going to cost us $3 trillion. And, again, that doesn’t factor in Romney’s plan for the US to permanently occupy Iraq.

No wonder Mitt Romney wants to give the Pentagon $2 trillion that it doesn’t even want. He’s planning on more wars.  And you and your children are going to pay for them.  Some with their lives.  But that’s not a concern to the Romney-class.  As Chris noted previously, they and their kids never serve:

Yes, because if there’s one thing Americans are begging for these days, it’s another war in the Middle East that drains money and requires more US troops.

If the Romney-class put their own sons and daughters on the front lines it might be more sellable, but when is the last time you saw anyone from Romney’s family, the Bush family, or the Cheney family volunteer for battle?

In the case of Mitt Romney, he protested in favor of the war in Vietnam and then scampered off to a posh palace in a flashy part of Paris.

Oh the wars Romney had to fight over whether to ask the butler for a café au lait or just an ordinary espresso. Oh the humanity!

The fact is, the Romneys of the world are only too happy to volunteer others to fight their wars, but they never step up themselves to do the dirty work. After more than a decade of war – wars which are a large part of the US budget problems – Americans are fed up with never-ending Republican wars. Despite talking a big story about being budget hawks, Republicans freely ignore the runaway costs of the military machine and are only too happy to feed it again and again. Mitt Romney is no different.

In fact, Mitt Romney is probably worse. When has Mitt Romney, ever in his life, had to make a decision based on how much it would cost him? There’s no such thing as “too expensive” in the Romney vocabulary.

This is what Republicans do. They talk tough about the deficit, then get into office and spend like drunken sailors, getting us into more and more wars, policing the world with your tax dollars. And unlike the Romneys, a lot of us don’t have that money to spare.

Though none of this should be a surprise. Romney is taking military advice from John McCain.  The man who thought staying in Iraq for 10,000 years would be perfectly fine.

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@aravosis | Facebook | Google+. Editor of AMERICAblog, joint JD/MSFS from Georgetown, worked in the US Senate, World Bank, Children's Defense Fund, and as a stringer for the Economist. A frequent TV pundit, he has been on The O'Reilly Factor, Hardball, World News Tonight, Nightline & Reliable Sources. Full bio and .

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