John McCain may have set a record for the fastest flip-flop in history. Earlier today, McCain gave a speech, timed to follow Obama’s Iraq speech, on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. McCain said that more troops were needed in Afghanistan, and he said that he’d send an additional three brigades to the country to shore up NATO forces. The following is from his campaign website:
John McCain Supports Sending At Least Three Additional Brigades To Afghanistan. Our commanders on the ground say they need these troops, and thanks to the success of the surge, these forces are becoming available, and our commanders in Afghanistan must get them.
Now, Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said only a couple of weeks ago that he didn’t have the troops to send into Afghanistan.
I don’t have troops I can reach for, brigades I can reach, to send into Afghanistan until I have a reduced requirement in Iraq.
So, it seems that the only way that McCain would be able to follow through on his pledge would be to pull three brigades from Iraq and send them to Afghanistan. Of course, as soon as his speech was over, McCain told reporters that what he really meant was that the three brigades would be comprised of NATO and US troops, not just US troops, as he had just said in his speech. This is just another example of the kind of “straight talk” we can expect if McCain wins the presidency.
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS
