by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright March 2, 2007
All Rights Reserved.

nnouncing his candidacy for president on CBS' “Late Night with David Letterman,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) pulled no punches, telling a national audience that American lives were “wasted” in Iraq. Only two weeks earlier, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.) committed the same sin, telling his first campaign rally in Springfield, Il that Americans lives had been “wasted.” “We have now spent $400 billion and have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted,” said Barack, immediately criticized for disrespecting the sacrifices of U.S. troops. One day later, Obama apologized for the apparent gaffe. “Even as I said it, I realized I had misspoken,” said Obama. “It is not at all what I intended to say, and I would absolutely apologize if any (military families) felt that in some ways it had diminished the enormous courage and sacrifice they'd shown,” recanting his remark.

      Both McCain and Obama made no mistake characterizing American lives as “wasted.” Starting the Iraq war was a colossal miscalculation, the administration blames on bad intelligence. Yet more evidence exists that the White House and Pentagon knew statements about Saddam's alleged arsenal of WMD were overstated. Vice President Dick Cheney's former Chief of Staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby faces 30 years in federal prison for lying to a grand jury and the FBI about who outed covert CIA operative Valerie Plame. Libby's trial revealed that Cheney was obsessed with Plame's husband Joseph C. Wilson IV who accused the White House in the New York Times of twisting intelligence about Saddam's atomic threat. If the war weren't a waste, why would Cheney retaliate against Wilson for telling the truth about Saddam's alleged nuclear threat?

      McCain quickly retracted his remarks after making them on Letterman Feb. 28. “Americans are very frustrated, and they have every right to be. We've wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives,” McCain told Letterman. Before he could catch his breath, he realized he had repeated Obama's gaffe. “I should have used the word, sacrificed, as I have in the past,” said McCain, after blasted by the Democratic National Committee. No one knows the sacrifices of American troops more than McCain who spent five-and-a-half torturous years from 1967-1973 in Vietcong prisoner of war camp. Everyone knows that McCain, who supports Bush's 21,500 troop-surge, respects the sacrifices of the armed forces. McCain and Obama, while on opposite sides of the fence, agree that errors of judgment and mismanagement have wasted U.S. tax dollars and American lives.

      McCain and Obama are polar opposites when it comes to how to go forward with Iraq. McCain supports Bush's troop-surge but has stated that more than 21,500 troops are needed to win. Obama has called for a phased out withdrawal of U.S. forces, paralleling the Baker-Hamilton, Iraq Study Group's call for a redeployment of U.S. forces into non-combat roles. “We have made many mistakes in the past, and we have paid a grievous price for those mistakes in the lives of the men and women who have died to protect our interests in Iraq and defend the rest of us from the even greater threat we would face if we are defeated there,” said McCain, rejecting Obama's premise that U.S. forces should not be squeezed in a civil war between Iraq's warring factions. McCain accepts President Bush's idea that failure in Iraq will result in more terror on American streets.

      Most Americans know that the U.S. armed services perform their duties in Iraq with patriotism and courage. No life is “wasted” following orders, whether or not the policy remains flawed. It's not up to the military to set the political policy on the war. Even senior administration officials like former Sec. of State Colin L. Powell performed his duty when selling the U.N. on the threat posed by Saddam's weapons of mass destruction. Rank-and-file-military must be honored for their service, requiring politicians like Obama and McCain to choose their words wisely. Both Obama and McCain correctly questioned the necessity of going to war and the strategy to bring about results. Questioning the rationale and tactics saves U.S. lives by forcing lawmakers to question whether the costs outweigh the benefits. Neither McCain nor Obama meant anything else.

      Political correctness forces politicians to mince words when American lives are at stake. No American wants to waste precious lives and tax dollars when other options exist. Approaching the four-year anniversary March 20, the Iraq war promises to be the pivotal issue in the 2008 election. Whether you support or oppose Bush's policy, no candidate for the land's highest office can win sitting on the fence. Taking a decisive position on the war gives voters a way to test candidates' worth. Calling live “wasted” does nothing more than question a policy that's producing an unsatisfactory outcome. “We ended up launching a war that should have never been authorized, and should never have been waged, and on which we've now spent $400 billion, and have seen over 3,000 of the bravest young Americans wasted,” said Obama at a campaign stop in Iowa. However way it's said, it rings true.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

©1999-2005 Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.
(310) 204-8300
All Rights Reserved.