The first debate--lessons of Iraq/Afghanistan

McCain argues that the lesson is not to have a failed strategy such as our early occupation. He then mentions his advocacy of the surge. He argued that the surge has succeeded (but what of the lack of a political solution; the ethnically cleansed city of Baghdad, etc., the fact that the Sunni Awakening actually preceded the surge?). His statement about the consequences of defeat being increased Iranian influence is a bit laughable given how tight Maliki is with Teheran. Unfortunately, Obama doesn't bring these points up.

Obama naturally brings up his 2002 speech against the war and the human and economic losses the war entailed. McCain points out, accurately, that the new president will have to make future decisions on Iraq and that he was right on the surge and Obama was wrong. Obama concedes that the violence had gone down but points out that the gains of the surge essentially just offset the prior Bush disasters. He also mentions how McCain claimed that going into Iraq was going to be easy and that McCain's claim of success in Iraq echoed an earlier claim of having succeeded in Afghanistan.

McCain hits Obama's plan on the grounds that the success in Iraq are fragile. If they're fragile, how can he claim that we've succeeded.

McCain faulted Obama on actually stating that he would strike into Pakistan as the sort of thing that you don't say out loud. McCain also argued that Petraeus would make everything right in Afghanistan. Obama got in a good shot on McCain not being the person to give lectures on prudence in public statements (extinction for N. Korea, singing about bombing Iran). He also made a good point about how we lost legitimacy in Pakistan by coddling Musharraf. McCain pointed out that he had a different track record in supporting military actions (support for Bosnia, Kosovo, Desert Storm--opposition to Somalia and Lebanon).

Interestingly, McCain compared the prospect of defeat in Iraq to having lost in Vietnam. I have to wonder if McCain's position on Iraq is a way of exorcising his own demons from Vietnam.