When Sen. John McCain speaks to the National American GI Forum convention in Denver Friday, he’d do well to remember that Hispanic veterans are paying close attention to his position on Iraq.
Even after last week’s suggestion by Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that American troops should exit Iraq in 16 months, McCain still refuses to consider a timeline for an American withdrawal. He has said he hopes our troops are home by 2013, but he’s prepared to keep them there for as long as it takes.
To me, a veteran of the Vietnam War, McCain’s comments are yet another insult to America’s troops in Iraq and veterans like me.
Of course, everyone wants to win the war by 2013 or even sooner. But how are we going to do it?
Put yourself in the boots of a soldier stationed in Baghdad. You hear that, on the one hand, McCain will keep troops in Iraq indefinitely. On the other hand, he hopes they’ll be home by 2013.
You’re serving your third tour in Iraq, you’ve seen the ebbs and flows of the war, and though you want to believe that progress is being made, you can’t shake the feeling that you are in the midst of a quagmire with no end in sight.
You know that the Iraq war continues to be a political football, and you’ve seen both Democrats and Republicans exploiting it. But you’ve reached a point now where the political posturing is hard to take, and McCain’s position on Iraq strikes you as some of the most transparent political propaganda that you’ve seen in a long time.
Here’s why:
McCain is unquestionably against establishing a timeline to leave Iraq. His clear position is that America should stay in Iraq as long as necessary.
Even now that Iraq’s own prime minister is thinking about a timetable for withdrawal, McCain remains inflexible, much like President George W. Bush.
For a soldier, McCain’s position is more of the false hope that’s become the hallmark of this war. Our brave men and women in the military have seen it over and over again, from the months before the war began, to Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” proclamation, and now this, another vacuous declaration of victory.
Our soldiers and the American people don’t need this. We need politicians who will talk about the war honestly, and not manipulate their real beliefs about it into sound bites.
I know what it’s like to be deployed overseas watching the political merry-go-round at home. During the Vietnam War, I went on multiple deployments, which caused me to miss much of my children’s early lives.
Sen. McCain’s position on the Iraq war — wishing for victory but refusing to set an exit date — won’t help our soldiers or contribute at all to our national debate about whether America should stay the course in Iraq or withdraw.
Melvyn Montano, a retired U.S. Air Force general, served 45 years in the military and lives in New Mexico.
