McCain: The Surge means whatever I want it to mean

By BJ

Now, several of us here have made a habit of pointing out that much of the reduction of violence credited to the "surge" has in fact been due to other factors such as the Anbar Awakening, al-Sadr's cease-fire, the sectarian homogenizing of neighbourhoods and communities, and so forth. We did this, in part, to highlight the fact that McCain's position that the "surge" is some sort of magical cure-all is frankly, a little ridiculous.

Well, who's laughing now?

The Arizona senator told reporters Wednesday afternoon that when he refers to the surge, it encompasses not just the January 2007 increase in troop levels but also the counter-insurgency that started in Iraq’s Al Anbar province months prior.

“A surge is really a counter-insurgency strategy, and it’s made up of a number of components,” McCain said. “This counter-insurgency was initiated to some degree by Colonel McFarland in Anbar province, relatively on his own.”

You see? All that other stuff we keep talking about? All just part of the "surge" now. And the "surge", (which is technically over), is working!

I mean, come on! Only pansies stick to actual definitions. Real men like McCain aren't afraid to redefine the words so they mean he's always right!

It's kind of like how the Iraqis standing up and asking American troops to leave will be a great victory if he's in charge, and a cowardly surrender to al Qaeda, (who may be secretly Shiite and working with Iran), if Obama wins in November.

It's all in how you define it.

Comments

[EL]

BJ, this all fits into how a candidate runs a Rovean campaign. Attack, Repeat, Define, Attack again. Never back down. Give the MSM a simple theme and hammer it over and over until it becomes "The Truth." Remember the Killer Rabbit in Monty Python. Be. Very. Afraid.

[tbone]

McCain is also wrong to lay his definition of counter insurgency doctrine at the feet of Colonel McFarland. H.R. McMasters was doing the exact same things at Tal Afar a year before McFarland even set foot in Anbar in 2006.