Mr. McCain, you've said that your expertise on military matters is why people should vote for you in the upcoming election. Is that correct?
McCain: Yes, you know it's all about who do you trust to be Commander-In-Chief. Are you going to elect a guy like myself who knows how to surge or someone like Obama? Now I'm not going to question his patriotism, but he doesn't know nothing about the surge. I'm responsible for the surge, and surges win wars. The only thing that wins war is surges, and I created the surge. I'm responsible for more than one surge ... two or three surges in fact. You see if you want to win the war in Iraq you had to have the surge, four or five surges ... it's as simple as that. Surges win wars. We won World War II with a surge. What do you think it was on D-Day? That was a surge when we added 20,000 troops to the European Theater. And I invented the surge. I patented the surge.
Mr. McCain, you've said the surge is responsible for the diminution of violence in Iraq, but isn't the diminution of violence the result of the so-called 'Anbar Awakening' in which the US bought off and co-opted the sheiks who then stopped fighting us and didn't that pre-date the surge?
McCain: Actually the Anbar Awakening was part of the surge. The surge started with the Anbar Awakening. The fact that we didn't actually put more troops in till later has nothing to do with it.
Colonel McFarland, in Anbar province, McCain said, "had already initiated that strategy in Ramadi by going in and clearing and holding in certain places. That is a counter-insurgency. And he told me at that time that he believed that that strategy, which is quote the surge, part of the surge, would be, would be, successful. So then, of course, it was very clear that we needed additional troops in order to carry out this insurgency. Prior to that -- counter insurgency. Prior to that they had been going into places, killing people or not killing people, and then withdrawing. And the new counter-insurgency, the surge, entailed going in and clearing and holding, which Colonel McFarland had already started doing. And then of course, later on, there were additional troops, and General Petraeus said that the surge would not have worked, and the Anbar Awakening would not have taken place, successfully, if they hadn’t had an increase in the number of troops."
"So I’m not sure frankly that people really understand that a surge is part of counter-insurgency strategy which means going in, clearing, holding, building a better life, providing services to the people. And then clearly a part of that, an important part of it, was additional troops to help insure the safety of the sheiks, to gain control of Ramadi, which was a very bloody fight, and then the surge would continue to succeed as a counter-insurgency.’’
But, Mr. McCain, you say you want to win a glorious vistory in Iraq. You want to lead this country to an honorable victory rather than an ignominious defeat. How exactly do you define victory? What do you mean by "winning."
McCain: I'll tell you one thing. You don't win wars without a surge ... even two or three surges. And I'm the man who knows how to win wars. We're going to stay there until we win if it takes 10 surges, even 20 surges because you can't win a war without a surge. Now my opponent is a nice guy, but he's totally inexperienced. He doesn't know how to win wars. He doesn't know how to surge. Why it's the only thing that allowed us to be victorious in Korea and Vietnam. In fact they called me Surgin' John McCain. My Pappy and his Pappy before him knew about the surge. We McCains are a military family that knows about surgin.' And then when I was shot down in Vietnam, I outfoxed my captors when, under torture, they asked me about my squadron mates. First I told them they were Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. Then I went on to name Willie Mays and Duke Snider. I also named Babe Ruth and Sandy Koufax. I followed that with Roy Campanella and Jackie Robinson and all the other members of the Green Bay Packers and San Diego Padres.
Mr. McCain, the current head of the Iraqi government, Mr. al-Maliki told the German magazine, der Spiegle, that he wanted US troops out of Iraq in 16 months thereby endorsing Barack Obama's timetable for troop withdrawl. What do you have to say to that?
McCain: Timetable! Timetable? That's how you lose wars ... with a timetable. My opponent wants to lose in Iraq. That's why he has a timetable. I'll give you a timetable ... another surge ... that's how we'll win. I want to lead our troops to victory. Too many have died to have a timetable. I understand that. I know how to win ... not with a timetable but with a surge. We have to surge on to victory. You know, my friend, it's the surge that has allowed us to be victorious in every war we've fought. It was the surge that won the Civil War. If Pickett hadn't surged, we'd never have won. And I'm the one that's responsible for the surge. I want an honorable victory in Iraq.
But, Mr. McCain, how can you have an honorable victory in a war of aggression that was based on a bunch of lies. Wouldn't it be the honorable thing to apologize to the Iraqi people for starting the war in the first place and then get out as expeditiously as possible? After all the war has been responsible for killing as many as 1 million Iraqis and displacing 2 million. All the intelligentsia have fled. The country has been turned into a trash heap because Bush and Cheney wanted to reinsert ExxonMobil and British Petroleum back into Iraq after Saddam kicked them out 36 years ago.
McCain: Look, I'm not going to question how we got in this war, but now that we're in it, we've got to win. My opponent wants to lose in Iraq. He wants to bring the troops home on a timetable. That's a formula for losing. I know how to win wars. It may take more surges ... maybe 10 or 20 more. I don't know. I'll leave that determination to the commanders on the grounds. If the facts on the ground require it, we'll do 30 or 40 more surges. We may do 50 surges a year for the next 100 years. That would be honorable. I don't question Barack Obama's patriotism, just his judgment. Here's a man that says surges don't work. I know better. If Washington hadn't surged across the Delaware and caught the German troops drunk in their bunks on Christmas Eve, we would have lost the Revolutionary War, and I'm responsible for that surge too. You know I'll do whatever it takes to win. After I consult with the commanders on the ground, I'll consult with the commanders in the air. Then I'll consult with the commanders on the high seas. Consulting with commanders is what I do best ... that and surges. Our military must prevail, and you can't prevail without a surge.
Mr. McCain, you talk a lot about honor, but didn't you throw your first wife under the bus, so to speak, after she was disfigured in a car accident and take up with the beautiful and rich Cindy?
McCain: I won't interject my personal life into a Presidential campaign. It has nothing to do with the surge.
Ted Sampley, who fought with US Special Forces in Vietnam and is now a leading campaigner for veterans’ rights, said: ‘I have been following John McCain’s career for nearly 20 years. I know him personally. There is something wrong with this guy and let me tell you what it is – deceit.
‘When he came home and saw that Carol was not the beauty he left behind, he started running around on her almost right away. Everybody around him knew it.
‘Eventually he met Cindy and she was young and beautiful and very wealthy. At that point McCain just dumped Carol for something he thought was better.
‘This is a guy who makes such a big deal about his character. He has no character. He is a fake. If there was any character in that first marriage, it all belonged to Carol.’
One old friend of the McCains said: ‘Carol always insists she is not bitter, but I think that’s a defence mechanism. She also feels deeply in his debt because in return for her agreement to a divorce, he promised to pay for her medical care for the rest of her life.’
Carol remained resolutely loyal as McCain’s political star rose. She says she agreed to talk to The Mail on Sunday only because she wanted to publicise her support for the man who abandoned her.
Indeed, the old Mercedes that she uses to run errands displays both a disabled badge and a sticker encouraging people to vote for her ex-husband. ‘He’s a good guy,’ she assured us. ‘We are still good friends. He is the best man for president.’
But Ross Perot, who paid her medical bills all those years ago, now believes that both Carol McCain and the American people have been taken in by a man who is unusually slick and cruel – even by the standards of modern politics.
‘McCain is the classic opportunist. He’s always reaching for attention and glory,’ he said.
‘After he came home, Carol walked with a limp. So he threw her over for a poster girl with big money from Arizona. And the rest is history.’
Mr. McCain, Barack Obama wants to take two brigades out of Iraq and send them to Afghanastan. What do you say about that?
McCain: I'll take three brigades out of Iraq, maybe four. No, I'll take 5 or 6 brigades out and send them to Afghanastan. We'll win in Afghanastan too by having another surge. We'll surge in Afghanastan just as we've surged in Iraq. You know the derivation of the word 'sergeant? Originally it was spelled 'Surgent.' I looked it up on the internets. The French spell it somewhat differently, but that's the etymology of the word. Sergeant, Surgent. It all means the same thing. You know a doctor that cuts people up. He's a Surgin'. It all comes from the same idea which I patented. It's all due to me. Modern Surgery, the Surgent at Arms. Barack Obama, I'm not going to question his patriotism, just his experience and judgment. When it comes to military matters, he doesn't know from nothing because he doesn't believe in the surge that's won every war we've ever fought. It won the Vietnam War, the Korean War, the surge is what won at the Bay of Pigs. Don't tell me you can win wars if you don't know nothing about surges, and I'm the one that's responsible for maybe 60 or 70 surges in Iraq. It's the only thing that's allowed us to win.
Well, Mr. McCain if the surge has allowed us to win in Iraq, why don't we just declare victory and come home?
McCain: Now, we can't do that. That's how you lose. We have to ensure an honorable victory. You can only do that by building more military bases and staying there for 100 years. Look, we've been in Japan for 70 years; we've been in Korea for 50 years. That's how we do things. When we win a war, we don't come home. That's how you lose the peace. We build military bases and then we stay. That's how you win. What have we won? Why, we've won the right to build more military bases, and don't forget it's the surge that's won us that right. Obama would just leave without permanently occupying Iraq. That's the definition of a loser. If you win, you stay. You don't cut and run.
Mr. McCain, the Iraqi people want us out of Iraq, the American people want us out of Iraq, and now the Iraqi government wants us out of Iraq.
McCain: What do they know? They haven't talked, as I have, to the commanders on the ground. They don't know the facts, and the fact of the matter is that surges work. I will win a glorious, honorable victory in Iraq and build military bases in every province. I want to see Old Glory waving over every bastion and outpost. That's how you know you've won. That's honorable, and if I'm elected that's what will be the outcome in the war of Iraq ... complete and total and honorable victory. You know winning is the only acceptable thing. My opponent, Barack Obama, wants to lose. He doesn't know from nothing because he refuses to acknowledge that the surge that I created is what has been responsible for winning in Iraq. Winning in Iraq is how I'll give the American people the full measure of my devotion, my friend.
