'. . . and elect the man who helped me piss off the rest of the world.' from FT:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/41853160-794f-11dd-9d0c-000077b07658.htmlIn prepared comments signifying a renewed focus on politics in the wake of hurricane Gustav, Mr Bush stressed the national security credentials of the presumptive Republican nominee, his backing for the troop surge in Iraq and his willingness to take on threats to the US, pre-emptively if need be.
"We live in a dangerous world," Mr Bush was set to tell the convention in St Paul by video link. "We need a president who understands the lessons of September 11 2001: that to protect America, we must stay on the offense, stop attacks before they happen, and not wait to be hit again. The man we need is John McCain."
So, Bush is wrapping McCain up in his 'preemptive' doctrine of manufacturing even more distracting, diversionary military disasters before they've cleaned up the ones they've already created.
Bush continues: "One senator above all had faith in our troops and the importance of their mission - and that was John McCain," he said. "Some told him that his early and consistent call for more troops would put his presidential campaign at risk. He told them he would rather lose an election than see his country lose a war. That is the kind of courage and vision we need in our next commander-in-chief."
I don't think the republican party intended for their 'Country First' slogan to apply to Iraq. All the "surge" has done is dig even more of our troops into the Iraqi sand. There is zero benefit for America in staying. Most Americans agree. It's more like McCain is determined to keep our troops bogged down defending the Iran-friendly Maliki regime rather than do what the majority of Americans say is in our best national interest and withdraw. That's not courage, it's just the same old arrogance that we've come to expect from the present bunch of militarists in the White House. Some maverick.
article with quotes:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/41853160-794f-11dd-9d0c-000077b07658.html