McCain Is 'Fine' Keeping our Troops in Iraq for 100 Years
WASHINGTON, April 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On NBC's Meet the Press this morning, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean announced that the DNC will air its second television advertisement of the 2008 Presidential Election season. Entitled "100," the ad will begin airing on cable networks nationally next week. While John McCain and the Republican Party are hoping voters will forget that McCain is "fine" with the Bush Administration's open-ended commitment in Iraq, the DNC will again give voters the chance to see and hear John McCain in his own words.
The ad features Senator McCain telling a town hall audience that despite the long war having cost our country $500 billion and 4,000 lives, staying in Iraq for 100 years "would be fine with me." The ad ends with the question all Americans must ask themselves when they go to the ballot box this November: "If all he offers is more of the same....is John McCain the right choice for America's future?"
John McCain's position on the war in Iraq is proving to be a political liability with voters who don't want more of the same disastrous Bush policies in Iraq. While just 31 percent of Americans approve of President Bush's handling of the war, McCain continues to be one of the most vocal supporters of the President's failed strategy there. And with the fifth anniversary of Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech Thursday, voters will be reminded of how wrong Bush and McCain have been on the war every step of the way. [Associated Press, 4/10/08]
This is the second ad the Democratic National Committee has launched this campaign season to expose McCain for the weak candidate that he is. Last week, the DNC launched the ad "Better Off," featuring John McCain explaining to the American people that despite the stark reality to the contrary, he thinks we "overall are better off" than we were eight years ago. As the campaign season continues, the DNC will continue to use McCain's words as proof that a vote for McCain is a vote for a third Bush term.
"What John McCain doesn't understand is that the American people aren't fine with being in Iraq for 100 years in any capacity," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "The American people want a President who will responsibly end the war, not more of the same failed policy in Iraq that continues to cost $12 billion a month. They want a President who will invest that money here at home to create jobs and ensure our kids have health care. The more voters learn about John McCain, we're confident they will recognize that he is the wrong choice for America's future."
To view the ad click on the link below:
http://www.democrats.org/a/2008/04/dnc_ad_on_mccai.php
Script of DNC Ad: "100"
Video Audio
President Bush has talked about our
Question from audience over a card staying in Iraq for 50 years
with CG: Senator McCain, President
Bush has talked about our staying Maybe 100.
in Iraq for 50 years.
McCain answers. That would be fine with me.
CG: 100 years in Iraq
McCain video
Scenes of Iraq CG with no President Bush has talked about our
announcer: 5 years - $500 staying in Iraq 50 years
Billion Spent - over
4,000 dead
Maybe 100.
Back to McCain video split screen If all he offers is more of the same
with Iraq footage ....is John McCain the right choice
for America's future?
Freeze - CG over picture of McCain The Democratic National Committee is
and Bush: Is John McCain the Right responsible for the content of this
Choice for America's Future? advertising.
Disclaimer: Paid for by Democratic
National Committee.
www.democrats.org. This communication
is not authorized by any candidate or
candidate's committee. The DNC is
responsible for the content of this
advertising.
Research From DNC Ad: "100"
Audio Video Backup
President Bush Question from Bush has talked about our
has talked about our audience over a troops being in Iraq for 50
staying in Iraq card with CG: years. "Tony Snow, the White
for 50 years ... Senator McCain, House press secretary, told
President Bush reporters Bush believes U.S.
has talked about forces eventually will end
our staying in their combat role in Iraq
Iraq for 50 years. but will continue to be
needed in the country to
deter threats and to help
handle potential crises, as
they have done in South
Korea. The United States has
kept forces in South Korea
since war erupted with North
Korea in 1950 and currently
has about 30,000 troops
there." [Los Angeles Times,
5/31/07]
100 Years Questioner:
"Everyone Who Was There That
Night Got It: We Weren't
Getting Out Anytime Soon."
According to Dave Tiffany,
the questioner at the McCain
town hall in New Hampshire
who prompted McCain to
pledge his allegiance to
staying in Iraq for 100
years, "While splitting
hairs over the meaning of
campaign rhetoric, all
ignore the fact that McCain
advocates an open-ended
presence in Iraq, and the
consequences that would
follow from such a
commitment. McCain's words
left little room for
interpretation. By saying
that he was fine with
staying in Iraq for 100
years, he made clear his
commitment to staying the
course and, further, to
remaining in Iraq for years
after the country is
pacified, assuming that's
ever possible. Everyone who
was there that night got it:
we weren't getting out
anytime soon." [The
Huffington Post, 4/7/2008]
McCain's Notion Of 100 Year
US Presence In Iraq "Betrays
A Fairly Acute Lack Of
Knowledge About Both Iraq
And Islam." "Time Columnist
Joe Klein writes, "The
problem with John McCain's
100 years in Iraq
formulation isn't that he's
calling for 95 more years of
combat -- he isn't -- but
that he thinks you can have
a long-term basing
arrangement in Iraq similar
to those we have in Germany
or Korea. That betrays a
fairly acute lack of
knowledge about both
Iraq and Islam. It may well
be possible to station U.S.
troops in small, peripheral
kingdoms like Dubai or
Kuwait, but Iraq is -- and
has always been -- volatile,
tenuous, centrally-located
and nearly as sensitive to
the presence of infidels as
Saudi Arabia. It is a
terrible candidate for a
long-term basing agreement."
[Time, Swampland, 4/1/2008]
Maybe 100. McCain answers. 2008: McCain Said US May
CG: 100 years in Stay In Iraq For 100 Years.
That would be Iraq McCain At a New Hampshire town hall
fine with me. video when McCain was asked
"President Bush has talked
about our staying in Iraq
for 50 years." McCain
responded: "Maybe 100."
[McCain Town Hall, Derry NH
Opera House 1/3/2008]
President Bush Scenes of Iraq Iraq War Has Lasted
has talked CG with no Five Years
about our announcer: The U.S. invaded Iraq
staying in on March 20, 2003.
Iraq 50 years ...
5 years
$500 Billion Cost Of Iraq War Exceeds
Spent $500 Billion So Far.
"The United States has
over 4,000 dead poured more than $500
billion into Iraq,
mostly for military
operations. But that
figure is just a small
piece of the much larger
bill that taxpayers will pay
in the future. Because the
money for the war is being
borrowed, interest payments
could add another $615
billion. A heavily depleted
military will have to be
rebuilt at a cost of $280
billion. Disability benefits
and health care for Iraq war
veterans, many of them
severely injured, could add
another half-trillion
dollars over their
lifetime." [San Francisco
Chronicle, 3/18/2008]
Over 4,000 American Military
Personnel Have Died in The
Conflict. As of April 24,
4,046 American soldiers,
Marines, airmen, sailors and
Coast Guardsmen have died in
the Iraq War.
[http://www.cnn.com/
SPECIALS/2003/iraq/
forces/casualties/]
McCain: "We're Going To "Win
This Victory" And "It Will
Be Brief." McCain said,
"Well, I'll tell you why
[Mr. Blair doesn't
politically suffer Mr.
Churchill's fate]. It's
because we're going to win
this victory. Tragically, we
will lose American lives.
But it will be brief."
[Hannity and Colmes,
2/21/03]
2002, 2003: McCain
Proclaimed Success In Iraq
Would Be "Easy." In the run
up to War with Iraq, McCain
repeatedly emphasized that
the conflict would be
"easy." Speaking in
September 2002 about the
prospect of invading Iraq,
McCain said he thought it
would not be a difficult
conflict. McCain said, "I
believe that the success [in
Iraq] will be fairly easy."
In January of 2003, McCain
again predicted the same
about invading Iraq, saying,
we will win this conflict.
We will win it easily."
[CNN, "Larry King Live,"
9/24/2002; CNN.com,
1/22/2003]
Maybe 100. Back to McCain McCain Said No One
video split screen Anticipated Iraq Would
with Iraq footage Be A Long War. Campaigning
in Rhode Island for Senator
Lincoln Chafee, John McCain
claimed that no one warned
the war in Iraq would last
as long as it has. McCain
said to a crowd of 500 at
Chaffee's home, "Mistakes
have been made in this war.
It has lasted much longer
than any of us have ever
anticipated." [AP,
6/18/2006]
If all he offers Freeze - CG over McCain Echoed Bush's
is more of the picture of McCain Case For War. As
same ... .is John and Bush: Is John early as 2001 McCain
McCain the right McCain the Right was helping to make
choice for America's Choice for the case for war
future? America's with Iraq alongside
Future? Donald Rumsfeld. During
a November 2001 appearance
on ABC's Nightline, McCain
echoed Rumsfeld and CIA
director James Woolsey on
the case for invading Iraq,
using the same misleading
rhetoric. Rumsfeld claimed
there were ties "between the
terrorists in the
Philippines and the al-Qaeda
and people in Iraq." Woolsey
suggested Iraq had "been
involved in terrorist acts
against the United States."
And John McCain, given a
chance to disagree, instead
echoed both men and the Bush
Administration, claiming
there had "been significant
involvement on the part of
the Iraqis and Saddam
Hussein in the acts of
terror that have been
committed in the past." [ABC
News, "Nightline,"
11/28/2001]
Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org.
This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
SOURCE Democratic National Committee
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