We marked the 5th year of the war in Iraq, not to mention the fact that he clinched the Republican nomination, therefore, I am not seeing how this trip comes as any surprise to the media:
Republican presidential candidate John McCain arrived in Iraq on Sunday to assess improved security attributed to a build-up of 30,000 extra troops of which he has been a strong supporter.
McCain arrived in Baghdad and was due to meet Iraqi government leaders and U.S. officials in the heavily fortified “Green Zone” diplomatic and government compound, U.S. embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said. :
Attacks across Iraq have fallen by 60 percent since last June, when extra troops were fully deployed. There has been a fall in violence since January but U.S. commanders in Iraq say this does not represent a trend.
From my own point of view, McCain is taking the intelligent route. He is not going to promise an immediate pullout, nor will he sugarcoat the situation. He needs to sit down with the U.S. Military, as well as Iraqi leaders, and from there, his message will be clear. McCain has one clear advantage that the other two don’t; John McCain served in the military, and the military that he served in 30+ years ago is all but a memory to those that may still be in from his age group. Our military has been undergoing a 30 year transformation in order to streamline and modernize operations. John McCain understands this and from what I can tell, will be a part of the solution rather than the problem!
Ed:
Iraqi leaders have met with McCain before, but not as a presidential nominee. That may give McCain a little more leverage with Nouri al-Maliki and the other political leaders in the Iraqi central government. Before now, McCain’s criticisms of the Iraqi leadership had been moderated by his status as just another American legislator, albeit one with more clout than some of the other drop-in visitors to the Green Zone. Now that McCain may be the best friend they have left in the upcoming presidential election, they may take his suggestions on speeding up reconciliation efforts closer to heart.
Please take the time to read Mark’s piece, Petraeus: New Prez Pushing Ill-Advised Withdrawal Could Replace Me
David Petraeus was diplomatic in his language and careful to honor the primacy of civilian authority over the military. But the commanding general of multi-lateral forces in Iraq has left little doubt that if a new president wanted to withdraw from Iraq faster than would reflect Petraeus’s considered military opinion, his family would be happy to have him home.
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