Good evening from McCain headquarters:
I'd like to pass along to you what I believe is the most complete accounting of how my friend, John McCain, helped our nation avoid a disaster in Iraq. It's a bit long, but worth the effort. Please take the time to study it.
When you read this, you'll understand better what John McCain was up against. People told him he was wrong. People told him it would cost him his chance for the nomination for President of the United States.True to form, John McCain decided to listen to the commanders on the ground. He'd seen the situation with his own eyes, and his years of experience in military and foreign affairs convinced him that he could not ignore what was happening in Iraq, what the commanders were saying, and the solution that was required.
So, John McCain took on everyone and conventional wisdom - the President, his party, the Democrats, even the Pentagon. He knew it was politically unwise, but John's principles demanded nothing less. You've all heard him say he'd rather lose an election than lose a war. He means it.
That's the man I served with in Vietnam and called my friend for over 35 years. As a POW early on, he was offered early release while grievously injured and facing possible death and certain cruelty in the months and years ahead. He refused. To do so would have been to fail in his duty to his country and to us. That's the kind of character that we need in a President.
We need a President with good judgment. We can't say what challenges the next President will face. History tells us the challenges will be formidable. The recent Russian aggression against Georgia gives us some idea. What I can say is that it takes wisdom and courage to face those challenges - the wisdom to know what is right and the courage to do it.
Leadership, good judgment, character, courage and a great sense of duty - that's the John McCain that I know. The Washington Times article below gives you great insight into John McCain. Read it and decide for yourself if John McCain passes the test. As you begin to make your decision as to which candidate you will support for the office of President of the United States, consider this history.
Please share with everyone you know - fellow veterans, family, friends and neighbors. Let them know what kind of man John McCain is, and what kind of President he will make.
Best to you all and Semper Fi,
Orson Swindle
Lieutenant Colonel, USMC (Ret.)
POW, Viet Nam
McCain Turns Bush On Iraq War Surge
By Joseph Curl
Washington Times
August 21, 2008
Sen. John McCain, who watched from a prison camp as America failed to deploy the overwhelming force necessary to win the Vietnam War, seized the moment after Republicans lost Congress in 2006 to push President Bush not to make the same mistake.
Mr. McCain sent a private letter to Mr. Bush on Dec. 12, 2006, that challenged the president to show the "will" to win the Iraq war by deploying 20,000 troops into Baghdad and the Sunni Triangle to beat back a growing insurgency.
The letter was the climax of a 3 1/2-year effort to persuade the president to send more troops to Iraq. The former Navy pilot, who had his arms repeatedly broken during nearly six years of captivity, couched his argument in the terms born of the Vietnam War.
"The question is one of will more than capacity," wrote the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. "If we are not willing to provide the troops necessary for victory, however, victory itself will be impossible."
READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE
