John McCain is right -- detractors of the Iraq war won't accomplish anything with a resolution opposing a troop surge other than to undermine confidence in the mission and the troops.
On the eve of a possible congressional showdown on Iraq strategy, McCain contended the bipartisan proposal amounted to a demoralizing "vote of no confidence" in the U.S. military.
The measure criticizes Bush's plan to add 21,500 troops in Iraq yet offers no concrete alternatives, he said.
"I don't think it's appropriate to say that you disapprove of a mission and you don't want to fund it and you don't want it to go, but yet you don't take the action necessary to prevent it," said McCain, top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a 2008 presidential candidate from Arizona.
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"I do believe that if you really believe that this is doomed to failure and is going to cost American lives, then you should do what's necessary to prevent it from happening rather than a vote of 'disapproval,'" McCain said.
"This is a vote of no confidence in both the mission and the troops who are going over there," he said, noting the proposal does not seek to cut off money for troops.
It's true. All a resolution condemning the troop surge will do is to encourage the enemy and discourage our own troops and the American people.
When it comes to winning a war, we can be hot or cold, but lukewarm is deadly.
The troops and the American people deserve better.
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