Question: Why is John McCain so insistent on continuing Bush’s war in Iraq?

Is it to maintain political and military stability in the Middle East? This would be a justifiable goal.

Is it to protect our continued availability to oil until we can cease being reliant on that energy source? This is self-serving, but certainly in our vital interests.

Is it “nation building? I hope not. This is an ill-conceived policy that flies in the face of history and reality. They don’t want to be occupied just as we wouldn’t want to be occupied. They don’t want their families killed and injured and their infrastructure (homes, businesses, water, food supply, sewer, electricity, etc.) destroyed. They don’t want to be dictated to regarding their political, economic, and cultural policies. This should not be our goal. They should work this out themselves.

Is it to conduct the war on terror? I certainly hope we are not that naïve. Our war in Iraq has served only to increase the extremists like al-Qaida and the jihad factions not only in Iraq but elsewhere in the world within the rapidly growing Muslim religion.

Is it that people like President Bush supported by John McCain simply refuse to accept the possibility that they “screwed up” in unilaterally initiating and managing the war in Iraq and that to admit those mistakes will result in a negative historical legacy? I’m afraid this is too large a part of our policy there.

Do we need to continue our presence in Iraq? Yes we do! But, we need to do so for the “right” reasons – to protect our vital interests and the vital interests of our allies as well as the well-being of civilization. Our goals and resulting policies need to be re-defined. And, after extended intelligent dialog, I think our presence in Iraq could be significantly reduced and clearly stated. We need stability in the Middle East and we need continued access to oil. We need someone as President with fresh, new ideas; someone with the ability to rise above simplistic “cowboy” diplomacy and actually negotiate from a position of strength; someone who has no personal stake in promoting their person legacy on the backs of brave, over-extended American soldiers; someone who understands that the United States has limited financial resources that are being squandered in this war instead of being used to build the future of this country. This does not mean we throw in the towel in the “War on Terror”. Our military should be reconfigured to be leaner, stronger, quicker, and harder hitting to respond to threats and/or actions taken by terrorist groups against us or our allies.

The 2008 Presidential Election gives us the window of opportunity to get this started in the right direction.