McCain looks at a 2013 victory date in Iraq

NY Times:

Senator John McCain declared on Thursday that most American troops would be home from Iraq by 2013 and that the nation would be a functioning democracy with only “spasmodic” episodes of violence. The comments were a striking departure from his usual refusal to set a date for American withdrawal.

In a speech in the heart of Ohio, a major general election battleground, Mr. McCain set forth a sweeping, extraordinarily positive vision of what the world would look like in 2013, when, he said, he would have been in the White House for four years.

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Since the average counterinsurgency operation last approximately 11 years, this goal is not far from that average. It can be explained by how rapidly events have moved in Iraq in the last year when the Democrats were ready to turn it over to al Qaeda. Their eagerness to withdraw demonstrates either their ignorance of counterinsurgency operations or their desperation for defeat. It is probably both.

When you hear Nancy Pelosi talk about "war without end" you know she is clueless when it comes to counterinsurgency operations. Having someone that ignorant as the leader of the House during a war is dangerous for this country. I am sure she received a copy of the new counterinsurgency manual and I am equally sure she has no comprehension of its content.

McCain on the other hand seems to get it. His challenge this election is to convey the importance of winning a counterinsurgency war so we will have fewer of them in the future.