John McCain – War hero, or complete idiot?
By Brian A. Burns
We would hope that a man who believes American troops should die to forge an indefinite occupation of Iraq would have an understanding of the fundamentals of what it would take to do so. But the man who once said, “In all candor, we thought our civilian commanders were complete idiots who didn’t have the least notion of what it took to win the war,” was somewhat prophetic in his statement, in the sense that he was speaking of his own future – John McCain at 71.
Being portrayed as a “war hero” by those who enjoy having the country run by people as ignorant as themselves, John McCain has latched on to the folly of his constituents and is proudly paying lip-service for their votes. He has dug himself a ditch of warmongering, and is happily leading his flock into it headfirst. But with mounds of wool blinding their vision they cannot seem to understand that John McCain truly only served about five months in battle, as the rest of it was served in a prison camp where he was tucked away from witnessing any war being waged.
For five years John McCain suffered through what could only be described as a living nightmare. Not many people would be able to survive the conditions he was forced into, and it can only be assumed that his experience was an agonizing journey through a veritable “Hell on Earth”. This, however, does not take away from the fact that John McCain was no longer engaged in fighting on the battlefield. In turn, he was unable to gain any knowledge of military strategy, and couldn’t learn anymore how to fight an enemy in war.
When in war, a commander must know quite a bit about military strategy. They must understand the fundamental elements and plan their attack accordingly. “Civilian commanders” who are “complete idiots”, seem to not understand that before you could ever wage a war in a country where the enemy’s reinforcements are just outside of the border that border must first be sealed to prevent those troops from getting in. Donald Rumsfeld learned this the hard way, and we all learned that he was a civilian commander who was a complete idiot.
The people most qualified to propose a battle-plan are those who have spent the most time learning first-hand about military strategy. Those who have been witness to multiple battles in multiple conditions would understand the gammut of elements that each situation holds, and would know best on how to plan for an attack when in those situations. Someone who spent only five months in battle could never have time enough to gain the knowledge necessary to present a battle-plan.
John McCain’s experience as a prisoner of war is the stuff that fictional characters are born from. The horrible existence he endured under the harmful watch of the enemy could not be imagined by anyone of us who had not suffered the same conditions. The pity we should have for him is immeasureable, and the relief we should have for his survival should be as equally great. Aside from a possible parade to show our gratitude for his endurance and his service, we need to end it there, and realize that his experience is what makes him anything but qualified to issue a strategy for war. Perhaps if he spent five years in battle he would know enough about war-planning, but five months is simply not enough.
All this is assuming that our military should continue their seige on the methodology that is terrorism. Since we’ll only ever be able to do so by borrowing what will amount to trillions of dollars from China, all to realize in the end that winning a war on terrorism is not improbable but impossible, maybe it’s time his constituents do one of two things – shed their wool and run away from his side, or when once inside the pit, pull the dirt in over themselves.
McCain likes to brag that his military service better qualifies him for the “Commander in Chief” position, as Barack Obama never served in the military. What he is overlooking is the fact that the majority of our citizens only want to see our children being led in one direction – home.
