Tactics and Strategy

Not only is Ali Frick write to point out that John McCain wasn't nearly as strong a dissenter from Bush's tactical vision in Iraq as his campaign likes to say, but it can't be emphasized enough how purely tactical his criticisms of the Bush administration were. Tactics are, of course, an important subject. But Iraq represents a fundamental error of strategy -- in short, a bad idea, not a good idea that was poorly implemented -- and on the strategic issues McCain has differed from Bush only insofar as McCain got to these ideas first and adheres to them more rigidly than Bush does.

He was the original political defender of "rogue state rollback" as the centerpiece of America's approach to the world, after all, and as best one can tell he still sees things this way and still sees the specter of appeasement lurking behind every effort to deal with problems constructively.

Comments

"Not only is Ali Frick write . . ."

. . . but Matt is wrong. However, Ali Frick may be *right* . . .

Oy.

Posted by Joel | July 13, 2008 4:00 PM

The day he flips "their" with "there" is the day I stop reading this blog.

Posted by scythia | July 13, 2008 4:04 PM

A lot of people are critical just as a way to make themselves look smart. That is, out of all the people out there who are talkers, some are talking without doing much thinking just to make themselves sound like they have a unique opinion (to send the signal to all of us that therefore, perhaps, they're the person we should be giving loads of attention to).

I usually associate this attitude with liberals (a lot of people I thought were smart turned out to not be smart enough to not have this attitude, unfortunately), and I guess Newt Gingrich is an example of it, but I think at least with regard to Iraq, McCain may be an example of it, too.

He has a big ego and didn't want Bush to steal his thunder, so he just claimed to differ with him so the press could report that McCain was saying something that set him apart from the crowd.

Posted by Swan | July 13, 2008 4:17 PM

By the way, new post from me (in response to a Matt Y. post):

http://swanpoliticsblog.blogspot.com/

Posted by Swan | July 13, 2008 4:21 PM

The larger point here I think is, the fact that McCain criticized the way in which the war was exectued, after he already voted for that war, doesn't make things ok. As Obama pointed out way back in 2004, you shouldn't go to war in the first place if you do not have enough troops to secure the peace and a coherent exit strategy. The fact that McCain criticized war tactics, after knowingly agreeing to that war, (and the foolish tactics that would be implemented) is no excuse; it shows poor judgment and leadership, and the failure to take responsibility.

Posted by JY | July 13, 2008 4:57 PM

I'm convinced that he picks these up but leaves them in as an inside joke to his readers. At least that's what I choose to believe.

Posted by laborlibert | July 13, 2008 5:34 PM

"He still sees the specter of appeasement lurking
behind every effort to deal with problems constructively."

And a 5 1/2-year-old article is your evidence that he still thinks that way today? You couldn't find any statements more recent than that?

Posted by prtex | July 13, 2008 6:04 PM

Amateurs study tactics, professionals study logistics.

I find a good maxim is always useful talking about military matters.

Posted by The Craig | July 13, 2008 6:38 PM

"The day he flips "their" with "there" is the day I stop reading this blog."

Are you sure he hasn't done that already? I'd guess he has, more than once, although I can't recall a specific post. The typos all seem to blur into one big incoherent mess in my mind.

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | July 13, 2008 7:48 PM

Matt, at some point, I have to ask. Are you dumb?

Posted by 55 | July 13, 2008 11:30 PM

Matt, at some point, I have to ask. Are you dumb?
Posted by 55 | July 13, 2008 11:30 PM

Maybe Matt just posts from his iPhone from the bar.

Posted by Sharon | July 14, 2008 12:13 AM

The Chappaqua Incompetence Dodgers spent the years from '03-06 saying the war was a good idea executed poorly. That peach of an idea was floated by Democratic supporters of the war and it only makes sense for John McCain to steal their gameplan.

It certainly works with the rubes in the press.

Since the same drooling moron press wets itself whenever Obama says a word like 'refine' even though his position hasn't shifted one bit from his 2007 Iraq War De-escalation Act (see Sec. 4, (b) Suspension of Redeployment for "refinements") I'd say McCain is smart to go with the incompetence dodge as a his strategy. After all, it nearly got Hillary Clinton elected in a Democratic primary!

Posted by joejoejoe | July 14, 2008 12:54 AM

Amateurs study tactics, professionals study logistics.

I find a good maxim is always useful talking about military matters.

What's the point, though? That McCain's criticisms don't take into account what's logistically possible? Or are you just throwing out a platitude to make yourself sound smart and / or to make us all feel like we can't analyze people's statements about how to fight the war?

Add something to the discussion, please.

Posted by Swan | July 14, 2008 4:31 AM

55: "Matt, at some point, I have to ask. Are you dumb?"

I've already answered that question repeatedly - and so has he. Keep up.

He's not "dumb" - well, not in the conventional sense of, say, George Bush. He's just an arrogant, ignorant, punk kid with a degree in philosophy (i.e., a degree in nothing) who doesn't give a shit.

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | July 14, 2008 5:19 AM

I'm fully prepared to believe that "John McCain wasn't nearly as strong a dissenter from Bush's tactical vision in Iraq as his campaign likes to say," but a handful of mostly vague quotes does not make this case.

Posted by Steve | July 14, 2008 9:31 AM

There's another sense in which McCain's criticism was tactical. When you think about it, the surge was really all about the fact that (1) Iraq had become a total mess; (2) Iraq War supporters, both because of ideology and because of an unwillingness to admit mistakes, refused to authorize withdrawal; and (3) if you can't withdraw and you can't keep doing what you are doing, a troop surge is the only remaining option.

McCain came to this realization before Bush did, but they both came to it not because of any brilliance in their understanding of the military, but simply because they had been so wrong that this was the only policy option left that didn't involve admitting their mistakes. To the extent that it "worked" (actually debatable), they simply lucked out.

Posted by Dilan Esper | July 14, 2008 2:16 PM

It may also be to the point to remember that, while criticizing Iraq as a good idea badly implemented misses the point that it was a bad idea, it is still head and shoulders above those who think it was a good idea well implemented. Yet there seem to be an amazing number who think that as well - and I mean about the planning for the implementation, not the actions of those stuck on the ground trying to survive the fiasco.

Posted by wj | July 14, 2008 2:31 PM