BTW I think MNJohnnie got a “time out”.
McCain did,indeed, push for more troops in Iraq. I never heard him describe it as temporary...a “surge”. He just thought we had too few combat troops.
But it must be said, he never laid out the kind of counter-insurgent strategy implemented by Patraeus. That honor belongs single handedly to the General.
When all is said and done, al Queda in Iraq laid a lot of the groundwork for our success there. They thoroughly alienated the local population. Petraeus was the one who saw a way to capitalize on it. It’s ironic: everyone says we screwed up in Iraq. But we wouldn’t likely have the success we have today without going through the horrible two years of senseless insurgent violence. If al Queda had followed the despised example of Hamas (charity programs) instead of blowing people up, we would have had a lot tougher time convincing people to join up with us now.