Dear Sen. McCain:
A key to your victory in November will be to do a better job than the Administration has in convincing the voting public that the Liberation of Iraq was (1) legitimate, (2) wise and (3) successful.
Grass-roots translations of documents found in Iraq and released for public review by the Pentagon have provided some valuable information which speaks to these three points:
(1) Legtitimacy. This should be the easiest point to support. Saddam was repeatedly in violation of the 1991 terms of armistice following our defense of our ally Kuwait. Having tried leaving Saddam in place as a counterbalance to an ambitious Iran, we had every right to finish the job based on Saddam’s violations. In addition, the above-mentioned open-source translations have revealed collaborations between al Qaeda and Saddam’s Iraq. [citations] Saddam had supportive links with al Qaeda and had his own terrorist training ground at Salman Pak. He had to go.
(2) Wisdom. Every Western intelligence agency—EVERY one—concluded that Saddam’s WMD boasts were true. However, only small amounts of WMDs have been found to-date, though those included hundreds of tons of yellocake uranium ore which Iraq did, indeed, purchase from Africa. With the press content to spotlight the paucity of WMDs and leave it at that, its whys have not been adequately explored. Iraq has the area of California and approximately one coalition troop per square mile. We’ve found entire fighter jets buried in the sand; it is certainly conceivable that compact stashes of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons-stock remain hidden within Iraq’s borders. In addition, some truck convoys to Syria during the interminable diplomatic runup to the US’s action remain to be explained. In any case, regime change was the stated policy of the U.S. since 1998, but this remained mere words until 9/11 focused our attention. Given the horrors of 9/11 and Saddam’s well-documented support of terrorists including al Qaeda, and given Iraq’s tactically central role in the region, it was manifestly wise for its Liberation to be pursued.
(3) Success. Iraq has had free elections resulting in a stable, popularly-supported government. The purple fingers and smiling faces of newly liberated Iraqi voters form an iconic picture for this decade. “The Surge” for which you were an early and effective advocate has resulted in near-pacification of the entire country. Al Qaeda, lured into Iraq through their alliance with Saddam as documented by the grass-roots translations [citation], is shattered. If there is one clear lesson, it is that we should have clamped down on border security harder and sooner, as 70% or more of the “insurgents” (to use the media’s watered-down term for terrorists) are outsiders lured to Iraq through fundamentalist jihad. But this has been a war unlike any other, and while the troops killed and injured are very regrettable, the casualty rate is unprecedentedly low, and their sacrifice has freed a people and reconfigured a region... for the better.
We urge you to be forthright, bold and proud in advocating for America’s Liberation of Iraq. As history unfolds, the three points above will gain increasing acceptance. But the time to begin espousing them is now.
One of the largest problems we will have with Senator McCain is he is proud being a founder incorporating The 9/11 Commission. The 9/11 Commission was incompetent on Salman Pak nearing being brain dead.
Other than the introductory paragraph, if it sounds like a ready to use list of straight to the point one liners (all with citations), it'd be easy to memorize so easy to use, even in response to an unanticipated question.
He could have an aid do a quick fact check, then use the points as the backbone for a number of speeches.
It'd sure be worth a try.