2008 Woodie Awards
McCain calls for deployment of more troops to Iraq
Daniel Black
Issue date: 11/30/06 Section: Opinion
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The possibility that John McCain may have chosen his words poorly when he called for the deployment of more troops to Iraq is hardly a subject of dispute.
The Arizona Senator has likely reduced his prospects of becoming president by saying so. Last Wednesday, through subtle shifts of expression, McCain attempted to recover at least some of what he had lost with masterfully touched-up language. His new (though claiming to be unchanged) words identify the difference between sending more troops overseas to win the war, vice continuing normal troop numbers with no clear end in sight. He tells us victory is attainable, that he can ask a "Young Marine to go back to Iraq" if he's doing so to win, and even calls the act of doing otherwise "immoral".
An eye-opener, to put it mildly, these words surely are. The implicit confessions in McCain's words reveal far more than his newly overhauled language ever could. "Immoral" aptly defines the ethical substance of sending troops, with no proper motive, off to their deaths; we know this because McCain tells us so, but if this is wrong now, surely it was wrong in the beginning of the conflict. Why didn't McCain speak up then? He was doing what he does, doing what they all do: looking out for himself. That factor, the instinctual sense of political self-preservation, is the only thing that inspires our politicians to speak or act.
"Young Marines", using McCain's words, are free to die in far off foreign lands, distant from the thoughts and concerns of politicians, until their perishing directly affects politicians' careers. They suddenly care; and they do things like rephrase their positions and scramble to appear concerned because they must appeal to the people of this nation- those that authentically care. That is what must direct this conflict if ever it is to end. The families in small American communities who have a brother, a cousin, a paperboy out in Iraq are the only citizens that a soldier can depend on to stand up for his rights while he/she is abroad.
The Arizona Senator has likely reduced his prospects of becoming president by saying so. Last Wednesday, through subtle shifts of expression, McCain attempted to recover at least some of what he had lost with masterfully touched-up language. His new (though claiming to be unchanged) words identify the difference between sending more troops overseas to win the war, vice continuing normal troop numbers with no clear end in sight. He tells us victory is attainable, that he can ask a "Young Marine to go back to Iraq" if he's doing so to win, and even calls the act of doing otherwise "immoral".
An eye-opener, to put it mildly, these words surely are. The implicit confessions in McCain's words reveal far more than his newly overhauled language ever could. "Immoral" aptly defines the ethical substance of sending troops, with no proper motive, off to their deaths; we know this because McCain tells us so, but if this is wrong now, surely it was wrong in the beginning of the conflict. Why didn't McCain speak up then? He was doing what he does, doing what they all do: looking out for himself. That factor, the instinctual sense of political self-preservation, is the only thing that inspires our politicians to speak or act.
"Young Marines", using McCain's words, are free to die in far off foreign lands, distant from the thoughts and concerns of politicians, until their perishing directly affects politicians' careers. They suddenly care; and they do things like rephrase their positions and scramble to appear concerned because they must appeal to the people of this nation- those that authentically care. That is what must direct this conflict if ever it is to end. The families in small American communities who have a brother, a cousin, a paperboy out in Iraq are the only citizens that a soldier can depend on to stand up for his rights while he/she is abroad.
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