McCain Contradicts Mullen:Yes, We Have Resources To Fight In Iraq w/o Hurting Efforts In Afghanstan

McCain Contradicts Mullen: ‘Yes,’ We Have Resources To Fight In Iraq Without Hurting Our Efforts In Afghanistan»
During a press conference in Pennsylvania today, New York Times reporter John Broder asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) if he shared the concern of “senior Pentagon officials” about the rise of the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan and if the U.S. has the “resources to devote to fighting those enemies there given the surge in Iraq.” “Yes and yes,” replied McCain brusquely.

McCain then began to take another question, but broke it off to “elaborate a bit” on the situation in Afghanistan. “To somehow think that it’s an either or situation, either Afghanistan or Iraq, is a fundamental misreading of the situation in the Middle East,” said McCain.

He then said “it’s not just a matter of more troops”:

MCCAIN: It’s not an either or situation. We need to succeed in Iraq and I am confident that we can succeed in Afghanistan. But it’s not just a matter of more troops. It is a matter of a whole lot of other factors, including those, and not exclusive to those ones that I just outlined.

Watch it:

more:http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/30/mccain-afghanistan-iraq/

US, NATO deaths in Afghanistan pass Iraq toll
Source: AP

KABUL, Afghanistan - Militants killed more U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan in June than in Iraq for the second straight month, a grim milestone capping a run of headline-grabbing insurgent attacks that analysts say underscore the Taliban's growing strength.

The fundamentalist militia in June staged a sophisticated jailbreak that freed 886 prisoners, then briefly infiltrated a strategic valley outside Kandahar. Last week, a Pentagon report forecast the Taliban would maintain or increase its pace of attacks, which are already up 40 percent this year from 2007 where U.S. troops operate along the Pakistan border.

Some observers say the insurgency has gained dangerous momentum. And while June also saw the international community meet in Paris to pledge $21 billion in aid, an Afghanistan expert at New York University warns that there is still no strategy to turn that commitment into success.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has noted that more international troops died in Afghanistan than in Iraq in May, the first time that had happened. While that trend — now two months old — is in part due to falling violence in Iraq, it also reflects rising violence in Afghanistan.

more:http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3375765&mesg_id=3375765

the troops he has available too! Anybody who tells him that he's wrong gets fired!