Ottawa

The exit strategy is success

Wisdom from John McCain:

Setting exit dates from conflicts such as Afghanistan “defeats the entire purpose of sending people over there,” according to United States Senator John McCain, who said Monday that establishing security is paramount for success in the country.

McCain, who spent the weekend at a security conference in Halifax, told CTV’s Canada AM that the primary goal of warfare is “to break the will of the enemy.”

However, with the Canadian mission scheduled to end in 2011 and the Dutch and the British threatening to withdraw troops if President Hamid Karzai doesn’t take steps to tackle rampant corruption, militants know all they have to do is hang in until the pullout dates.

“If you announce that you’re leaving after a certain period of time, then of course you have the opposite effect on the enemy, who decides they’ll be there and they’ll just hang around until you leave,” McCain said.

More:

U.S. Senator John McCain says military exit dates and exit strategies in Afghanistan should not even be discussed until NATO gets the upper hand in its fight against Taliban militants.

McCain told the Halifax International Security Forum on Saturday that “success” in the war-torn country is the way out of the conflict.

“The exit strategy is success,” he said. “It’s when you succeed and start to draw down.”

I seem to remember certain Canadian politicians saying much the same thing, once. But there were statesmen then…

Looking for more?

Get the Best of Maclean's sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.
  • By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.