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Have you ever considered that the military is a huge economic stimulant for our country? Millions of jobs depend on the military. Those that are in the military have a job, contractors, companies that manufacture for the military- I cannot even begin to stress how much the military is a huge economic stimulus in this country. Times are bad now with unemployment- what do you think military reduction will do?

I believe most Americans know what issues we face as a nation as we try to decide which candidate(s) will best resolve them. We see in John McCain’s life, past and present a devotion to serve his country. Anyone who knows Senator McCain will tell you that he has passion for what he believes in and a constant drive to serve his country to the best of his abilities with sincerity, truthfulness, and dedication.

I remember seeing John on the Forrestall the morning of the flight deck fire, he was really beat up, but after some medical treatment he was transferred to the Enterprize and joined up with an attack squadron and that same day launched off in a A6A attack aircraft to provide close ground air support for our troops in Viet Nam. That same day his aircraft was shot down and he was taken prisoner.

Most Americans are aware of the courageous service John provided as a naval aviator and POW . But few can fully appreciate how bad the egregious hospitality of the Hanoi Hilton really was .His main concerns were for other POWs’ life threatening conditions and how he could help them is spite of the injuries he had received prior to and during his confinement.
Our convictions about John's character were born in the crucible of adversity. We have witnessed his courage, integrity, character and intellect. We know and greatly respect his sense of honor and his tenacity in the face of grave danger and prolonged hardship(s). These qualities, combined with his life experiences, make John ready for the enormous challenges facing the leader of our country. No one -- no one – has a greater knowledge of what war is really like or more qualified to be president, to lead our country and protect our nation. Some pretend to know him or deride his physical short comings but do nor know his physical strengths, his love of country and his commitment to serve it. He has been severely tested, and we have witnessed him under pressure. We trust his judgment and his ability to surround himself with our countries best advisors to lead our country without the BS to lead his beloved country and countrymen.
.We could do a whole lot worse than vote for John Mc Cain as our next president of the United States for every man, woman and child in our country regardless of their political affiliation. In John’s administration there are no Democrats or Republicans only Americans.

God Speed John Mc Cain

I suspect Iran is going to have a complete melt down of their nuclear weapons program and the aggressive action towards the U.S.A. or will significantly reduce the BS its been putting out because that’s exactly what they did the day Ronald Reagan took office and promptly released our people. I remember sitting on an aircraft carrier with a significant number of marines anxiously waiting for Ronnie’s ok to have us introduce ourselves to them. I believe that John Mc Cain is the man that will besides driving the fear of god back into the Iranians will reestablish our Ronald Reagan, Teddy Roosevelt foreign policy of do not tread on us or our friends please.

100 years presence I feel could only benefit both America and Iraq. Presence, not occupation. We came there with the soul purpose of shutting down terrorist groups. Honestly, as of now, I think that we have only succeeded in making these terrorist groups more aggressive. Why should we leave now, when we haven't accomplished what we came there to do in the first place?

There is a difference between 100 years of occupation/war and 100 years of presence, people should use commonsense. He was obviously talking about our presence in Iraq not of war or occupation...He is not a war monger!

If we have troops in the country it is an occupation. Remember that the war was concluded long ago when Bush proclaimed "Mission Accomplished." It is these kinds of occupations that enrage citizens of other nations enough to blow themselves up. If there were Chinese military bases inside the U.S., how would you feel? If we are to continue our current foreign policy, we need to at the very least, restore our moral superiority in the world. It also doesn't help that most people believe we are after the oil.
Just a few thoughts...

http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piecha...

Their estimate is:
MILITARY: 54% and $1,449 billion
NON-MILITARY: 46% and $1,210 billion

The GAO official estimate is around 20% of the Federal Budget actually goes to Defense.

The reason why the 3.4% official figure is misleading is as follows:

The recent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan are largely funded through supplementary spending bills outside the Federal Budget, so they are not included in the military budget figures listed above.[13] In addition, the United States has black budget military spending which is not listed as Federal spending and is not included in published military spending figures. Other military-related items, like maintenance of the nuclear arsenal and the money spent by the Veterans Affairs Department, are not included in the official budget. Thus, the total amount spent by the United States on military spending is higher.

Source: Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_bu...

No it isnt ww2, it is ww3, and we could say ww4 in some aspects. At any point, this war we are ingaged in of which we IGNORED for well over 20 years, is a war not a "so called war". If we were NOT in Iraq we would still be the targe for these radical islamic thugs to hit. It is high time Americans wake up, wise up and educate themselves on this enemy specifically. It is sad to see such ignorance especially this long after the bombing in Beiruit and the hostage situation.

Our country is in a financial mess and its time the USA leaders stop believing we are General Manager of the World.
If our country is down the tubes and that's where we are headed fast and furious then how can we possibly even be a help to anyone else anyway---we are going to be the NEEDY ones.
Our tax dollars are being spent overseas in other countries as well as the billions going to IRAQ.
ASK --did all our military stationed overseas protect us on 911 ? Our own security is working hard to protect us from another attack on our soil and we need to do more than we are doing.

Did McCain called for a 100-year-war/occupation of Iraq... truth or not?

The way you worded the question is miss leading.

No- he did not call for the war to last for 100 years. Yes-he said if we have to occupy Iraq for 100 years, then we will.

"President Bush did make a bad mistake in the war on terrorism. But the mistake was not his decision to go to war in Iraq . Bush's mistake came in his belief that this country is the same
one his father fought for in WWII. It is not."

Our country had just came out of the depression but we had no choice but to go to war. The people of our nation stood behind our president and congress. This is turning out to be another Vietnam War . People stopped showing their support for this war and our troops. For many years our Vietnam soldiers were not treated like heroes. They were heroes and we should have told them so from the beginning!! It's a shame on our nation.

What happen to patriotic spirit? We can not win a war without it. Our troops are fighting for their life and ours. They see the news and how people are now and it truly depressives them.

I think Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton think that -if we pull our troops and move them to Afghanistan that terrorist will follow over there. What happens if they are wrong??? Do you truly believe that our homeland would be safer???

What will happen to Iraq? They would be taken over by Iran and Iran would become even stronger. If that happens we are in BIG TROUBLE HERE IN OUR OWN LAND! Think about it! If you do not believe me that is your choice but just because you do not believe it does not mean it can't happen! What would have happen if we pulled our troops out of World War 2? We would all be wearing swastikas and be under their rule!

I hate the war also but these people want to kill us. I am a 50 year old women who has learn from our past. SORRY SO LONG!!!

does anyone have google shots of all of the residences of say: Feinstein, Pelosi, Kennedy, Reid, Gore, Kerry, 'reverend' Wright, etc, etc, ... these people of the people? Have they all requested that they not be available for 'security' concerns.

Look, I despise excessive greed too, but detest hypocrisy more.

And Jesus went into the temple and then got crucified and later sat at the right hand of God. And God said unto him, "Lord, did not thou knowest that greed is my favorite tool, for withouteth it, that planet is a bore"

I am appalled by the attitude of most people toward our President. We are admonished in sccrpture to pray for our leaders. The President's main duty as the office implies is to protect and defend our country. Pres. Bush has done this to the best of his ability and ias being blamed for the econocy. That is usually done by someone like Greenspan or a person in that position. The gas price in America has risen over a dollar during Pelosi's and democratic control of Congress. Let's not lose sight of God (even though we are known as bitter and "clinging to our religion.

I would hope after Bush's eight-year nightmare and the mess we're in now, people have the common sense NOT to vote Rep. this time. Have we learned a lesson American. Way to go putting Bush in there another 4 years, look how much worse off we are.

what are you complaining about? We keep you tied up in Iraq for 100 years, we give you Gitmo, we give you Abu Graib, we give you so much ... and all you can do is complain and spin, spin, spin. We keep you, the real enemy, tied up overseas. Yeah, you know it's true. You are nothing without all these gifts you are handed. You believe everything that the 'reverend' charged from the Trinity pulpit, and more. But, you have to hide behind the black power base of the party you have subverted, because you know you cannot afford to step into the light of day to be recognized. You are the bitterness.

Don't forget that the Iraqi People go through a 9/11 sized body count every month or so, all in the name of oil, not freedom. Our brave men and women's lives are wasted. Iraq was not a terrorist state until we got there. It's a self fulfilling prophecy. The world is a much more dangerous place because of this war, and the global economy is down the tubes because of it.

"Cut the head off a wolf, and it still has the power to bite your hand off"

i will vote for mccain! knowing that he will draft the likes of george bush and the likes of wolfewitz, scooter and cheney.

no more college deferments, be real men

McCain surely didn't mean to justify an active combat situation for 100 yrs. He is smarter than that. One does have to ask though, would he pull out during his term(s) if a decisive win isn't possible? I think that we can count on at least 4 yrs and 8 if he were reelected. 100 yrs would be "short term" for these people if their history is any indication of the future. They have repelled all occupations of their homelands with sheer tenacity and a radical belief system for thousands of years.

It's not just Iraq. Our history after WWII has been a constant stream of trying to clean up other nations colonial messes.

Vietnam, Iraq, the Middle East, Somalia, on and on. I suppose Korea, Cuba and Central America were our messes, but except for Korea, it didn't cost us any lives.

Israel, was set up by Britain in one of it's colonies, to solve a European problem, what to do with the surviving and displaced Jews, and has poisoned our relations with the Arab countries for fifty years, going on forever.

A permanent mess with no way out. The religious wacky right identifies with Israel even thought they hate Jews, leaving us stuck in a quagmire.

First off I'm not a McCain supporter, I'm voting for Obama. But I think McCain just had a slip up. He was likely stating that yes we will have some portion of military personnel in Iraq for many decades to come. I don't think he meant we will have the entire 160,000 troops we have now in Iraq for a century. Not even Vietnam or Korea lasted that long and they were considerably worse than Iraq is(except monetarily).

That said. I firmly believe that if John McCain becomes President he will institute a military draft.

The argument that we don't want troops in Iraq "if all hell breaks loose" is exactly why we need those troops there. The presence of 35-40 thousand GIs is a warning to anyone that the full might of the USA will be brought to bear on the source of "all hell" breaking loose. krukut

McCain's comments about having a presence in Iraq for the long term strike me as a little naive for a military man. He cites Germany and South Korea and Japan as examples of the U.S. having bases long after hostilities have ceased.  The difference is that we won those wars and our enemies were governments who signed peace treaties upon their defeat promising no more hostilities. Who will sign a peace treaty for Iraq? There cannot be an official end to hostilities since no one can speak for the enemy combatents. Under those circumstances a permanent U.S. base would be a constant target thereby creating more danger rather than less.

although McCain did not mean we would be fighting for 100 years, it does not matter because the comment specifically insinuated we would be there as long as we need to and once there is peace we would still have a presence like japan or korea. however, given how incinderary the situation in Iraq is as well as the current global outlook, comparing Iraq to Korea or Japan is the falsehood. The question we need to asks ourselves is if we really need to have a hold in that part of the world. I do not believe so in the slightest. Others do and it is difficult to determine who is right.