McCain’s confusion

Strategy in Iraq: here's a good explanation by Matthew Yglesius. Keep repeating that last sentence. Put it on bumper stickers. It's the current Republican strategy and via McCain, the future Republican strategy

. . . . [T]he policymakers in Washington some time ago shifted to a crazy equilibrium where continuing the war became the war's own rationale. Initially, we invaded to depose Saddam and destroy his WMD programs. So when at first the programs weren't there, we had to keep some troops in the country to look for them. . . . But then, contrary to what the Bush administration had expected, an insurgency started against our presence. The insurgents were killing our troops. Then beating the insurgents became the goal. Our troops had to stay in Iraq and risk their lives in order to kill the people who were trying to kill them to force them out of Iraq -- we couldn't leave until all the people who wanted us to leave were dead.

"We can't leave until everyone who wants us to leave is dead."
Priceless.