Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said a Minimum of 40,000 additional troops are needed in Afghanistan to succeed in winning the war against terrorism there.
McCain, appearing on CNN’s State of the Union, told host John King that the greatest danger for the war in Afghanistan is not a troop pullout, but rather “a half measure…to please all ends of the political spectrum.”
McCain was asked by King if he believed “the United States can win in Afghanistan with fewer than 40,000 more troops,” to which he responded, “No, I do not.”
McCain made the remark as President Obama weighs another a troop increase request by the General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, that is said to be in the range of about 40,000 troops.
McCain said a decision by Obama to disregard McChrystal’s request and send just 10,000 or 20,000 troops, “would be an error of historic proportions.”
Appearing on ABC’s This Week, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said before any decisions are made on troop increases, there would have to be a determination how to help bring Afghanistan’s “feudal-type government into stability.” But Feinstein said the U.S. military strategy should be one of counterinsurgency, “which means protecting the people, not shooting from afar, but securing, taking, holding, and providing security for a period of time is really critical.”
McCain also defended his former running mate, Sarah Palin, as a “great” potential candidate for the 2012 presidential race, despite seething criticism from his former campaign staff.
King played McCain a clip of his former top campaign strategist, Steve Schmidt, saying the party could experience “a catastrophic election result,” if Palin is the GOP nominee.
McCain acknowledged “tensions” that developed in the campaign “between Steve Schmidt and people in the Palin camp,” but said the selection of Palin energized the party that gave the Republicans a lead in the polls.
“Lets go through the process, rather than condemning anybody’s chances, ” McCain said. “And I’m happy to say we have some great people out there, and Sarah is one of them.”
