McCain visits Sumter vets
GOP presidential candidate discusses Iraq war at VFW

By CRYSTAL OWENS
Item Staff Writer

[Picture: Republican presidential candidate U.S. Sen. John McCain talks to the crowd assembled at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3034 in Sumter on Monday.]

Republican presidential candidate U.S. Sen. John McCain said Monday he thinks the surge tactics now being employed in Iraq are working.
A day before Senate Democrats were scheduled to try to collect enough votes to demand a withdrawal of troops from Iraq, the Arizona senator made a stop in Sumter to drum up support among veterans.
"... I'm going to be with (U.S. Sen.) Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) trying to do work in the city of Satan and we need all the help we can get," McCain joked with veterans in Sumter about today's debate in the Senate before leaving Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3034.
McCain, accompanied by four South Carolina Army National Guardsmen, squeezed inside a small packed room at the VFW and said he understands that the American people are frustrated with the war in Iraq, but pulling troops from the country now would lead to chaos and genocide.
"If I didn't believe that the consequences would be greater if we withdrew, I wouldn't be here now talking to you," he said.
In a brief interview aboard his "No Surrender" tour bus prior to his arrival in Sumter, the senator said the Bush administration's projections at the beginning of the war were unrealistic.
"It was like watching a train wreck," he said. "General (Eric) Shinseki was right."
Then the Army Chief of Staff, Shinseki testified in Congress in February 2003 that peacekeeping operations in Iraq would likely require several hundred thousand troops, in part because of the country's ethnic tensions.
McCain defended Army Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, at the Sumter rally and described as "disgraceful" an advertisement taken out in a recent edition of The New York Times by left-wing organization Moveon.org that criticized the top military official.
He also criticized Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government, saying it's not making adequate political progress.

[Picture: McCain's stop in Sumter was the last leg of his "No Surrender" tour that began Sept. 11.]

The presidential candidate's stop in Sumter on Monday was the last leg of the "No Surrender" tour that began Sept. 11. Since then, he's been making appearances at barbecues, parades and rallies in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, all early voting states in next year's presidential primaries.
McCain, a former Navy pilot who spent nearly six years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, has been staking his bid for the presidency on his views of the war in Iraq.
Stops at South Carolina's VFWs on Sunday and Monday showed a big turnout of veterans from the Korean, Vietnam and Iraqi wars.
"South Carolina has made quite a sacrifice for this country," McCain told the group of S.C. Army National Guardsmen who were riding on the "No Surrender" bus with him on Monday.
State Rep. Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, who introduced McCain, said the senator should be commended for his support of the country's troops.
"The worst thing we can do right now is politicize support for our troops," he said.

[Picture: McCain signs a copy of his book for Rose Marie Newman during his campaign stop.]

Sumter Vietnam veteran Fred Davey said he agreed with McCain's views that the war in Iraq started out with poor planning, but now that our troops are there, "we should do the job, get it right and come home."
"As long as they do the job right," he said. "I don't want to see another Vietnam."
But not all veterans were as happy with McCain and his campaign messages.
Lone protester [MinuteManCDC_SC], who served two years in the U.S. Coast Guard, stood outside the Gion Street VFW holding a sign that asked if [Sen.] McCain is a "Globalist or a Patriot?" and handing out copies of the senator's voting record.
As a member of the Texas Border Volunteers, [MinuteManCDC_SC] criticized McCain's stance on illegal immigration.
"For the last 17 years he's voted for globalist causes rather than for the American people," he said.