Warrior for the Surge

NEARLY everything you need to know about the logic of the surge in Iraq and the reasons for its success can be found in a speech John Mc Cain gave to the Council on Foreign Relations in November 2003.

Mc Cain called for the addition of another full division of troops in Iraq, enough to give us “the necessary manpower to conduct a focused counterinsurgency campaign across the Sunni Triangle that seals off enemy operating areas, conducts search-and-destroy operations, and holds territory.” Mc Cain argued that “security is a precondition for everything else we want to accomplish in Iraq”-without it, intelligence tips from the Iraqi public would be nonexistent, economic progress would be stymied, and political progress would be difficult.

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Rich Lowry

Rich Lowry is the editor in chief of National Review.

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NEARLY everything you need to know about the logic of the surge in Iraq and the reasons for its success can be found in a speech John Mc Cain gave to the Council on Foreign Relations in November 2003.

Mc Cain called for the addition of another full division of troops in Iraq, enough to give us “the necessary manpower to conduct a focused counterinsurgency campaign across the Sunni Triangle that seals off enemy operating areas, conducts search-and-destroy operations, and holds territory.” Mc Cain argued that “security is a precondition for everything else we want to accomplish in Iraq”-without it, intelligence tips from the Iraqi public would be nonexistent, economic progress would be stymied, and political progress would be difficult.