McCain’s goals in Iraq are unrealistic

Richard J. Mundy, Las Vegas

Saturday, May 31, 2008 | 2:01 a.m.

John McCain and his Republican supporters are trying to sell us on the idea that because he served in the military, he will automatically be fit to be commander in chief. But what intelligence has this experience given him?

About 65 percent of the American people want us to get out of Iraq as soon as possible — but not McCain, who wants to follow in the footsteps of President Bush and continue fighting there until we “win.”

Also consider the Bush/McCain goal of bringing democracy to Iraq. The country is Muslim, with its rigid rules of conduct. Recently there was an incident in Basra:

According to the British newspaper The Observer, a young Iraqi woman, doing relief work, became infatuated with a British soldier she met. She naturally chatted with him, but there was no sexual contact or touching. But because she had talked with a foreign soldier, her father and brothers murdered her.

The police who responded to the crime scene complimented the father for his devotion to the faith. The mother, who didn’t approve of his conduct, had to go into hiding for fear she would receive the same treatment.

Democracy, as we know it, in Bush/McCain’s dreams.