Senator's McCain (R-Ari) and Feingold (D-Wis) held a press conference in Baghdad. They were delivering an important message to the Iraqis -- that our patience was not infinite, and that the quicker they could put their government together, the better.
However, during the press conference things got a little off-message. Reports the Washington Post:
The increasingly rancorous public debate in the United States over the war spilled into Iraq during a news conference Saturday with two visiting lawmakers who are outspoken in their opposing stands on the issue.
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a longtime supporter of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, and Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who voted against the invasion and has spoken out against the war ever since, said they had come not to air their divergent views but to urge Iraqi politicians to speed up the process of forming a government. ...
The article says that during questioning, Feingold departed from that sound concept of not arguing the war while in the war zone, saying "a large troop presence has a tendency to fuel the insurgency because they can make the incorrect and unfair claim that the U.S. is here to occupy the country." and "I think that it's very possible that the sectarian differences are inflamed by the fact that U.S. troops are here."
According to the article, "McCain said the argument was better suited for the Senate floor."
I agree. Senators should not debate our foreign policy while traveling in other countries. Feingold of course is running for President. Should the unthinkable happen, and he becomes our next Commander-In-Chief, I'm certain he will be rightfully outraged if members of the senate run around the world criticizing the duly authorised actions of our government in a time of war.
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