Questions I'd like to hear asked of John McCain at the next presidential debate (Barack, feel free to turn towards Senator McCain and ask him!):

(Click to enlarge- And don't forget to wink!



Senator McCain, you've claimed over and over that "the surge has worked" and that you were right on Iraq. Knowing what you know now, if you had been President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces on March 19, 2003, would you have given the order to invade Iraq?

How many Iraqi women, children, babies, and senior citizens have perished because President Bush gave the order to invade Iraq in 2003? [If he says he doesn't know, then ask: Is it more or less than 50,000?]

How many Iraqis have fled their homes since President Bush gave the order to invade Iraq? Is it more or less than a million?

How many Iraqis have become refugees in other countries such as Syria, Iran, and Jordan since President Bush gave the order to invade Iraq?

Senator McCain, you've stated that you were OK with American troops staying in Iraq for 100 years so long as American troops weren't being killed? What is the relative value of an innocent Iraqi's life compared to the life of an American soldier occupying that country? 100%? 75% 50% 0%?

Senator McCain, Governor Palin claimed in the Vice Presidential debate that " John McCain ... knows how to win a war." What wars have you won?

Senator McCain, you've said that it would be a mistake for a President of the United States to meet with the President of Iran without "preconditions." If the purpose of the meeting is to stop a war from taking place, and if the meeting accomplishes that goal and a war is averted, how is that a mistake?

Senator McCain, I have a simple question for you: is it better to win a war, or is it better to get what you want without going to war?

If you could save one American soldier's life by sitting at a table with the President of Iran without preconditions, would you do it?

Senator McCain, going back to October of 2002 when you voted to authorize President Bush to go to war against Iraq, please tell the American people what steps you took to make sure that American troops had up armored vehicles, sufficient body armor, enough Arabic interpreters, and all the other tools and weapons they needed to successfully invade Iraq, occupy it, and suppress an insurgency? If the answer is "nothing," are you saying that in your judgment your only role was to vote for war and not to make sure that America was ready to go to war? How many American lives were lost because you didn't do your job properly?

Senator McCain, please point out what speech you gave, what letter or memo you wrote, prior to the invasion of March 19, 2003, in which you predicted that an insurgency would occur after our invasion and occupation of Iraq, and in which you requested that the Bush Administration take adequate steps to prevent it from occurring or to quickly suppress it?

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm just a guy- not a government official. Just a guy with common sense and the ability to read a newspaper. Here's what I wrote in an email on April 19, 2003- two weeks before the infamous "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" -- to another parent of a Marine in my son's unit in Iraq: 

"Why the UN should take over is simple whether or not they do a better job, the perception among the people in the region will be hugely different regarding a UN sponsored trusteeship of the country. It simply is in our national interest to have a respected international organization take over the rebuilding of Iraq. The sooner American and British soldiers are out of there, the less likely that terrorists or suicide bombers will attack our loved ones there or here. And a quick exit will defeat the absurd arguments that we are a colonialist country seeking to exploit Iraq's oil."]

Senator McCain, when you voted on October 11, 2002, to authorize President Bush to invade Iraq, how many years did you then think that American troops would be occupying the country? Did you think we would still be there in 2004? 2005? 2006? 2007? 2008? In October of 2002, did you foresee that almost five years later, in 2007, you would be arguing that we needed a "surge" of tens of thousands of additional troops costing tens of billions of dollars in order to secure the country?

Senator McCain, how much has the War in Iraq cost from the day that the troops were sent overseas until the present date?

Senator McCain, are American dollars being used to build hospitals in Iraq? Schools? Rebuild their electric generating capacity? Rebuild their infrastructure?

Senator McCain, what does the phrase "opportunity cost" mean?

What was the opportunity cost of the invasion and occupation of Iraq with regard to how our resources could have been used at home- in other words, what could we have done here in America with $640 billion dollars we've spent over the last 5 1/2 years to occupy and rebuild Iraq?

Senator McCain, former Senator Phil Gramm has been one of your key economic advisers. Would you care to explain to the American people how former Senator Gramm's role in the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 (a.k.a. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) kept regulators away from investment banks, allowed investment banks to break the wall which had kept them out of commercial banking, and allowed them to create the house of financial cards which nearly destroyed the American economy and is costing taxpayers over $700 billion to bail out Wall Street? Or, if it's too painful a memory, since you voted for Senator Gramm's bill which allowed America's investment banks to overrreach themselves, would you like me to explain the role you and Senator Gramm played in hosing American homeowners and taxpayers?