Senator John McCain yesterday called for increasing U.S. troop strength in Iraq by 10,000, stating that the “stakes are higher than they were in Vietnam.” He also took Senator John Kerry to task for shilling for a defeat in Iraq. From the Financial Times:

He [McCain] criticised the Bush administration’s relentless message about progress in Iraq. “We need to portray events on the ground even if they are negative, it is better to describe difficulties right now, and to announce things have improved only when they have… In Vietnam there was light at the end of the tunnel and it turned out to be a train.”

I would argue that Bush should be harping on progress in Iraq, to help counter the media’s portrayal of Iraq in mainly a negative light. But back to McCain:

Democratic Senator John Kerry, the defeated presidential candidate, has laid out an alternative strategy that would enable the return of 20,000 US troops.

But Mr McCain called that plan “a major step on the road to disaster”.

“If we leave now the most likely result would be full-scale civil war. No American leader would want our nation to suffer that moral stain.”

Late on Thursday, Sen Kerry said Mr McCain had “mischaracterised” his plan.

“Mischaracterised” is politico-speak for “I wish I hadn’t said that.” Poor Kerry – always misunderstood, e.g., incomprehensible.