thinkprogress.org — Today, CNN reported that McCain tried to visit the Shorja market, but it was too unsafe and they were unable to go: "our own security advisers here in Iraq did not want us to go there. They didn?t believe it was safe for an American to be in that area."
Mar 16, 2008 View in Crawl 4
hawkeye17Mar 17, 2008
But I thought the surge was working?! Not so much i guess.
halleburtonMar 17, 2008
Don't be talking to me about progress as long as administration officials always have to make surprise and unannounced visits, and never leave the confines of the Green Zone or a military installation.
angusmMar 18, 2008
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't McCain go there "freely" wearing body armor, with an escort of a hundred heavily-armed troops and two helicopter gunships in attendance?As a measure of improvement, photo-op strolls by high-profile pols are probably not particularly informative. McCain would be in danger pretty much anywhere in Iraq and many other places besides. It would be more interesting to know whether the Iraqis themselves are safer now. There does seem to be reason to believe that the surge has helped there. The question is whether it's a lasting improvement, or if everything will simply go back to what it was before - or worse - when US troops leave.