Last night during the Republican Debate McCain kept saying he wanted to make sure we ‘won’ in Iraq so our troops could come home ‘with honor’. This wasn’t the first time he has mentioned working to make sure the troops come home ‘with honor’. The implication seems to be that if the troops come home before Bush or McCain says they can come home then they will be dishonored.

First off, the mission in Iraq has already been accomplished. Bush stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier with a huge banner behind him saying as much. Think about it: Our troops toppled Saddam’s regime, captured Saddam, and made sure there were no WMD in Iraq. The NeoCons like to push this fairy tale that all the millions of barrels of chemical and biological weapons got moved to Syria and Iran. Let’s just say that’s true for a moment. What the hell does that have to do with Iraq today?

To this day there is no clear mission in Iraq. With no clear mission how can our troops possibly ‘win’? What is there to ‘win’? They’ve done all they have been asked to do. The rest at this point is up to the Iraqis. They need to decide if they want a democracy or Islamic Theocracy. That’s not our choice. They need to decide if they want peace or ethnic cleansing. It’s not for our troops to decide.

If McCain wants to keep our troops there until they can come home ‘with honor’ then what he needs to do is clearly lay out what success in Iraq means. Our troops can do anything. All they need to be told is what to do.

So I started thinking about it: Why is McCain so hung up on making sure our troops come home with honor? Then it dawned on me that McCain is still suffering from his experience in the Vietnam War. He was one of those who believed in the mission of Vietnam. McCain’s father and grandfather were both admirals in the Navy. He believes strongly in duty to one’s country and honoring the orders given by civilian leadership.

He truly believed that if we didn’t fight the Vietcong over there that we would have been fighting them in San Diego. He is one of those who believed that the U.S. abandoned Vietnam too early and if we could have just stuck it out for a few more years we could have ‘won’. Again, exactly what we would have won is an intangible. The U.S. wanted Vietnam, at least South Vietnam, to be a functioning democracy with a capitalist economic system. It’s not clear that this is what the Vietnamese People wanted just as it’s not clear today that the Iraqis want a democracy.

There is no doubt that we treated our veterans poorly when they returned from Vietnam. They were spat on and called baby killers. The VA abandoned our vets and denied that Agent Orange had any adverse health affects. Many returned addicted to heroin and other drugs. Quietly they suffered with PTSD not knowing what was wrong with them. They suffered as their family, friends, and government turned their back on them. They found themselves homeless on the streets with the country they fought for now casting them aside like so much detritus. It was a painful time that left deep scars that to this day have not healed.

No doubt McCain feels that he was robbed of his honor upon returning from Vietnam after being a POW for nearly 6 years.

I began thinking that perhaps McCain is using the occupation of Iraq as a proxy to excise his own war wounds and demons from Vietnam. He’s vowing to not let happen to our troops what he thinks happened to him. He doesn’t want to let our troops come home dishonored the way he feels he was dishonored by cutting the so-called ‘mission’ short.

So let me just say to you Captain McCain for the entire United States, Welcome Home. We are grateful for your military service. We honor you Captain McCain for how bravely you represented the United States overseas. We are in awe that you survived over 5 years of torture and neglect as a POW. You served with honor and dignity Captain McCain. You are truly a national hero.

Now, can we please move on from this notion that if our troops come home before some imaginary ethereal mission is accomplished that they will be dishonored? It is you Senator McCain that is putting the dishonor upon our troops by telling them they cannot come home until the mission is accomplished without telling them exactly what that mission is.