Sen. John McCain has a well earned reputation as a foul-mouthed hothead, having called opponents and colleagues “shitheads,” “assholes” and on at least one occasion, “a fucking jerk.” Personally, I have no qualms with the occasional profane rant, but you gotta admit, it’s not exactly presidential behavior.
Well, a new book, The Real McCain by Cliff Shecter, documents an outburst so shocking, even I winced at the senator’s choice of words:
Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain’s intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain’s hair and said, “You’re getting a little thin up there.” McCain’s face reddened, and he responded, “At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.” McCain’s excuse was that it had been a long day.
As Shecter points out, McCain would have many long days if elected President.
Nice.
THAT’s Presidential timber.
It’s well known among the media in AZ that Mc Cain grants few interviews locally including the AZ Republic when questioning his wifes business dealings with Keating and her stealing/abuse of drugs..
Reports from a variety of U.S. publications exposed McCain’s true scandalous character:
# The Arizona Republic, Oct. 17, 1989, reported “. . . both in telephone conversations with reporters and on a live radio talk show, the Republican senator was far from calm. He was agitated. Angry. And the way he dealt with unpleasant questions was to bully the questioners . . . ‘You’re a liar,’ McCain snapped Sept. 29 when an Arizona Republic reporter asked him about business ties between his wife, Cindy McCain, and Keating . . . ‘That’s the spouse’s involvement, you idiot,’ McCain sneered later in the same conversation. ‘You do understand English, don’t you?’
“. . . Not content with just bullying reporters, McCain tried belittling them: ‘It’s up to you to find that out, kids.’ . . . McCain wasn’t talking to liars. He wasn’t talking to juveniles. The senator was talking to two reporters.
“McCain, in a radio talk-show appearance last week condemned disclosures of his family’s ties to Keating as ‘irresponsible journalism.'”
# In an article in the Phoenix Gazette, on Nov. 13, 1989, “Reporters also ‘discovered’ that the senator’s wife and father-in-law invested $359,100.00 in one of Mr. Keating’s projects in 1986 . . .”
In was reported in another article from the Arizona Republic, dated Aug. 24, 1994, that Cindy McCain escaped prosecution for stealing/using drugs. “Cindy McCain, the wife of U.S. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, admitted in a series of media interviews Monday that she became addicted to the painkillers Percocet and Vicodin.
“She said that she used the drugs from 1989 to 1992 and acknowledged that she had stolen some pills from the American Voluntary Medical Team, a charitable organization of which she is president . . . at one point, McCain, 40, was ingesting 15 to 20 pills a day . . . the normal dosage for seriously ill patients is 6 to 10 a day for a short period.”
Another article by the same publication, dated Jan. 17, 1995, detailed greetings sent by John McCain to a noted crime family member: “About 300 guests turned out Saturday night to celebrate the 90th birthday of Joseph ‘Joe Bananas’ Bonanno, retired boss of New York’s Bonanno crime family. He retired to Tucson in 1968 . . . John McCain, R-Ariz., and Gov. Fife Symington sent their regards by telegram.”
“McCain wasn’t talking to liars. He wasn’t talking to juveniles. The senator was talking to two reporters.”
Don’t forget, the New Republican lexicon defines reporters as those things, and far worse…unless they work for Fox News or the Washington Times, or are in the practice of blowing the cover of CIA agents.
Sounds as if John McCain has more creativity in language that Fuck You (Cheney) or Suck Me (Clinton (I)) or even God damn America (Wright).
Where is Alan Ginsberg when we need him?
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix;
Angel-headed hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection
to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night.
Given my belief that Bhodi Obama will be the next President, how wonderful it would be to imagine Ginsberg as Poet Laureate … singling in blue at the inauguration? Mayve Patti Smith will take his place!
Goddamn the America that makes the use of four letter sex owrds a bigger issue than poverty.
He called Cindy a C***? No wonder she hit the pills instead of leaving him.
Refreshing actually. Calling it like he sees it is far better than not expressing oneself and falling victim of being too PC a do-nothing.
What a crock of shit. The article clearly starts off by quoting “anonymous sources”…
“Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity”
If I ever started an Obama story by saying “three anonymous sources…” I’d be laughed off the blog. Get real!
Yes, lots of republican wives have fallen victim to their oppressors who ‘expressed themselves’ like Pat Nixon, Betty Ford and now Insane McCain.
What no whining screed about the Postman castration?
Coward.
John425,
‘If I ever started an Obama story by saying “three anonymous sources…” I’d be laughed off the blog.’
Ya think????
Perhaps it is because you have no credibility.
If he’s that verbally abusive to her in (semi-) public, who knows how he treats her in private. Maybe the makeup’s there to hide the bruises.
Yeah, it’s all about credibility. An anonymous source told me John McCain actually murdered Vince Foster! It must be true, I read about it on the internet. Pass it on! LOL
Gallant, chivalrous, steadfast–it’s John McCain. Not. I can’t wait to see what else comes out about the good senator over the next few months.
What? No gleeful cheering over the sad death of fellow Washingonian, Ellen Craswell?
You asses are slipping.
Or did your grand poobah cult leader finally tell you to cut the crap, because it makes him look bad?
Personally, I have no qualms with the occasional profane rant, but you gotta admit, it’s not exactly presidential behavior.
Personally, I have no qualms with the occasional profane rant, but you gotta admit, it’s not exactly
presidentialPROFESSIONAL behavior, by someone who like to think of himself as the next coming of a broadcast Messiah… when he’s conveniently Jewish… or conveniently Catholic by marriage, or whatever happens to be most expedient at the momentYou are such a phony Goldstein.
You seem to tbe the only one who doesn’t realize it.
Goldy: I laughed when people in my party said Katherine Harris looked like a whore, but when a Republican says the same thing, I feign outrage, and hide behind the phony reason that it’s “not Presidential.” That’s just the kind of guy I am.
John McCain should not be elected President of the United States of America.
He has waved the White Flag of surrender on the field of battle to America’s enemies during a time of war. This “man” also sang like a canary to “Charlie” during a “robust interrogation.” No telling how many Americans died as a result of his whining to the VC.
Why did John McCain ask the Vietnamese government to withhold is POW records in a trip to Vietnam in the late 1990’s?
What else is John McCain hiding?
How much more did he help our enemies while being held POW?
What other acts of treason did John “White Flag” McCain commit as a Surrender Monkey?
I thought Craswell’s overt use of makeup made her look like a strumpet.
Anonymous sources again, just like those used by the Jayson Blair Times several weeks ago to snidely imply that Traitor John was molesting his lobbyists. If/when the lobby humping and trash talking get to YouTube, then we’ll pay attention.
In the meantime, Democrat Dirty Tricks stay under the radar. Lefty little Mercer Island elitist Dave Ross (dross@bonneville) gave raves — after feigned reluctance — to Hillary’s re-repeated story that a pregnant Ohio pizza girl died because capitalist health care wouldn’t help her if she couldn’t pay $100 up front.
This morning Ross gave about one minute to suggesting that Clinton’s story might be a misspokesperson moment. (This is progressive progress for Clinton. Retailing lies about our ‘broken’ health care system is a big liberal improvement on making up Tuzla lies from less than nothing.)
Here, via the always reliable Jayson Blair Times, is some of the rest of the story: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04.....woman.html.
What the Times didn’t tell you and what Ross doesn’t tell you is that Clintonians will stop telling the phony story. That’s after telling the phony story over and over, from coast to coast, and getting useful idiots like Dave Ross to keep alive their lies about the AmeriKKKan way of death.
What a great country. In November we’ll have a choice between a senator who makes chills run down the spine of a colleague, and a senator who makes thrills run up the leg of Chris Matthews.
(Bob Williams from EFF? Is that you?)
Craswell a strumpet? For shame. Too bad she can’t be a two-daimond whore like Cantwell or a seven-diamond whore ($50,000/hour from Tony Rezko) like Obama.
Wow, what’s all this hate for Goldy from the rightwingers? Goldy didn’t attribute the quote to anonymous sources, the author of the book he was quoting said the reporters wanted to remain anonymous, which is a whole different situation. Believe me, if it wasn’t true you would be hearing from McCain’s campaign.
Also, your New York Times link doesn’t work.
@22 – I had the same problem with the link:
Here is the correct one http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04.....woman.html
Two Former POWs Say They Doubt McCain Was Physically Abused
1999 – March 25, 1999, The Phoenix New Times: Ted Guy and Gordon “Swede” Larson, two former POWs, who were McCain’s senior ranking officers (SRO’s), at the time McCain says he was tortured in solitary confinement, told the New Times that while they could not guarantee that McCain was not physically harmed, they doubted it.
“Between the two of us, it’s our belief, and to the best of our knowledge, that no prisoner was beaten or harmed physically in that camp [known as “The Plantation”],” Larson says. “. . . My only contention with the McCain deal is that while he was at The Plantation, to the best of my knowledge and Ted’s knowledge, he was not physically abused in any way. No one was in that camp. It was the camp that people were released from.”
In 1993, during one of his many trips back to Hanoi, McCain asked the Vietnamese not to make public the records they hold pertaining to returned U.S. POWs.
You just can’t trust a Republican Surrender Monkey to be the Commander-in-Chief. Sorry, Senator John “White Flag” McCain is not fit to command.
At least they had anonymous sources – Faux News Channel doesn’t bother with sources. They just straight up make shit up.
And given Johnboy’s WELL documented temper as well as hid proclivity to disrespect women – this is VERY believable. And believe you me – when we get down to the election – MUCH more of this stuff will come out and the right will realize they bet on a loooooosing horse.
And by the way – all McCain has to do to make me believe this isn’t true is to sue. And he will NOT!
Darryl at post # 10 brings up credibility! On this blog? Where? When? Show me? Oh, I see- three anonymous sources said so. Yup, that’s credibility alright. And I have a bridge I’d like to sell you-dickwad!
“trollop” eh? How very Victorian.
26
Do you have any idea how journalists go about doing their job? Is it your contention that nothing should be printed unless a witness consents to having his or her name published? Only a rightwing zealot, with no understanding of the role the press plays in a free society, would demand a journalistic standard that would effectively cripple the media.
@24 cmon GBS, are you really going to go the road of the “swift boaters”?
Tell me, what great experience do BHO or HRC have in terms of CINC? 0.
And for all you HA faithfull who rail on wingnuts who fight wars with “other peoples children”………..Who of the CINC contenders has their children in the fight? who????
Only John McCain.
McCain’s temper is starting to sound like a plus to me. Imagine tellin’ shitheads like Hugo Chavez what a truly fucking backward fuck he is and how he’s sending Venezuela right down the shitter. Imagine telling raghead leaders their fucking religion is stuck in the 7th Century or telling the Europeans o stop acting like a bunch of pussies! Imagine telling Al Sharton to get a better haricut or telling Jesse Jackson to get a real job!
Wow! That’d stir things up a bit!
30
Yeah, that’s exactly the type of president we need right now. A blowhard bully who thinks he’s beyond accountability. An immature clown who thinks his job is to appease nutcases like you. Yeah, that’ll get this country headed in the right direction.
GBS
Please honestly answer this…
Who of the candidates is more likely to exhaust all means before committing troops to battle?
Who of the candidates is sending his own into the fight by committing troops??
In my mind, the fact that his son is “down range” makes McCain the best choice of who we should have in the CINC position…
When will Johnboy keep his promise to release his medical records? Or is he just another lying piece of shit republican?
When will Johnboy keep his promise to release his tax records? Or is he just another lying piece of shit republican?
And while he won’t promise to do so, shouldn’t he stop fighting the release of POW records that pertain to him? If he’s going to run as a war hero – it would be nice if he could prove he wasn’t a rat who gave up American names and locations.
Oh and the above questions? We know the answer. He’s a lying piece of shit republican of course.
“Imagine telling raghead leaders their fucking religion is stuck in the 7th Century”
Right. Let’s see him tell that to King Abdullah. That ought to be a ton of fun.
re 16: Katherine Harris not only looks like a whore, she looks like an OLD $2 whore:
http://bp1.blogger.com/_XuKupb.....harris.jpg
Politically Incorrect as a fifth grader:
http://bp0.blogger.com/_XuKupb.....h/Cartoons!!+004.jpg
re 35: And yes, that is a pearl necklace she’s wearing.
Notice how I stopped advertising pearl necklaces on the air?
McCain is headed for political slaughter. This November’s election will be one of the biggest landslide embarrassments ever heaped on a political party in American history. It’ll run the gambit, from the presidency right down to fuckin’ dog catcher in every county in the republic. And it won’t be due to the qualifications of the Democratic presidential candidate, but to the Republican record of the preceeding eight years. Say goodbye GOP.
John MacCain has serious problems within the Vietnam Veteran ranks due to his:
1/ voting record on veterans’ issues
2/ hostile behavior toward the family members of POWs/MIAs
—– and as the late David Hackworth, a retired Army colonel with five years’ distinguished service in Vietnam, explains in 1991, “I interviewed Col. Bui Tin in Hanoi, who was presented to me as their authority on POW/MIA issues. In the course of the interview Tin told me that during the war he was involved in the imprisonment of American POWs. When I questioned him further he said that John McCain was a `special prisoner.’ Tin later told other POWs that McCain never was tortured. So when McCain embraced Tin during the hearings it seemed to some Vietnam vets to confirm the reports they had heard, and it really angered a lot of people. It was no secret that McCain had admitted to giving information to the enemy. In fact, McCain was given the Silver Star for `conspicuous gallantry’ for the time period of 27 Oct. to 8 Dec. 1967 — one day after he was shot down and admits to having given information to the enemy. McCain is a survivor, not a hero, and I don’t think anyone in the history of our nation has been awarded such high military awards for dealing with the enemy.”
http://www.vietnamveteransagai...../index.htm
http://findarticles.com/p/arti.....7324/print
Notice Johnboy didn’t dare mention veterans’ benefits while speaking at VFW? How do you get away with that?
By the way – don’t forget that McCain has LOTS of problems we don’t hear much about YET…
Keating Five
Lobbyists affairs
A first wife he dumped when she had an accident
A current wife with questionable financial dealings
A strong tie to a supporter who called the Catholic religion full of whores
And don’t forget this one from the grand war hero:
“Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno.”
— Sen. John McCain, speaking to a Republican dinner, June 1998.
The girl was what, twelve years old at the time? Effin’ tyranasaur-armed leper, ass-wipe is a disgrace.
Proud leftist and headless lucy,
I really could give a flyin’ fuck what you think.
“Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno.”
– Sen. John McCain, speaking to a Republican dinner, June 1998.
Hey, now that’s funny!
We’re still trying to find out why the twin Bush whores are so ugly – oh yeah their Grandma is GW Monkey Face Bush’s Mommie!
That and being fucked up the ass consistently by various Bush family members has left both twins cross-eyed.
ArtFart says:
“Imagine telling raghead leaders their fucking religion is stuck in the 7th Century”
Right. Let’s see him tell that to King Abdullah. That ought to be a ton of fun.
Actually Art, I think most sane Muslims realize it already that there’s something fundamentally wrong with a religion that says it’s OK to behead those you don’t agree with. Somehow I think rational Muslims can see that, they just vocalize it for fear that they’ll be murdered by one of the “true believers.”
44 ByeBye,
You’re just jealous ’cause you’d like to take it up the ass from the whole Bush Family, especially if the females used a “strap-on” to do the job!!
HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HARHAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR!!!!
As long as Hillary loses, I could care less. I am not voting for McCain or Obama, either.
If Obama wins, Hillary is definitely finished. If McCain wins, she could come back (like a bad penny) to haunt us in 2012, but the chances are pretty slim.
No Politically Incorrect I have no reason to be jealous. I get all the sex with your sister and with your wife that I want. Your mom keeps begging to suck my dick too but since she blows all the old sailors behind the bowling alley in Port Orchard I took a pass. Your sister sure has a sweet asshole! Tell her thanks next time you see her.
And by the way – while you were in the sex offender unit at McNeil Island did you get raped much? Might explain why your wife has to come to me for lovin’!
Politically Incoherent @ 43: “I really could give a flyin’ fuck what you think.”
Ooh, I love it when you talk to me that way, you sweet talker, you.
John425,
“And I have a bridge I’d like to sell you-dickwad!”
Ummm…no thanks, Squirt. If you HAD a bridge to sell, you got it by clubbing an old woman to death or some such thing. Like I said—you lack any credibility ’round here.
gbs@17 just got back from mexico saw your wife and kids they were selling gum under a shade tree.they want to know when your coming home.i see your still on the McCain thing only a loser like you who is a fuckin disgrace would even breath the air we could all use.
right stuff@29 you have to forgive gbs he is a little bitter as they booted him out of the navy.but hey he is on the internet some where under sael but i cant tell you what the name of the zoo is
byebyegop about the same time you show at dl to meet puddy.
“At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.”
Anyone who talks like that to his wife must have married her for money.
@3 Just what we don’t need — another drug addict in the White House.
The Arizona sources are probably trying to protect their jobs.
This anger problem, especially from an old guy who gets cranky when he’s tired, should be capitalized on during any debates. I’m sure there are key jabs that will get him all hot and bothered and when he lets go on national tv, well then, people will see what they will get if they elect him.
Of course, he wants the Presidency…badly. So badly that he’s willing to forget all the people in the Republican party who, in 2008, denounced his service and said terrible things about his wife and daughter. And these, these are the friends and colleagues he wanted to help elect him? Nice company.
PU @52
I don’t know that GBS was dismissed from the Navy. I have no reason to believe what you say. He has satisfied for me that he was a SEAL, BTDT, and was a member of a very small community of warriors. I read his comments and consider what he says. I disagree on many issues with GBS, however I respect his point of view.
My comments and Q’s to GBS are more for clarification.
If you believe that the SBVT were self serving liars, who unfairly and with malice attempted to taint John Kerry’s service in Vietnam, then why become one of them…..
If GBS thinks that his comments with regards to John McCains service are appropriate and fair, then I would submit that he must then approve and validate the efforts of the SBVT…
That’s all.
“f you believe that the SBVT were self serving liars, who unfairly and with malice attempted to taint John Kerry’s service in Vietnam, then why become one of them…..”
Good point. If the Swift Boaters left a half bad taste in most people’s mouths, some sort of turnabout concerning McCain’s record could backfire severely.
On the other hand, someone’s past behavior can certainly be indicative of what he might do in the future. A lot us followed Al Gore’s cue in 2000 and gave Bush a pass concerning his military service (such as it was) and have since come to regret it.
In McCain’s case, just the nonsensical statement about “staying in Iraq for 100 years” pretty much convinces me that we need someone more rational than him in the Oval Office.
45 I think you’re right, in fact. Similarly, the majority of Jews and Christians have doubts and take exceptions to some of the dogmas and constraints of their faith, but accept the basic tenets thereof–some simply from having been brought up in the tradition, others because of sincere belief that experience has shown them there’s a higher power than themselves. On the other hand, Islam certainly has no monopoly on dangerous and delusional extremists.
The point I was trying to make, is that in the present political situation, we seem to end up saying something like “Muslims are driven by their religion to be evil and dangerous”, but then we’re willing to make exceptions. Case in point: the Saudis, one of the most oppressively extreme fundamentalist Islamic societies on the planet…but they have all that lovely oil, so we make nice with them.
A follow-on to my earlier remarks:
Rockefeller Apologizes for McCain Remark
Apr 8 04:12 PM US/Eastern
31 Comments
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller apologized for suggesting Republican Sen. John McCain doesn’t care about people because he was a Navy fighter pilot who dropped bombs on Vietnam.
Rockefeller supports fellow Democratic Sen. Barack Obama for president. He made the comments in an interview published Tuesday in The Charleston Gazette in his home state of West Virginia.
“McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit. What happened when they (the missiles) get to the ground? He doesn’t know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues,” Rockefeller said.
He said he called McCain to apologize.
“I made an inaccurate and wrong analogy, and I have extended my sincere apology to him,” Rockefeller said in a statement. “While we differ a great deal on policy issues, I profoundly respect and appreciate his dedication to our country, and I regret my very poor choice of words.”
The McCain campaign called on Obama to condemn Rockefeller’s words. Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said Obama disagrees with Rockefeller.
“Senator Obama has a deep respect for Senator McCain’s service to this country and doesn’t agree with what Senator Rockefeller said,” Vietor said.
McCain was shot down during the Vietnam War and spent nearly six years as a prisoner of war.
http://www.breitbart.com/artic....._article=1
Right Stuff @ 57:
For you, I’ll come clean. I hate saying those things about a fellow veteran. I really do.
What I want the conservatives to see is how wrong it is to Swiftboat a citizen who served our nation. It’s also wrong to claim that just because a candidate has a child in the armed services that that somehow makes them more qualified to the CINC.
What really matters, is an honest assessment of the situation we find ourselves in today and making the best judgment for tomorrow.
John McCain, while a true patriot, is on the wrong side of history regarding the Iraq War. This war is hurting America, hurting our military, tearing up military families and soldiers, it’s killing our economy, and it’s hurting our standing in the world.
Let’s be honest, Right Stuff, Iraq, like Vietnam, was entered into under false pretenses. We will never leave honorably unless we leave honestly. And, that means, fessing up to the citizens of Iraq that we destroyed their country based on a lie and fear. We need to leave small force large enough to provide some support and logistics to the Iraqi government, help them get their economy up and going and let them figure out how to resolve their ethnic divide.
That was the part of the Pottery Barn analysis that Colin Powell tried to explain to the president. There is such a deep ethnic strife in Iraq because of Saddam Hussein. No matter how that was ever going to unwind, when it eventually did there would be no stopping the bloodshed until they figure it out. We just happened to be the fools who let the genie out of the proverbial bottle.
Now we find ourselves in a true dilemma; as a moral country we can’t just leave those innocent people to the wolves that are the militias, a shattered society, and a devastated population with a massive internal and external refugee problem.
This NOT what the American GI is famous for. This is NOT how we built our laurels around the world. This situation in Iraq is FUBAR – Fucked Up Beyond All Repair.
Staying the course, or following John McCain is not in our nation’s best interest. We gave the Republicans a REAL try at governance. Their failures are now our failures and it’s time to let the other party govern.
It’s time for a change.
GBS
Appreciate your response. I agree that the situation is FUBAR. But what do we do? Go home? We the general public, the media, et al don’t have visibility as to what pressures and timetables are really being put down on the Iraqi govt. I agree with many here that in terms of financial cost, it’s time for Iraqi govt to take over their reconstruction costs. In terms of security? Well like you said and I agree, things are fubar…Reminds me of what was happening in Lebbanon in the 80’s. Accept that in this case we broke it…
AS I see it, we continue to train and bring online Iraqi military, and security units. We continue to turn over responsibility for security to all Iraqi forces one region at time. Keep the pressure on Syria and Iran to butt out, and as this is all happening, withdraw out combat units as the Iraqi’s take over.
In terms of their federal govt and the various sectarian groups and violence…….As soon as the Iraqi security forces are able….they are going to have to go ahead and disarm the militias…..either by force or negotiated settlement. As soon as their central govt can exercise that security for the general public, oiur job is done.
my $.02
RS @ 62
What should we do? Yes, go home. And, when we get home, the same thing that happened after Vietnam will happen in America. We’ll still the good ol’ US of A.
Deadlines are what drive human beings to do the things they normally won’t do otherwise. If we tell the Iraqi’s our work here is done and 80% of our force structure will be gone in 24 months, guess what the Iraqi’s will be doing in 24 months or less.
Seriously, this is critical we do this. When you analyze military history there is one thing you will notice about conquering armies – none of them could sustain combat indefinitely. Even the Roman Empire imploded. The Germans could not sustain their combat tempo. Neither could the Japanese.
Neither can the United States. Wars, by their destructive nature to both sides, have a limited timeframe in which on force can be victorious over the other. The “visiting team” has the biggest obstacle to overcome in order to win. Both Germany and Japan extended themselves too far and couldn’t not defend all the territory the captured. Attrition always has been and always will be the name of the game for the eventual victor. The Vietnamese fought a their war for independence against the French from 1946-1954, and then had to fight America from 1956-1975. We lost, they won their freedom. As it should be.
For America the attrition wasn’t that we ran out of resources to continue the Vietnam War, but the attrition to our soldiers, treasure, society and politics was too much to bear and we “went home.”
Iraq is not our war. Afghanistan is where we should’ve poured our military resources into. Now, we are seriously depleted and it will take in excess of $100 billion dollars to bring our military back to where it was pre Iraq War. Our flank is exposed due to the drain on the to the Army, Marines and especially the National Guard.