A Surge on the Homefront?
EmailABC News’ David Wright reports: Answering a question at the Urban League about his approach to combating crime, John McCain suggested that military strategies currently employed by US troops in Iraq could be applied to high crime neighborhoods here in the US.
McCain at first praised the crime-fighting efforts of Rudolph Giuliani when he was mayor of New York City. Then he down-shifted into an approach that sounded considerably harsher.
McCain called them tactics "somewhat like we use in the military."
"You go into neighborhoods, you clamp down, you provide a secure environment for the people that live there, and you make sure that the known criminals are kept under control," he said. "And you provide them with a stable environment and then they cooperate with law enforcement."
The way he described it, his approach sounded an awful lot like the surge.
Urban League president Marc Morial countered that while New York did experience a drop in crime under Giuliani, there were several major instances of police misconduct.
In response, McCain promised aggressive prosecution of civil rights violations and a Justice Department free from political cronyism.
"U.S. attorneys will be appointed strictly on the basis of qualifications and not political connections," McCain said, a swipe at the Bush Administration Justice Department under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
ABC News’ Bret Hovell contributed to this report.
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I would appreciate this more if the surge was in AFGHANISTAN.
McCain voted for a war based on lies, which it would not surprise me at all if they all knew it was based on lies. We would not need a surge and we would not have lost the life’s of 4,000 soldiers if they would have just done their jobs in Washington. LIES LIES AND MORE LIES. I AM SO sick of them.
Posted by: becky | August 1, 2008, 1:02 pm 1:02 pm
“The constitution is just a piece of paper.” G W Bush, and now it sounds like McCain’s line of thought.
Posted by: The Unshrub | August 1, 2008, 1:07 pm 1:07 pm
So McCain wants to invade Detroit and put the mayor on trial in the hands of white suburbanites.
Next, we pay off some of the gang members so that they won’t bother the cops until the military leaves.
Finally, we threaten Canada to stop supporting the gangs.
Posted by: Mr. Coffee | August 1, 2008, 1:08 pm 1:08 pm
McCain and Obama tied at 44% according to Gallup today. Way to go, President McCain!
Posted by: Jane Hussein Obama | August 1, 2008, 1:09 pm 1:09 pm
This sounds an awful lot like “Lassie and Godzilla go shopping.” Fairly soon we won’t be able to go to the store without showing our movement papers.
Posted by: DAVID NH | August 1, 2008, 1:12 pm 1:12 pm
Jane Hussein Obama: Uhmmmmm.. I can swear I read this same statement about BUSH 8 years ago. Ya, way to go President McCain!!!
I hate to tell you this Jane, but those polls do not mean anything.
Posted by: becky | August 1, 2008, 1:15 pm 1:15 pm
It’s a good idea
only Biden just put the bill that does this into congress…
oy …why is theire a delay on Obama picking Biden.
Posted by: dl | August 1, 2008, 1:17 pm 1:17 pm
Hey Becky,
Your boy Willie Clinton said the exact same stuff about Saddam that W did, yet you conveniently forget that, eh? You’re a yellow dog liberal Democrat, who is not worth the time of day. Try being honest for once in your pathetic life.
Ed
Posted by: Ed Stanowicz | August 1, 2008, 1:17 pm 1:17 pm
dl,
Biden? Because even the black used car salesman, Barack H. Obama knows that Biden is a bag of hot air.
Posted by: Ed Stanowicz | August 1, 2008, 1:21 pm 1:21 pm
does mcCain’s idea include giving the drug dealers and hoods money,guns and housing to fight each other…and promising them government positions when the police leave?
you know like the tactic we just used in Iraq…
the same one we used in the early 80′s in Afghanistan with Reagan’s “freedom fighters” you know …when we gave the insurging muslim extremists to figth against someone else…and then we leave and they take what we gave them and they become …
the taliban, al qaeda and Osama Bin Laden.
don’t be fooled that’s exactly what we just did in Iraq.
I wonder if that’s what he wants to do in the crime ridden areas of the US
Posted by: dl | August 1, 2008, 1:26 pm 1:26 pm
Ed Stanowicz
do you watch any news besides the glamouous stuff…have you seen the praise both sides of congress have heaped on Biden over the past month because he is the ONLY one getting anything done in congress …
a historically unmatched amount of legislation through congress…
but you’re right…oy …he’s just a bag of hot air…
duh… turn on your tv and actually investigate what is going on rather than regurgitating stupid campaign points.
Biden just got passed some of the most incredible bi-partisan plans we have seen in a long time…from Pakistan issues…to crime issues…to Africa…and the list goes on…
God I hate this campaign and some really stupid comment sthat have no backing…oy.
Posted by: dl | August 1, 2008, 1:30 pm 1:30 pm
Ed freakin the white house that Biden has screamed about for 8 years…even “gaffing” and calling the guy a liar and stupid at times just praised the guy for getting things done…
along with the 99% of the rest of congress.
but you would rather throw out stupid ill informed comments …
McCain just pitched an idea that has already been pitched by the democrats… that Biden again authored.
bag o hot air is a peson who says something that isn’t true or has no base in fact…so I think you need to look in the mirror.
and then go learn something
Posted by: dl | August 1, 2008, 1:34 pm 1:34 pm
police state mccain woot!!!
thanks for burning the constitution
how can anyone vote for this moron
Posted by: bhrandon | August 1, 2008, 1:34 pm 1:34 pm
Sure, that’s what we need to get us out of this economic slump…
The sight of armored humvees and APCs rolling down our city streets and soldiers with guns, turning high-crime neighborhoods into free fire zones.
Thankfully, Senator McCain will be returning to the Senate in 2009, where he’ll be expected to actually show up for his day job in a very-much minority status.
Obama 2008
Posted by: jackt51 | August 1, 2008, 1:35 pm 1:35 pm
That’s right John. Send them overseas to commit atrocites for multiple tours then bring them back home, broken, shellshocked, and shattered beyond belief and put them to work patrolling our streets with automatic weapons working for Blackwater USA. This is the death of America.
Posted by: ick! | August 1, 2008, 1:35 pm 1:35 pm
I don’t understand. Is McCain saying the military should come into any neighborhood that the president wants?
I’m truly concerned about our Constitution if McCain is elected.
Posted by: Dan | August 1, 2008, 1:40 pm 1:40 pm
Who is John McCain?
We entered the campaign assuming we all knew. Now, I’m not so sure we all do.
First he called Social Security a disgrace. Then he signaled a willingness to raise taxes to save it. Then he backtracked on that.
This is bigger than just taxes. Where is John McCain on Social Security? Where is he on any issue? We know he is for “winning” wars, and presumably for moms and apple pie, but is any of his positions actually defined?
We know he’s against negative campaigning, until he realized he couldn’t win without it.
Posted by: Paul | August 1, 2008, 1:44 pm 1:44 pm
Is McCain suggesting we declare martial law in cities?
Cities currently run their own law enforcement. This ‘domestic surge’ proposal of his would presumably be federal troops and/or law enforcement.
Can McCain explain this a little better?
Posted by: Paul | August 1, 2008, 1:45 pm 1:45 pm
Dan – my question exactly. Sounds like martial law to me.
And McCain seems like just the guy to declare it.
Posted by: Paul | August 1, 2008, 1:47 pm 1:47 pm
Posse Comitatus Act prohibits what McCain is saying. The military is not allowed to enforce civilian laws. This is the Law that protects the US from becoming a military Regime. As a former military officer mcLame should know this. I guess he forgot, give McLame his Alzheimer pill and he should remember it tomorrow! A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
Posted by: Elitist | August 1, 2008, 1:51 pm 1:51 pm
againgo read the Crime BillBiden just introduced three days ago…
It is the same idea without the police state overtones…
and Bush promised to Veto it when Biden introduced it…I wonder if he’ll say the same to John Mccain?
Posted by: dl | August 1, 2008, 1:51 pm 1:51 pm
On occasion, the military has been brought in to quell rioting and after disasters. The latest was in Chicago in Obama’s home area. Yea, Obama knows how to make enemies shake hands and become peaceful. LOL
Posted by: Mary | August 1, 2008, 1:59 pm 1:59 pm
Mary: Those troops are National Guards they belong to the State. Us Military are Federal Troops. Inform yourself” Posse Comitatus Act” Google it.
Posted by: Elitist | August 1, 2008, 2:07 pm 2:07 pm
Mary – not the military but rather the National Guard. For the military to be brought in, martial law must be declared.
I don’t think we’ve seen the military quelling domestic riots since the draft riots during the Civil War in New York City.
Posted by: Paul | August 1, 2008, 2:09 pm 2:09 pm
dl – Biden came up with this daffy idea? I’m not a huge Biden fan, but I find that hard to believe.
Posted by: Paul | August 1, 2008, 2:12 pm 2:12 pm
an occupation that is sure to ignite an insurgency – good answer McCain, lingering POW reaction
Posted by: watching | August 1, 2008, 2:24 pm 2:24 pm
biden
offers 50000 police…and a 1000 new fbi
Mccain offers military
either one has to be paid
Posted by: dl | August 1, 2008, 2:27 pm 2:27 pm
and the crime bill is expected to pass like the last what 5 bills that biden authored that he was able to get bipartisan support for.
It’s not a daffy idea…”homeland” security is where we should be focused on…not securing by going to war overseas.
Posted by: dl | August 1, 2008, 2:29 pm 2:29 pm
I should say Biden’s crime Bill has a good shot of passing congress… but Bush said he would veto it.
but he just gave speech on this three days ago…
look at what Biden has done in the past two months…
even if you are not a Biden “fan” both sides of congress and the white house have been giving him props for being the only one getting things through this impass of a body.
Posted by: dl | August 1, 2008, 2:32 pm 2:32 pm
Is not the National Guard envolved in our wars overseas. Sorry, but I do consider them part of the military and so does my friend who was a member of the Guard. And yes, I know they are supposed to be controlled by their home state. And yes, they wear uniforms and are trained much like our other military.
Think someone is splitting hairs.
Posted by: Mary | August 1, 2008, 2:50 pm 2:50 pm
I agree with McCain on this one. I lived in Detroit from 1982–1989. A surge would have helped tremendously there. There are so many other parts of our country that could use it now- cities where people can’t walk down their own street without getting shot. That’s not right. These dangerous neighborhoods need ALL the help they can get.
Posted by: Jason | August 1, 2008, 2:52 pm 2:52 pm
There are plenty of police serving in Iraq right now that will come home and be on are streets and I say great maybe are city’s will become safe again.
Posted by: Bishop | August 1, 2008, 3:03 pm 3:03 pm
dl – we’re all for homeland security, just like all of us are for fiscal responsibility, strong families, etc.
The question is how we achieve that. Declaring martial law – which is what is legally required to apply the Iraq model to American cities – strikes me as a daffy idea at this time.
Martial law has its place. Its always an option maintained by the federal government. Fortunately we haven’t found the need to use it often.
Posted by: Paul | August 1, 2008, 3:20 pm 3:20 pm
Mary – the National Guardsmen overseas have been federalized. When not in that status, they belong to their respective governors and are legally not exempted from performing law enforcement duties.
Posted by: Paul | August 1, 2008, 3:22 pm 3:22 pm
You guys really want to drive down the street past armed military personnel on a regular basis?
Wow. Maybe the terrorists have won.
Posted by: Paul | August 1, 2008, 3:26 pm 3:26 pm
Well, to be fair to McCain, he didn’t actually say military personnel. He just said tactics similar to those used by military personnel during the surge in Iraq.
Then again, clamping down on the “known criminals” raises questions about McCain’s respect for due process and all that.
Posted by: Paul | August 1, 2008, 3:31 pm 3:31 pm
BTW:
Bush lowered length of tours in Iraq but I bet they will increase in Afghanistan.
Also, we gave Iraq to Iranian influence and now we will help Iran again by fighting Sunni al Qaedda militants. Al Qaedda and Sunnis–Pakistan dislike Shiites–religion of Iranian Islam.
To recap: we invaded Iraq and made it more of an Iranian puppet state. We will go to Afghanistan to fight Sunni millitants and who will benefit from the creation of this buffer? Iran.
Bush/McCain is 2 for 2 on the Iranian side!
Posted by: Mr. Coffee | August 1, 2008, 3:33 pm 3:33 pm
Mr. Coffee – that’s been my question since we invaded Iraq. When did we become surrogates for Iran? you know those guys in Tehran have just been sitting back for the last few years laughing at us.
Posted by: Paul | August 1, 2008, 3:38 pm 3:38 pm
From the Courier-Journal in Indiana:
INDIANAPOLIS – In a speech in front of the National Sheriffs Association convention, John McCain touted his tough stance on Crime.
Some Sheriffs condemned the speech, saying McCain has not been a friend to law enforcement, voting against past programs to bolster the number of officers on the street.
“John McCain offered America’s law enforcement community a staggering display of hypocrisy and double talk, after decades of voting against effective and responsible efforts to keep our communities safe, put more police officers on our streets and provide law enforcement agencies the resources they need to fight crime, Sen. McCain tried to claim credit for the very programs he repeatedly opposed.”
He has also voted to block the ban of assault weapons, that are making it onto our streets and killing both police and our citizens…
Now he wants a Military style “surge” to combat crime in our cities, does this mean he will now vote to ban the assault weapons, finally??
Looks like McSenile flip flopper is at it again…
Obama ’08!!
Posted by: Davis | August 1, 2008, 4:32 pm 4:32 pm
I have nothing really against the Iranians as such but they are political rivals in a key area.
We are doing their dirty work.
Saddam, especially his sons was a dictator among the lowest order but there were no al Qaedda in Iraq before the invasion. The Kurds were happy. The Iraqi people were no in great shape but I bet the majority of the Sunnis were better off. The Shiites were in worse shape but they are only happier now because of the impending closer relationship with Iran once we declare “victory”/ “peace with honor” [if you care google the phrase peace with honor] and pull out.
I would think Bush would have been one of the better regarded leaders if he had just attacked al Qaedda after 9-11. I was cheering for him in some sense because he did what was needed then he dropped the ball big time in Iraq.
The end result of all this is that we removed a threat from Iran’s eastern border and are protecting their western border. And McCain is singing “bomb Iran” — how clueless.
Posted by: Mr. Coffee | August 1, 2008, 4:52 pm 4:52 pm
McCain: Education Civil Rights Issue of 21st Century
Senator John McCain pulled no punches in front of the Urban League in addressing the inequities and failures in education for minorities – and called education the civil rights issue of the 21st century. He spoke of vouchers and choice
Posted by: PAXALLES | August 1, 2008, 10:08 pm 10:08 pm
Commissioner Bratton is doing that same thing in Los Angeles. He is asking for more money for police to take back our street but they won’t give it to him.
Criminals think they can hide in neighborhoods because people have tolerated them there for so long. There should be no safe heaven for criminals in any neighborhood.
McCain’s plan would work, but the people he is offering it to don’t care. They only care about getting Obama elected.
Posted by: coolrepublica | August 2, 2008, 6:36 pm 6:36 pm
Look people, if the people in an area are afraid for their lives beacuse organised criminals control the areas where they live and are too scared to coopreate with the govt./law enforcement for the sme reasons, then they are “TERRORIZED”. If law enforcement is to win in these areas, looking at the problem from a counter-insurgency angle is a uncomfortable FACT that cannot be avoided. Government and law enforcement ARE NOT winning the hearts and minds of the citizens that live there with social welfare programs beacuse they have NO SECURITY!
Posted by: darthdad | August 2, 2008, 9:04 pm 9:04 pm
Becky the confused said: “I would appreciate this more if the surge was in AFGHANISTAN.”
So you know better than the Joint Chiefs and Secretary of Defense? Please, step up and take their jobs.
“McCain voted for a war based on lies,”
If he did, then so did most of your Democrat heroes. Obama himself, in 2004, said his stance on Iraq WAS THE SAME AS BUSH’s. Vote for Obama the warmonger, why don’t you.
“We would not need a surge and we would not have lost the life’s of 4,000 soldiers if they would have just done their jobs in Washington.”
Maybe not…but we likely would have lost thousands of more sitting on our hands and letting Al Qaida plot another attack. You ever concern yourself with how many Al Qaida were killed in Iraq? Of course not. Why focus on the good our soldiers do when you’re just a surrender-crat.
“LIES LIES AND MORE LIES. I AM SO sick of them.”
Don’t get your panties in a bunch. Obama’s lies are well documents, but you’re still going to vote for him like a good little sheep.
Epic fail!
This message will be deleted in 5…4…3…2…
Posted by: ynot4tony2 | August 2, 2008, 9:08 pm 9:08 pm
The only problem is the homeless GI’s will know how to fight back. War without end, War everywhere. What about fighting them there so we don’t have to fight them here?
Posted by: nancy S. | August 2, 2008, 9:10 pm 9:10 pm
The unshrub, you are a liar, that’s elliot spitzer who specifically said the constitution was just a piece of paper.
you guys have no class at all.
Posted by: foobar | August 2, 2008, 9:51 pm 9:51 pm
To Paul: “Posse Comitatus Act prohibits what McCain is saying. The military is not allowed to enforce civilian laws. This is the Law that protects the US from becoming a military Regime.”
Unfortunately most of us are not being informed by the main stream media as to what laws are being changed or enacted that are eroding our constitutional and civil rights. Recently, George W. Bush very quietly signed into law a bill that altered the Posse Comitatus Act – in opposition to the majority of state governors throughout the United States. We no longer have the protections that we thought we had under this law. Furthermore, with the suspension of Habeas Corpus, the Military Commissions Act and the revised FISA bill, Bush can do anything he wants to us. Searches without warrants, detention without cause, we do not even have the right to face our accusers.
The American people need to wake up, get off their fannies and realize how much danger we are all in. We need to protect ourselves from this abuse of power from within our own government and from those that are financing it. We are living in very dangerous time’s folks! Our nation and very sovereignty is at stake – and don’t think for one moment that you are immune from this threat!
To Jane Hussein Obama: “Lassie and Godzilla go shopping.” Thanks for the laugh! I needed that!
Posted by: Cybergrl | August 2, 2008, 9:52 pm 9:52 pm
“John McCain suggested that military strategies currently employed by US troops in Iraq could be applied to high crime neighborhoods here in the US.”
For the less astute posting here, the imperitive word is “strategies”. McCain did not once imply actually using the US Military, just that their strategies that have proven effective in Iraq be used by law enforcement in the high crime areas that are the focus of this article. Anyone who posts here might want to have a stroll through some of the neighborhoods in South Central LA at , oh say, 1 am. Then you can speak with authority as to what steps might be necessary to deal with the problem. Until then, you are all a bunch of ostriches with their heads in the sand.
Posted by: RH | August 2, 2008, 10:35 pm 10:35 pm
We do need a surge at home…in some of our most dangerous cities and neighborhoods such as San Francisco, Berkley, Malibu, and the Upper West Side. The crimes that these liberals are commiting are in grave attention of some law enforcement!
Posted by: james101 | August 2, 2008, 11:42 pm 11:42 pm
I don’t get it. Why do liberals not want lower income areas to be safe? Do these people not deserve a safe area to raise their children without worrying about drug deals and prostitution on the corner? So now we have it! Democrats are racists!
Posted by: James | August 3, 2008, 12:05 am 12:05 am
Excellent. Follow with quick trials, summary hangings and an honor killing or two. Oughta straighten us right out. Or not…
Posted by: Phil Newton, Murphy, OREGON | August 3, 2008, 6:30 pm 6:30 pm
Obviously McCain is not a fan of Posse Comitatus or of the U.S. Constitution. He is a traitor, clear as day.
Posted by: J.A. Simon | August 4, 2008, 2:38 am 2:38 am
james101 said: “We do need a surge at home… The crimes that these liberals are commiting are in grave attention [sic] of some law enforcement!“
Yeah, one of your wingnut colleagues tried some of that brown shirt law enforcement at my church last Sunday, opening up with a 12 gauge on unarmed men, women and children. A manifesto he’d written explained how he was going to go down in a blaze of glory under police gunfire after he’d wiped out great numbers of liberals, whom he expected to sit quivering in fear while he mowed them down. He was actually surprised and outraged that the unarmed liberals tackled him after only three shots; he’d brought a whole bag of ammo. If he expected to start an American Kristallnacht he has, so far, been disappointed; overflow crowds at several services have proclaimed solidarity with the Knoxville UUC church. But he did succeed in winning me, at least, to the core value of modern conservatism: I, too, now feel hatred.
Posted by: John Mayer | August 4, 2008, 2:44 am 2:44 am
That’s what happens when the masses allow themselves to be led, and dismiss the warnings of their “leaders’” corruption and criminal behavior as “conspiracy theories.”
I mean, hell! Conspiracy theories are what Criminal Investigation is based upon, and most of the masses put their unyielding and blind faith and trust in them.
It’s been said before but, I’ll say it again…
“People get the government they deserve.”
More poignant now than ever before.
Posted by: WhiteCell | August 19, 2008, 5:21 am 5:21 am
Somebody forget to metion, that the time is closer when a child is bor and doctors vould tell you:
Your child needs this vaccin because deadly disease did erupt !Ya right, will be nothing else but, a chip in the babies system with a personal number for life long indentification ! Will be so poweful that every move they make, will be recorded by a satelit system ! The technology is already there, and administered in some high security workers ?
Posted by: longo | August 31, 2008, 9:20 pm 9:20 pm