What does John McCain Mean by Victory? Posted by Ilan Goldenberg

So it turns out that like Barack Obama, General Petraeus realizes that Iraq is complicated.  That there is no such thing exactly as "victory" and that trying to define "victory" makes little sense.

Q: Do you think you will ever use the word "victory"?

Petraeus: I don't know that I will. I think that all of us at different times have recognized the need for real restraint in our assessments, in our pronouncements, if you will. And we have tried to be very brutally honest and forthright in what we have provided to Congress, to the press, and to ourselves.

The thing is that McCain and all the war supporters have been using Petraeus as a crutch for months.  So here is a question for McCain.  Given that the General that you claim to base your entire Iraq policy around doesn't believe that victory is a word we should be using in Iraq, why do you use it?  And how do you define it?  And why do you attack Barack Obama for not using it?