One evening in July 2007 Sen. John McCain arrived at the home of Erin Flanagan of New Hampshire. Sen. McCain wanted to have a heartfelt talk with her about Iraq. At a recent Republican presidential debate she had asked the candidates what they would do to bring the troops home. Her brother had been killed in action a few months earlier.

The news media was not notified of this meeting, it was kept private. Sen. McCains’ youngest son, James McCain, 19, accompanied him. At the time James was a private first class in the Marine Corps, soon to leave for Iraq.

Sen. McCain, as the presumptive Republican nominee, has promised the American people that our troops can bring stability to Iraq. What he rarely adds is that one of them is his own son. I believe Sen. McCain wants to bring stability to Iraq as soon as possible, once that is accomplished, any remaining U.S. troops will soon be home.

James McCain spent seven months patrolling Anbar Province in Iraq and has first hand knowledge of the success of U.S. Strategy in Iraq. The Iraqi police and the Iraqi military are gradually taking over the role of enforcing law and order, and fighting the non-government militias, the role previously held by the U.S. military. The militias are on the run. If this progress continues, I believe that virtually all of our troops involved in the fighting should have returned from Iraq within four years, not one hundred years. Any U.S. Military presence that remains will only serve in an advisory capacity for the Iraqi police and Iraqi military.

Two of James McCain’s three older brothers also went into the U.S. military. Doug McCain, 48, was a Navy pilot, but is now a civilian. Jack McCain, 21, will soon graduate from the Naval Academy.

John McCain is a true American patriot from a family of patriots. We need someone like John McCain for our next U.S. President. We need him because of the values he holds. Time and time again in his life he has shown that he puts America and Americans first, even above himself. He will continue the successful strategy of keeping America safe. He has a plan for the energy crisis, not just drilling for oil, but also a comprehensive alternative energy plan. He will not raise taxes on the middle class, which will push them into poverty. I could go on and on.

With his experience he is what America and Americans need at this time in our history. Inexperience at this time may bode very badly for the future of our country, because inexperience will result in wrong decisions no matter how sincere the intentions are to do the right thing.

If Churchill had been the first to face Hitler, World War II may have been avoided, and millions of lives saved. You can’t appease or accommodate evil people, you have to stand firm and threaten to fight if necessary.

John Nosser

Natchez resident