So tell me how being a POW makes you a Foreign Policy Expert

[Voltaire]

I keep hearing this nonsense from supposed intelligent life on the television. I read it in the newspapers. I see it on the net. . .John McCain's strength is FOREIGN POLICY.

Why is that? Because he was a prisoner of war? That means he was UNLUCKY, not Henry Kissinger.

Is it because he has travelled to foreign lands? HALF THE FUCKING CONGRESS HAS TRAVELLED TO FOREIGN LANDS!!!! And not many of them can be confused with Talleyrand or Metternich.

So why don't we push back on this bullshit? Why does no one ask him the question....HOW DOES BEING A POW MAKE YOU A FOREIGN POLICY EXPERT?

It's a legitimate question.

[jakem]

1. well, McCain does know "gooks"

what a jackass he is.

[floridablue]

2. Perhaps the NVA briefed him while he

was signing his treasonous admission of committing war crimes.

[Avalon6]

6. So being forced to sign a confession under the duress of torture is considered being a traitor?

I'm sorry but he spent almost 6 years as a POW and shouldn't be labeled as a traitor.

[Voltaire]

9. No one is calling him a traitor

I submit that spending time in the Hanoi Hilton does not mean he is a foreign policy expert and without citing legitimate examples that it DOES, the media needs to stop insinuating that he has these great credentials.

[Avalon6]

12. The guy I was replying to was

[CBGLuthier]

3. Hell I haven't even figured out how it makes you a hero.

On and on about him being a war hero. He flew plane, got shot down, sat in jail cell, was tortured, and possibly collaborated with the enemy.

I know the definition of hero has slipped a few pegs in the last decade but come on.

[faithfulcitizen]

7. from what I understand, he gave up information? Not that anyone can be blamed, but still.

To me, the real test of McCain's character was when he returned and when his crippled wife needed him the most, he ran. Hero? No, coward.

[Voltaire]

13. Hero is a QUITE overused word

Putting on a uniform and going into a war zone in and of itself does NOT make one a hero. And getting caught by the enemy most CERTAINLY does not make one a hero.

[many a good man]

18. I disagree

I consider anyone who willingly put himself in harm's way for the defense of others heroic.

However, being a hero does not automatically confer character, wisdom, or leadership. Those traits have to be earned.

What I detest is McCain's inference that those of us who never served in the military are less patriotic or less deserving of the highest office in the land.

[ellenfl]

20. i agree . . . and always have. if anything he's a failure as a pilot

for zigging when he should have zagged. five bucks says he was hungover when he strapped in that fateful morning. it does not take much to be labeled a hero by the msm nowadays . . . you just have to be republicon.

ellen fl

[faithfulcitizen]

4. Wes Clark just did on MSNBC.

[independentpiney]

5. It's a very legitimate question

I've been considering this the last few days, as the media are constantly making this connection. It's not denigrating his service to question how it gives him unchallengeable credentials in foreign policy or even military matters.

[Voltaire]

8. I certainly appreciate his service

the same as I appreciate my own. My naval service, however, does not make me a foreign policy expert. Neither does his. I think this is something we need to keep asking until it hops over to the MSM, if it ever does.

[ellenfl]

21. how can he know anything about a ground war? eom

[tularetom]

10. Well he wasn't "just" a POW - he also wrecked several aircraft

Including at least two A$ Skyhawks.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

11. Gen Clark has pushed back on this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=6345904

But yes, it needs to be stated again and again. He's no foreign policy expert.

[all.of.me]

14. Seems to me...

... being a POW only made him an angry man who wants revenge. That's all I hear when he speaks. It is really scary.

[Voltaire]

16. I think we take a page from Karl Rove here

and attack him at his perceived strength. After his temper tantrum, he should implode like a house of cards. Being a hawk because you SAY you're a hawk is not quite the same as having the requisite experience. McCain the HAWK is sorely lacking and we need to call him on it repeatedly. We should call him on it despite the inevitable caterwauling that we are somehow "discrediting his military service", a bullshit line if I ever heard one.

[faithfulcitizen]

24. exactly what I hear too. To me, it's as if he war mongers to give meaning to his awful experience.

[blondeatlast]

15. 47K potential foreign, national security, and military experts died in Viet Nam if

that's the minimum qualifications.

Maybe among them one who would have said, "Mr. President, I know ObL's modus operandi and this memo is of grave concern to me" or would have said "Iraq isn't what you think it is, sir. Can we talk?"

[kentuck]

17. An excellent question...

that needs to be answered by Mr McCain. If not his military and POW experience, what other experience is he talking about??

[wmbrew0206]

19. I think people only look at the POW part of McCain's career

I don't want this to be looked at as a pro-McCain post. I think it is important that we have the facts so we can dispute the right wingers who bring this stuff up.

1. McCain retired as a Navy Captain and was selected for Admiral and turned it down. He had a squadron command (an O-5 command) but not an O-6 command so it is surprising he was selected for Admiral (could be family connections there).

2. McCain has sat on the Senate Armed Services Committee since 1989.

Those are pretty much McCain's argument for his national security and foreign policy experience. They are probably better than any other candidate that ran this year, with the exception of Biden, but far from the best when VP candidates are considered.

Clark or Zinni would both have a much better claim to both seeing as they were Combatant Commanders, which entails a lot of foreign policy experience as the top military liaison to every country in their theater.

[Seabiscuit]

22. In McSame's case, being a POW just means he was a lousy pilot. n/t

[PoliticalAmazon]

23. Unless McCain assisted the Vietcong with their foreign policy and strategy....

while he was a POW, being a POW doesn't automatically annoint him with superpowers on foreign policy.