John McCain's FP Legacy - That Of A Whiny Blind Squirrel

[Median Democrat]

You heard the phrase, "Even a blind squirrel occassionally finds a nut?" Well, this describes John McCain's inconsistent and contradictory approach to foreign policy. Indeed, the only "constant" is that John McCain will loudly second guess military strategy in order to draw attention to himself.

FIRST, ironically is the criticism of John McCain appearing in a conservative magazine, which questioned his current pro-Iraq occupation policies. The magazing notes McCain's opposition to Reagan's commitment of American troops to Lebanon as a peace-keeping force in which a young John McCain sounded like Barack Obama:

http://www.amconmag.com/2008/2008_02_11/cover.html

"The senator first captured the media spotlight in September 1983, not long after he’d been elected to his first term in the House, when he voted against President Reagan’s decision to put American troops in Lebanon as part of a multinational “peacekeeping” force. One of 27 Republicans to break with the White House, the freshman McCain made a floor speech that reads as if it might have been written yesterday—by Ron Paul:

The fundamental question is: What is the United States’ interest in Lebanon? It is said we are there to keep the peace. I ask, what peace? It is said we are there to aid the government. I ask, what government? It is said we are there to stabilize the region. I ask, how can the U.S. presence stabilize the region?... The longer we stay in Lebanon, the harder it will be for us to leave. We will be trapped by the case we make for having our troops there in the first place.

What can we expect if we withdraw from Lebanon? The same as will happen if we stay. I acknowledge that the level of fighting will increase if we leave. I regretfully acknowledge that many innocent civilians will be hurt. But I firmly believe this will happen in any event.

Now insert “Iraq” where McCain said “Lebanon.” It’s as if McCain the Younger foresaw our present predicament and taunted his future incarnation, showing that wisdom doesn’t necessarily come with age.

In sketching out McCain’s political career alongside a timeline of American interventions abroad, one comes, at last, to a turning point. But his course was set much earlier, in his first visible venture into the realm of national-security issues at the time of the Lebanese events: Reagan’s request for U.S. troops and the subsequent attack on the Beirut marine barracks, where 241 military personnel were killed.

SECOND, during the 1999 Kosovo Air Strikes, John McCain heavily criticized Bill Clinton's "lack of an exit strategy" and asserted that the US would not be able to win without a ground war. This criticism may underscore why Gen. Wesley Clark hates John McCain's guts. Because McCain was back at home second guessing Gen. Clark at the time.

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/05/04/kosovo.congress/

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/04/02/president.2000/crossfire.transcript/

NOVAK: Do you think that war can be won without sending in ground troops?

MCCAIN: I am very skeptical because all three of us, being students of history, know that the last time, I think, that air power won was when Zeus used to have an unlimited supply of thunderbolts.

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/stories/s20508.htm

US Senator John McCain, Arizona Republican:
The important thing here is that this is a very dangerous business that we've embarked on and there is no end game, there is no exit strategy that has been articulated and therefore I am incredibly skeptical...

http://thinkprogress.org/bush-in-1999/

The criticism did not stop Bush from picking up key endorsements Thursday from U.S. Rep. Jim Nussle and New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg. Bush, in Austin, criticized President Clinton’s administration for not doing enough to enunciate a goal for the Kosovo military action and indicated the bombing campaign might not be a tough enough response. “Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is,” Bush said. Although on Wednesday Bush said that a victory was paramount, “even if that means ground troops,” he said Thursday any decision to commit ground troops ought to be made by the military


THIRD, we have present day John McCain who is all over the map, without any clear exit strategy in Iraq, and who has recently embraced Barack Obama's 16 month timeline. Ironically, McCain has calling himself Bush's greatest critic, which would be a good thing, except for the fact that John McCain has made a career of second guessing military action. With Reagan, it was too much. With Clinton, it was too little. With W, McCain's positions have been all over the map.