McCain's position on POWs from his thesis at the War College

[Ilsa]

The paper was obtained thru FoIA and provided to NYT by Matt Welch, author of a book about Mr. McCain.

He discusses POWs collaboration with the jailers being the fault of improper training by the military regarding foreign policy and the antiwar movement in the US. He discussed the need for indoctrination for "a strong belief in the correctness of his nation’s foreign policy."

snip
With prisoners returned, he argued, ambivalence about the war was protecting the minority of American prisoners “who did not keep faith with their country or their fellow prisoners.”

Court-martial charges were filed against two officers and seven enlisted men, he noted. “Probably more would have been charged if the Vietnam War had been like other wars in which this country has engaged,” Mr. McCain wrote. (Top military leaders quickly quashed charges against those nine.)

Mr. McCain reserved his fiercest criticism for what he called “the evils of parole and amnesty,” returning repeatedly to the importance of teaching recruits to reject such offers as he did. The prospect of early release had tempted and demoralized the other captives while providing the North Vietnamese “a maximum of favorable publicity and propaganda value from these ‘humane acts,’ ” he wrote.

“Probably the greatest shock to great numbers of the P.O.W.’s was to find, on returning to the U.S., that P.O.W.’s who were released early had not been court-martialed but in fact had received choice assignments and early promotions,” he added, calling their warm welcome “inexcusable.”
snip

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/us/politics/15pows.html?pagewanted=3&_r=1&hp&adxnnlx=1213533046-DlecH1hVVtJAkfy31R8RQA

Good article in the NYT page 1: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/us/politics/15pows.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp&adxnnlx=1213533046-DlecH1hVVtJAkfy31R8RQA

[electron_blue]

1. interesting reading,with insight. I do wonder how much still reflects

McCain's current views.

[LiberalFighter]

2. I wonder if he feels that he is just as bad as those he criticizes?

[Ilsa]

3. Yeah, and would he have soldiers charged

with collaborating with the enemy or something even now?

Maybe some really hot anti-war protests at his speaking events will set him off in public.

[LiberalFighter]

4. Wouldn't that be something if someone stepped up and accused him of being a collaborator?