If you're like me, it can be hard to get fired up about something John McCain says, but earlier this evening I spent twenty-something minutes watching John McCain's October, 2002 Senate floor speech in favor of launching a preemptive war against Iraq.
It was chilling. John McCain is a war hero, but his foreign policy judgment is both terrifying and dangerous. Despite his protestations to the contrary, it's impossible to watch this speech and not come to the conclusion that he is a trigger-happy war monger.
What stunned me most was that oil played a crucial role in McCain's rationale. Speaking of Saddam Hussein, he said: "his ambitions lie not in Baghdad, or Tikrit, or Basra, but in the deserts of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia." Explaining the reluctance of other powers to support the war, McCain said that Saddam had dangled "the prospect of oil contracts for friendly foreign powers." Read on...
John McCain doesn't want to talk about how we got into Iraq, just how to get out. Unfortunately for him, his flawed judgment in following George Bush into this mess is of major importance to voters and he won't be able to wiggle his way out of it no matter how hard he tries. There is little difference between McCain and Bush, and there is little doubt that he would take us straight into war with Iran if elected president -- that is, if George Bush doesn't beat him to it.
