Our cable "news" outlets never seem to need an excuse to bring Sen. John McCain back on the air for the gazillionth time so he can saber rattle about which country/countries he'd like for the United States to be bombing on any given week. That said, I expect we'll see even more of him if that's possible now that he's set to take over the Senate Armed Services Committee once again.
Mrs. Greenspan gave him another fawning interview this Thursday and allowed McCain to rant and rave about the administration daring to try to negotiate with Iran instead of getting us into another war that we always magically manage find the money to pay for when we're supposed to be broke.
McCain rips WH for ‘playing footsie’ with Iran:
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Thursday the Obama administration is not carrying out more airstrikes against Islamic militants inside Syria because it is instead “playing footsie” with Iran.
“There are reports that one of the reasons why we are not attacking [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad is because we are trying to look at some kind of arrangements with the Iranians,” the top Republican the on Senate Armed Services Committee said in an interview with MSNBC, without citing examples.
“It's, as I say, it's immoral and shameful and somehow we are playing footsie with the Iranians and hope that they will somehow have an effect on ISIS,” said McCain, who is poised to serve as chairman of the committee next year.
The administration is on its heels after a report that the president sent a secret letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei arguing that Washington and Tehran had a shared interest in fighting ISIS, or the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest would neither confirm nor deny the missive had been sent.
"I'm not in a position to discuss private correspondence between the president and any world leader," he said.
The letter could mark a reversal in White House policy that the U.S. would not make concessions in ongoing nuclear talks with Iran for Tehran’s help in the ISIS fight.
McCain said that, “on the nuclear issue, we have already given away the store by allowing them to the right to enrich and not putting in check both the development of warheads and the means to deliver them.”
He called the talks a “misguided effort to somehow accommodate and get better relations with a country that is spreading disorder and unrest throughout the region.”
However, McCain said he would work with other Senate lawmakers to craft a new authorization for the use of military force against ISIS, something the president asked for on Wednesday during a post-election news conference.
“The last authorization specifically mentioned the 9/11 attacks and those responsible for it. So it should be updated. But I want to do it very carefully,” McCain said. “We'll sit down and try and work this out. It is necessary.”
[ad]
