McCain’s plans for first term if elected
Sep 25th, 2008 by scastellanos
Article from the Times Online London: “McCain: I will win Iraq, kill bin Laden, and start President’s Question Time” In May of this year, John McCain predicted that by the end of his first term as President, he would have won the war in Iraq, killed Osama bin Laden, halted the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea, and provide answers to questions from Congress. Although McCain said he “wouldn’t mind staying in Iraq for the next hundred years,” the Times article says that the Dems misinterpreted the meaning of his statement. Instead, Times online said McCain meant that he would be happy for the US to be in Iraq for a century – but only in a noncombat role similar to the long-term American military presence in Japan, South Korea and Germany. If this is true, McCain should have chosen his words a little wiser. Today, the phrase “staying in Iraq for the next hundred years” has little other meaning other than to sacrifice thousands of American troops’ lives and lives of innocent civilians. McCain also said that his first term would be characterized by the capture or death of Osama bin Laden and his chief lieutenants. Unfortunately, Islamic extremism, unwarranted zealots and terrorism in general will continue to prevail despite the death of bin Laden and his chief lieutenants - so, how does McCain plan to rebuild ties with allies, regain approval for foreign policy initiatives and enact preventative measures so that 9/11 won’t happen again? McCain also said that he would take questions and answer criticisms from “both Houses” (I’m not sure what he means by this), much like the Prime Minister of Great Britain appears before the House of Commons. This is an interesting concept, and one which no one seems to be talking about four months later. In the last few weeks, both his and Sarah Palin’s interviews with the press about largely important issues have seemed convoluted with political garble that never really answers questions but redirects the question so that they don’t actually have to answer the tough questions. If this is all McCain will be doing in these Q&A sessions as President, it would be less than beneficial for anyone, since he will never provide a straightforward, honest and concise answer to any important question he is asked. On a last note, one of McCain’s main ambitions as president (at least back in May) were to form an Administration that forms a coalition with the democratic party instead of a division. “Partisanship will end” if he is president, he says. Intriguingly, though, he always refers to his Democratic opponent as being “wrong” in all foreign policy, social, environmental and economic issues. Not only that, but his campaign constantly produces harsh attack ads that even Bush’s chief strategist Karl Rove admits have gone too far (i.e. Obama being sexist in his lipstick on a pig remark), according to www.Huffingtonpost.com. How, then, will McCain cross partisan lines to form a moderate cabinet when all he seems to be doing is contradicting, attacking and degrading the Obama campaign?