Following on my previous comments, here's Spencer Ackerman's take. I was annoyed by what McCain said, but it looks like Spencer is seriously pissed.
But first, a reminder of what McCain said:
[W]ill we risk the confused leadership of an inexperienced candidate who once suggested invading our ally, Pakistan, and sitting down without pre-conditions or clear purpose with enemies who support terrorists and are intent on destabilizing the world by acquiring nuclear weapons?
Take it away, Mr. Ackerman:
Obama said that if he had actionable intelligence about the whereabouts of al-Qaeda's senior leadership, who are in the tribal areas of Pakistan, he's wiping them off the face of the earth. So let's play by McCain's rules. Good to know that John McCain, who allegedly knows something about defending America in the course of advocating a war that has made America drastically less secure, would do absolutely nothing. Good to know that John McCain doesn't care that those people murdered 3,000 Americans. Good to know that John McCain doesn't think those souls demand justice. Good to know that John McCain would read an intelligence report about al-Qaeda in Pakistan planning to murder more Americans and say LOL HAI LOOK IRAN KTHXBAI.
Good to know that John McCain thinks Pervez Musharraf is a valuable ally. Good to know John McCain believes that the Pakistani security apparatus is best used when it neglects al-Qaeda, when it neglects to protect opposition candidates, and when it serves as the personal guard of Pervez Musharraf. Good to know that John McCain doesn't believe in results, he believes in satisfying a conventional wisdom that would run America into the abyss and lose the war against al-Qaeda. Good to know that the media won't treat what John McCain said for what it is: a statement of purest surrender against the people that killed 3,000 Americans and will kill many, many more if John McCain is president.
I have to say that I honestly and sincerely hope that McCain keeps up this nonsense, because come the general election, it will allow Obama to simultaneously run on a platform of "ending the mindset that got us into this war in Iraq" and intelligently out-hawk a man whose hawkishness is supposed to be his strength.
As president, John McCain would follow bin Laden to the gates of hell, so long as it didn't require him to go into or through the mountains of Pakistan. I'm sure that will be a position that most of America will rush to support.
McCain's strength on national security is myth. He thinks that because he is a war hero he has a built in expertise that need not change and adapt with the times. He is wrong. Soon enough, that will be obvious to everyone, even McCain.
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