McCain gave yet another foreign policy address, but this time, as Kevin Drum points out, the content was quite odd:
I detest war.... Only a fool or a fraud sentimentalizes the merciless reality of war....the United States cannot lead by virtue of its power alone....mutual respect and trust....America must be a model citizen....good stewards of our planet.... Americans should welcome the rise of a strong, confident European Union....We must strongly engage on a political, economic, and security level with friendly governments across Africa....I will establish the goal of eradicating malaria on the continent....We do not need all the weapons currently in our arsenal. The United States should lead a global effort at nuclear disarmament....Our goal must be to win the "hearts and minds" of the vast majority of moderate Muslims....scholarships will be far more important than smart bombs....For decades in the greater Middle East, we had a strategy of relying on autocrats to provide order and stability.... It was a toxic and explosive mixture.... We must help expand the power and reach of freedom, using all our many strengths as a free people....I run because I believe, as strongly as I ever have, that it is within our power to make in our time another, better world than we inherited.
Is he running for President of the United States or the Mayor of San Francisco?
Seriously though, this "I hate war, but..." nonsense really needs to stop. I'll let Matt Y explain why:
...nothing about the fact that John McCain (allegedly) "hates war" should blind us to the fact that McCain loves advocating for the initiation of wars. McCain has a healthy understanding of what war means -- healthier than my own or than George W. Bush's -- but also a radically unsound understanding of how international relations works. To most people, war is horrible but sometimes necessary. To McCain, war is horrible but frequently necessary. We do ourselves a disservice if we focus on McCain's understanding of the horror of war to the exclusion of his belief in its frequent necessity.
As Matt points out, during the Clinton years McCain openly advocated for war with North Korea. Time and time again, his opinion seems to be that although war is hell and he detests it, it is also inevitable, so we must rush headlong into it before our enemies have time to prepare.
He supported the grievously misguided war in Iraq, continually advocates its escalation, and professes comfort with a literally endless occupation. He wanted ground troops in Kosovo and an attack on North Korea. And however much he proclaims his hatred of war, his dip into song -- "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran..." -- certainly wasn't a somber treatment of life's most detestable outcome. At a moment of high tensions with Iran, asked whether he would support a catastrophic war with a major Middle Eastern nation based on fearmongering about their nuclear ambitions that turned out to be false, McCain not only agreed that he would, but he broke into song over the idea.
McCain may say he "hates" war. But that's different than having an aversion, or even a reluctance, to go to war. As it is, what McCain has is a statesman's political persona and crazed hawk's policy positions. And that's, if anything, more dangerous.
I have no doubt that McCain personally hates war. But so long as he advocates for it, his personal feelings are irrelevant.
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