10/8/08

Senator McCain’s debate performance yesterday did little to reassure voters about his ability to manage a steady and responsible national security policy.  Aside from his gaffe referring to General Petraeus as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, there were serious substantive problems with McCain’s approach.  He continued to talk about victory in Iraq despite the fact that General Petraeus and the nation’s 16 intelligence agencies disagree with his assessment of progress.  He is still calling for a surge in Afghanistan despite General McKiernan’s statements that a “surge” is not what is needed.  He displayed a reckless streak, musing that Russia might be evil and dismissing his irresponsible comments about bombing Iran as a joke.  Finally, McCain’s policies were at times incoherent.  He called for avoiding a Cold War with Russia even as he used overheated rhetoric.  He believes that Iran’s nuclear program is an immediate danger and yet his best response is a League of Democracies – an institution that most of our allies don’t want, would take years to create and may never become effective.  Overall, McCain failed to show how his foreign policy would make America safer and stronger.

McCain has shown the same stubbornness as George Bush.  When it comes to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan McCain has continuously displayed that he is set in his ways, and that no expert or conditions could change his mind.   He continues to talk about victory in Iraq despite the fact that General Petraeus refuses to use that term and that there are reports that the nation’s sixteen intelligence agencies disagree with McCain’s assessment of progress.  “A nearly completed high-level U.S. intelligence analysis warns that unresolved ethnic and sectarian tensions in Iraq could unleash a new wave of violence, potentially reversing the major security and political gains achieved over the last year.”  Moreover, when talking about his strategy for Afghanistan, McCain continued his approach of simply transferring our Iraq strategy to Afghanistan saying , “It is the same overall strategy,” and “we have to have the same strategy, which Sen. Obama said wouldn't work, couldn't work, still fails to admit that he was wrong about Iraq.”   Meanwhile, Gen. McKiernan, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said that “Afghanistan is not Iraq,” and that no Iraq-style “surge” of forces will end the conflict there.  Even Gen. Petraeus, who McCain frequently praises, said, “every situation like this is truly and absolutely unique, and has its own context and specifics and its own texture.” McCain argues for a “surge” in Afghanistan despite the fact that it did not work in Iraq and that the top generals say it is the wrong strategy. [CNN, 10/7/08. McLatchy Washington Bureau, 10/7/08. Washington Post, 10/2/08. New York Times, 10/1/08]

McCain made reckless and irresponsible comments not befitting a Commander-in-Chief.  McCain’s rhetoric towards Russia was rash and reckless, especially answering “maybe” when asked if Russia under Putin was “evil.”   He also brought back his old statements on Putin saying:  “Now, long ago, I warned about Vladimir Putin. I said I looked into his eyes and saw three letters, a K, a G and a B.” McCain displayed similar carelessness when discussing his policy toward Iran.  He dismissed a troubling campaign appearance where he sang “bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” as “joking with a veteran,” despite no indication at the time that this act was intended as a joke.  [John McCain, 10/07/08. John McCain, 4/19/07]
 
On a wide range of foreign policy issues, John McCain’s remarks during the debate were inconsistent and incoherent.  Whether he was speaking about a resurgent Russia or outlining his policy for dealing with Pakistan, John McCain’s positions seemed confused or contradictory.  On Russia, McCain said “we're not going to have another Cold War with Russia,” but then used cold-war style rhetoric to describe the current Russian government.  McCain has proposed a confrontational policy, recommending that the country be thrown out of the G-8 and be diplomatically isolated; contradicting an op-ed today from former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz commented that “isolating Russia is not a sustainable long-range policy.” McCain was also unable to explain the divisions that have emerged between himself and his advisors on the issue of Iran.  He blasted Senator Obama for wanting negotiations “without preconditions,” yet one of his own advisors, former Secretary of State Kissinger said that he supported negotiations with Iran at a high level “without conditions.”  McCain acknowledged that a threat of a nuclear Iran is dangerous and urgent yet his response for how to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon was to build a new “League of Democracies” – an international institution that is unpopular with its potential members and would take years to create.  Finally, on the issue of Pakistan, McCain criticized Barack Obama for stating his intention to conduct strikes to “kill Osama Bin Laden,” and “crush Al Qaeda,” but then proceeded to take the same position, saying “I'll get Osama bin Laden, my friends. I'll get him. I know how to get him.”  Despite stating that he would not “telegraph” his punches, McCain’s stated position appeared to do exactly that.  [John McCain, 10/07/08. Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, 10/01/08. Barack Obama, 10/07/08]

McCain erroneously called General Petraeus the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.  “Well, let me just follow up, my friends. If we had done what Sen. Obama wanted done in Iraq, and that was set a date for withdrawal, which Gen. [David] Petraeus, our chief -- chairman of our Joint Chiefs of Staff said would be a very dangerous course to take for America, then we would have had a wider war, we would have been back, Iranian influence would have increased, al Qaeda would have re- established a base.”  [John McCain, 10/07/08]

Quick Hits

The Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, and the Central Banks of Europe, Canada, Switzerland and Sweden cut their rates in a coordinated move.    

Britain announced its own $350 billion bailout plan and Spain moved to do the same.  The New York Times examines how European unity is straining in the face of the financial crisis.

Despite reports from CNN, senior U.S. military and intelligence officials do not believe that the Taliban has split from al Qaeda and that those negotiating with Afghanistan/Saudi Arabia are Taliban “outsiders.”

Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked European defense ministers to send more troops to Afghanistan, a message he will repeat to NATO later this week.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia will complete its pullout from the Georgian buffer zones by midnight.

Former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George P. Schultz have an op-ed in the Washington Post about the importance of seeking common ground with Russia and ending the “drift toward confrontation.”

Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte said that a security deal is “close” in Iraq, echoing the earlier statement of the Iraqi foreign minister.

U.S.-Chinese military relations have stalled after China cut off military-to-military ties in response to the proposed U.S. arms sale to Taiwan.

A military investigation concluded that a disputed U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan in August killed 30 civilians, not the 5 to 7 originally claimed by the U.S. military.

A federal judge ordered the Bush administration to release 17 Chinese Muslims detained at Guantanamo Bay who have been deemed not to be a threat.

North Korea may have tested two short-range missiles on Tuesday, and a South Korean official stated that North Korea is seeking to develop a nuclear warhead.