By Jwilkes from Eyes on Obama:
That might sound like a joke, but it ’s not. Think back to January 19, 2001. As Marine One waited to take President Clinton away for the final time, a period of peace and prosperity in the US effectively ended. And with McCain's personal history, you have to ask yourself: how likely is it that this guy is going to get us into even more trouble?
If there is one particular talking point John McCain’s presidential campaign has hammered in the past 72 hours, it’s been Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden’s assertion that Barack Obama will likely be confronted with a serious international crisis in the first year of his administration. McCain argues that that possibility alone is a strong reason to vote for him instead of his Democratic rival. But when you really think about it, you have to ask yourself: would I rather have a president who will confront an international crisis, or one who might outright cause an international crisis?
That might sound like a joke, but it’s not. Think back to January 19, 2001. As Marine One waited on the White House South Lawn to take President Clinton away for the final time, a period of peace and prosperity in the United States effectively ended. In eight years, the country had avoided unilateral international altercations. In fact, the only long-term conflict was the NATO-led Kosovo Conflict, which had assembled the strongest, most complete international coalition since World War II. American participation in negotiations in Northern Ireland had led to an end to 30 years of armed conflict in the region. The US had hosted some of the most significant peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis at the Camp David Accord since the outbreak of the First Intifada. Moreover, in just the first few years following the fall of the Berlin wall, US relations with Russia had improved. And all along, the American economy was booming.
But by the time George W. Bush had been in office for just two years, our prospects flipped. Relations with Russia had deteriorated over Bush’s intention to withdraw the US from the ABM treaty, the first time in recent history that the US has pulled out of a major international arms treaty. Tensions with China had spiked as the result of a standoff when a US spy plane collided with a Chinese jet in Chinese airspace. Then came 9/11, which probably rightfully led us to Afghanistan. For better or for worse, Iraq followed. New problems have sprouted in US relations with Iran. And the economy...well, I don’t have to tell you about the economy.
With that in mind, consider John McCain’s foreign policy track record. Back in 2006, he said that the use of military force against Iran could "not be removed from the table." He thought it was such a good idea, in fact, that when asked about how he planned to deal with the situation there, he broke into song with his now-infamous "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" to the tune of a Beach Boys song. Later on, he joked that sending cigarettes to Iran might be "a way of killing them."
What’s really frightening is that going into all of this, McCain doesn't even get what's going on in the Middle East. During a press junket in Jordan, McCain told a group of reporters that Iran was "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them, and sending them back." The problem with that statement is that it couldn’t be further from the truth. The Iranian government is Shia. Al-Qaeda is Sunni. For those who don’t know the difference, suffice it to say it’s a significant one- in fact, it’s the primary cause of some (if not all) of the conflict. The reporters pushed for clarification, and McCain showed them that his first blunder wasn’t an unintentional mistake- it was a fundamental misunderstanding of the situation overseas. "It’s common knowledge," he said, "and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that’s well known. And it’s unfortunate."
This is the same John McCain who accused our allies in Germnay of "using the anti-American card to get reelected." The same guy who compared our allies in France to an aging woman. The same guy who joked about the death of Fidel Castro. The same guy who, as a Congressman on a foreign diplomacy mission, grabbed a Nicaraguan dignitary by the shirt collar in a physical altercation.
Simply put: John McCain is a loose canon. I’m not saying I think he’s crazy, or that his temper will get the best of him and he’ll slam his fist down on the red button. I tend to eschew those ueber-liberal attack phrases. But I think John McCain (1) will cost the United States serious diplomatic backing as a result of his arrogance, and (2) sees the use of military force as a viable foreign policy tool rather than an option of last resort.
With all of the trouble in the world today, Biden’s right: Obama will meet some challenges on the road ahead. We have a tarnished international standing and a tattered economy. It would take an idiot to say that it's going to be smooth sailing. But that’s the funny thing about Americans: we like challenges. We thrive on them. We welcome a leader who feels the same way.
Now, a leader like McCain who could very well end up creating more problems than he solves...that’s a different story.