Why John McCain cannot be president
I strongly believe that the country will be in another war a few weeks after Senator John McCain is sworn into office, should he win the election in November. That war will be with Iran, and perhaps, by extension, Russia even if between now and then, the Iranian regime finds a way to assuage the fears about its nuclear ambitions.
John McCain is simply too obsessed with Iran and that kind of obsession and fixation is very dangerous when combined with the kind of temperament the senator has shown in the past and is widely known for. Even when trying a futile and rather facetious defense of his pick for Vice President, Sarah Palin, Senator McCain still found a way to drag Iran into the conversation. When Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace cited McCain’s characterization of Obama as being “dangerously unprepared to be president” and asked McCain whether Palin is “even more dangerously unprepared” regarding national security and foreign policy, McCain’s response was “…She doesn’t think, like Senator Obama does, that Iran is a minor irritant”. Is Iran the be all and end all of our foreign policy, senator McCain? What about Russia and the increasing flexing of military might in the countries bordering the former Soviet Empire? What about the threat posed by Osama Bin Laden and his Taliban in Afghanistan? Where are we on the resolution of the Palestinian/Israeli crisis? What are we going to do about the leadership crisis in Pakistan, a country that does have nuclear weapons? Is Pakistan not more of a concern now than Iran especially since we now know that they do offer support to the Taliban? What are John McCain’s plans for dealing with the resurgent conflict between India, a country that has nuclear weapons, and the Kashmir separatists? How is Senator McCain planning to challenge the growing influence of China in the regions we have abandoned for Iraq and Afghanistan – Latin America, Africa, the West Indies, Asia?
There is more to foreign policy than a minor irritant like Iran. The American military, great as it is, will not be ready for a couple of years to take on another major war, especially one that has the potential of involving a revived Russia that is growing increasingly anti-American, and China by proxy? The Chinese will sell weapons to anyone willing to let them have crude oil and scarce mineral resources. There is reason to be wary of Russia. Just this week, Russian President Medvedev laid out a manifesto that should make the United States pay attention and get away from arrogant and reckless rhetoric that could lead to unnecessary conflict. As the Russians have shown, they have no qualms whatsoever in using military force and do not really care what the West thinks.
The United States of America cannot afford John McCain as president because we cannot count on him to control his temper before issuing the order to strike a country that has no intention of attacking us. We’ve seen that happen once and almost 5,000 lives of promising American men and women and over $550 Billion dollars later, there is no end in sight.