Jackson Doughart: For John McCain, nothing settles a conflict like a few bombs

[unhappycamper]

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/06/17/jackson-doughart-for-john-mccain-nothing-settles-a-conflict-like-a-few-bombs/



Jackson Doughart: For John McCain, nothing settles a conflict like a few bombs
Jackson Doughart, Special to National Post | June 17, 2014 | Last Updated: Jun 17 12:07 PM ET

Support for United States military interventionism, whether in the service of the national interest or humanitarian altruism, understandably varies on both the Left and the Right. But the beliefs of Arizona senator John McCain go well beyond the reasonable limits of even the most hawkish international engagement. Today’s neoconservatives are at least publicly averse to the employment of U.S. ground forces, preferring that their country’s unrivalled air power be used to cripple foreign foes. But McCain views reluctance to place “boots on the ground” as a sign of weakness, not prudence. Indeed, there seems to be no problem or disturbance in the world which McCain sees unfit for American force.

The man was not always such a modern-day Wilsonian. As a freshman congressional representative in 1983, the “maverick” defied Republican support for Ronald Reagan’s peacekeeping deployment in Lebanon. He saw no compelling U.S. interest in that country, and thus presciently counselled against putting troops in danger of harm. (The Beirut barracks bombing that killed 241 American serviceman occurred a month after McCain’s speech against Reagan’s policy.) And despite his support for NATO’s Kosovo bombings in the lead-up to the Republican primaries of 2000, he maintained a measure of reason up to 2008, when he and Sarah Palin held the GOP ticket for the presidency. For instance, he ran to the left of Barack Obama on the Afghan war, pledging not to transgress the Pakistani border without first engaging in the necessary diplomacy.

This moderation has been jettisoned by McCain since his return to senatorial duties, where his pronouncements have indicated a remarkably simple view of the world, both in terms of its ills and their prospective solutions. Arguably more than any other public figure, McCain is in bondage to the doctrine of human rights at the expense of all other considerations, which can often tell more about the true state of things. Instead, the senator is animated by the single and narrow maxim that there are bad people out there who mistreat those under their power, and that a bit of American power on behalf of the little guy can ultimately right such wrongs.

Setting aside the debatable matters of Kosovo, the Iraq War, and the Libyan intervention, one can limit a critique of McCain to 2014 alone. Let’s start with the Ukraine crisis, which he wasted no time in misrepresenting as a simple case of liberal-democrats resisting the “neo-imperialism” of Putin’s Russia. “We are all Ukrainians!” announced McCain as he called for an intervention in aid of the interim post-putsch government. He went on to recommend that not only Ukraine, but also Georgia and Moldova be incorporated into NATO, as both of these countries have sizeable pro-secession populations in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transnistria. Their admission to the alliance would bind the U.S. to military force under Article 5 of the treaty should Russia so much as lift a finger in any of them. This would mean that McCain’s bomb-at-any-chance philosophy would not only have to be addressed, but followed.

[liberal N proud]

1. Wonder if he gets a bonus from the bomb makers for every war the US starts?

This guy is so pro war, any war that it makes you wonder how much he makes from the military industrial complex.

[Blue Owl]

2. Hey Paul Wolfowitz go lick some of McCain's bombs

n/t