McCain's America -- A World Citizen

Senator John McCain addressed the University of Colorado yesterday on his presumptive nuclear strategy if elected the next U.S. president. His address is laced with similarities resembling a continuation of George W. Bush's foreign policy. The full transcript of his address can be found here.

There is such a thing as good international citizenship, and America must be a good citizen of the world--leading the way to address the danger of global warming and preserve our environment, strengthening existing international institutions and helping to build new ones, and engaging the world in a broad dialogue on the threat of violent extremists, who would, if they could, use weapons of mass destruction to attack us and our allies.

McCain is using the same fear tactics that the Bush administration has successfully implemented since September 2001. His definition of a "good international [citizen]" is one that works with other nations on making a safer world from "violent extremists". Good citizens will use international institutions and agencies to confront extremists, and in some cases, create new alliances to help preserve the world from evil. Yet, based on his senatorial record, his declaration is inconsistent with his platform.

Senator McCain's inconsistency is twofold: at the core, the underlying problems are his vote to authorize the Iraq war in 2002 and his continued support of the war (and subsequent surge). The "good" citizen, as he notes above, works to "strengthen existing international institutions". The United Nations (U.N.) is an example of an international institution and on numerous occasions before the start of the war, the U.S. repeatedly defied the U.N. Leaders from France and Germany attempted to stop the run up to war but were unsuccessful in their bids. By invading and occupying Iraq-with only 40 nations in the U.S. coalition- the U.S. was acting at odds with the U.N. and the international community. This act by the U.S. illustrates the Bush administration's disregard for the international community. McCain reaffirms the Bush doctrine and the administration's disregard of the international community by voting to authorize the war in 2002 (H.J. Res, 114).

Furthermore, his continued support of the war and the surge demonstrates his lack of understanding of the realities in Iraq. This disillusionment is just another example of McCain's inconsistent promise that the U.S. will be a good citizen of the world. His response to interrupting protesters is a glowing example of his doublespeak:

McCain promises not leave to Iraq until the U.S. achieves its mission. A good citizen of the world includes international institutions and neighboring countries in the rebuilding effort of Iraq; a good citizen does not allow a civil war to break out between Shi'as and Sunnis; as journalist Nir Rosen notes, a good citizen of the world will not allow (under her watch) a country to cease to exist:

I don’t think Iraq even—you can say it exists anymore. There has been a very effective, systematic ethnic cleansing of Sunnis from Baghdad, of Shias—from areas that are now mostly Shia. But the Sunnis especially have been a target, as have mixed families like the one we just saw. With a name like Omar, he’s distinctly Sunni—it’s a very Sunni name. You can be executed for having the name Omar alone. And Baghdad is now firmly in the hands of sectarian Shiite militias, and they’re never going to let it go.

(read full transcript here)

McCain would like you to believe that he is bringing a fresh new approach to foreign and nuclear policy. Yet, as just shown, his record proves otherwise. A McCain presidency is just a continuation of the failed policies of one of the worst administrations in recent U.S. history.