In a political world that made any sense, the most prominent issue of any presidential campaign, in any year, would be which candidate can best serve as Commander-in-Chief and secure American national interests in a hostile world. The Constitution lists “Commander in Chief” as the very first duty in a president’s job description. In that light, it is amazing that John McCain is not running laps around Barack Obama in the polls. McCain has a 25-year record in public office, and another 20 years before that in military leadership roles, including, of course, his combat years and imprisonment in Vietnam. Obama, by contrast, has no military experience and a history of profoundly misguided judgment or conduct on critical national security issues.
In the 1980s, McCain was right to support President Ronald Reagan’s efforts to win the Cold War with the Soviet Union. But McCain also had the courage to break with Reagan by very publicly warning that U.S. Marines would be sitting ducks if deployed in Lebanon. Tragically, America lost 240 of its finest when Reagan went against McCain’s advice.
In 1991, McCain was right to support the first President Bush’s decision to use military force to evict Saddam Hussein from Kuwait. Likewise, in 2003, it was McCain who had the judgment and foresight to call for more troops and new counterinsurgency tactics when the second U.S. war against Hussein began. And McCain was right on the troop surge in Iraq. Obama opposed the U.S. effort in Iraq and until very recently, obstinately maintained against all evidence that the surge was a failure. Finally, where Obama actually had direct responsibility – as chairman of a subcommittee on NATO – he evaded it entirely. He held not a single subcommittee hearing. Not one.
McCain supports missile defense. Obama would gut it, thus leaving the U.S. dangerous vulnerable to missile attacks from rogue nations like North Korea. McCain supports a beefed-up military. Obama has called for eliminating all new development of nuclear weapons technology, and for “tens of billions of dollars” in spending cuts by eliminating various weapons systems. It’s as if Obama never learned Reagan’s lesson that peace is secured through strength. Finally, in matters diplomatic, Obama – like the hapless Jimmy Carter before him – would replace power with talk. That way lies defeat – on all fronts. McCain, who will never accept defeat, is the man to keep America safe.
