On Face The Nation, neither Senator John McCain nor Lindsey Graham seemed optimistic about a Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton presidency. They also shared warnings about the future of American foreign policy with regard to President Obama’s and future administrations.
CBS’s John Dickerson asked McCain whether Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton would be better at handling tough foreign policy issues. McCain expressed optimism towards neither, though he says he hopes either would call in experts for help. “I don’t think either one of them have displayed what I think is the necessary strategy and outlook, the planning that and reliance on our military leaders, that will be necessary to succeed,” said McCain.
Dickerson asked McCain why he’s supporting Trump despite his own concern and concern from those he trusts.
“Well, as I said, I would support the nominee of the party, McCain replied. “I have strong disagreements, and we’ve just been through several of them, and that’s my position.”
Graham chimed in, “I think Clinton and Trump both would have a conditions-based withdrawal in Afghanistan. When it comes to Syria, and Trump says it’s okay for Assad to stay, it tells me he has no idea what that means for the region. Israel is in threat from Iran. Iran is arming Hezbollah with precision-guided missiles. The trip to Israel was very unnerving to say the least. So, the Syrian civil war is having an effect throughout the region. Mr. Trump, when you said Assad should stay, you need to rethink that. As to Secretary Clinton, she says wants a no fly zone in Syria. That’s a great step in the great direction.”
Dickerson also asked McCain what the U.S. response should be to the “diverse set of terrorist challenges.”
McCain said the “response should have been a long time ago, not to withdraw everybody from Iraq,” and voiced concern that “the president is on the verge of doing the same thing here in Afghanistan, where things are not going well.” He added that President Obama should have stayed in Iraq. “What we need to do is go to Raqqa and kill them [ISIS]. And you can do that with 10,000 of a hundred thousand person contingent using American capabilities. Go take them out of Raqqa, where they are basing some of these attacks, and then get into the ideological struggle to defeat this metastasizing evil that is afflicting all of the Middle East and parts of the world.”
During the interview, Senator Graham also said, “the one thing I want people to know is if you forget Afghanistan, it’s at your own peril. This is where 9/11 originated. The president is about to make the most consequential decision of his presidency in a long time about troop levels. Mr. President, this time around, accept sound military advice. Leave the 9800, make it conditions-based, and let the next president, whoever he or she may be, deal with Afghanistan. Please do not cut these troop levels in half. If you do, Afghanistan is going to become Iraq quickly.”
With regard to leaving troops in Afghanistan, McCain worries that “we have forgotten the lesson of 9/11.” McCain reminds that those attacks came from “a base here in Afghanistan.” “We cannot afford to consign Afghanistan to that status again. Of course, if we leave, and these forces take over, then there will be further attacks on the United States of America. By the way, there’s going to be further attacks on the United States of America, as long as they have a base in Syria, but then they’ll have another base in Afghanistan.”
Watch the full exchange here:
