John McCain
While often treated like a foreign policy expert, McCain has made numerous statements that don't correspond to the facts:
On the Iraq War
Iraq War Will be Easy...Or Maybe Not
“I believe that success will be fairly easy.” (9/24/2002, CNN)
"We're not going to get into house-to-house fighting in Baghdad. We may have to take out buildings, but we're not going to have a bloodletting of trading American bodies for Iraqi bodies. ... I don't think it's, quote, 'easy,' but I believe that we can win an overwhelming victory in a very short period of time." (11/29/2002, CNN)
“The American people … were led to believe that this would be some kind of a day at the beach which many of us, uh, fully understood from the very beginning would be a very, very difficult undertaking.” – John McCain (8/22/2006, CNN)
“I knew it was probably going to be long and hard and tough. And those that voted for it and thought that somehow it was going to be some kind of an easy task, then I’m sorry they were mistaken. Maybe they didn’t know what they were voting for.” – John McCain (1/4/2007, MSNBC)
Iraq Had WMDs
"We can make the case that it is obvious that Saddam Hussein continues this buildup of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. But we are not the ones who are forcing this issue. The President of the United States in this resolution is not forcing the issue. It is Saddam Hussein who is forcing this issue." (10/8/2002)
Iraqis Will Welcome Liberation
"Look, we're going to send young men and women in harm's way and that's always a great danger, but I cannot believe that there is an Iraqi soldier who is going to be willing to die for Saddam Hussein, particularly since he will know that our objective is to remove Saddam Hussein from power." (9/15/2002)
"Absolutely. Absolutely," in response to Chris Matthews, "you believe that the people of Iraq or at least a large number of them will treat us as liberators?" (3/12/2003)
Mission Accomplished?
"Well, then why was there a banner that said mission accomplished on the aircraft carrier?" responding to assertion by Fox News' Neil Cavuto that "many argue the conflict isn't over." (6/11/2003)
"I have said a long time that reconstruction of Iraq would be a long, long, difficult process, but the conflict -- the major conflict is over, the regime change has been accomplished, and it's very appropriate." (6/11/2003)
On Arab Spring
Minimizing Fatalities in Egypt Uprising
In February 2011, just weeks after the Egyptian uprising, McCain claimed that in contrast to Egypt, Iran is a “more oppressive, repressive police state that knows no restrictions. We saw last time, they don’t hesitate to shoot and kill people in the streets. Obviously, the Egyptian military was not ready to do that.” In fact, during the protests in 2009, Human Rights Watch documented about 10 people killed. In Egypt, since Janurary 25, there have been over 300.
Friendly with Gadafi
http://husseini.posterous.com/mccain-on-a-late-evening-w-gadafi-a-year-ago - not archived
Being Against Egyptian Revolution
"This virus is spreading throughout the Middle East.... This, I would argue, is probably the most dangerous period of history in—of our entire involvement in the Middle East, at least in modern times. Israel is in danger of being surrounded by countries that are against the very existence of Israel, are governed by radical organizations.” (2/2/2011, Fox News)
“This revolution,” he said, “is a repudiation of Al Qaeda. This revolution has shown the people of the world, not just in the Arab world, that peaceful change can come about and violence and extremism is not required in order to achieve democracy and freedom." (3/2/2011)
Vote on authorization of the use of force in Iraq
McCain voted yes on the authorization of the use of force in Iraq.
On Torture
“I know from personal experience that the abuse of prisoners will produce more bad than good intelligence. I know that victims of torture will offer intentionally misleading information if they think their captors will believe it. I know they will say whatever they think their torturers want them to say if they believe it will stop their suffering. Most of all, I know the use of torture compromises that which most distinguishes us from our enemies, our belief that all people, even captured enemies, possess basic human rights, which are protected by international conventions the U.S. not only joined, but for the most part authored.
“I know, too, that bad things happen in war. I know in war good people can feel obliged for good reasons to do things they would normally object to and recoil from.
“I understand the reasons that governed the decision to resort to these interrogation methods, and I know that those who approved them and those who used them were dedicated to securing justice for the victims of terrorist attacks and to protecting Americans from further harm. I know their responsibilities were grave and urgent, and the strain of their duty was onerous.
“I respect their dedication and appreciate their dilemma. But I dispute wholeheartedly that it was right for them to use these methods, which this report makes clear were neither in the best interests of justice nor our security nor the ideals we have sacrificed so much blood and treasure to defend.
“The knowledge of torture’s dubious efficacy and my moral objections to the abuse of prisoners motivated my sponsorship of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, which prohibits ‘cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment’ of captured combatants, whether they wear a nation’s uniform or not, and which passed the Senate by a vote of 90-9.
On Climate Change
"Today I’d like to focus on just one of those challenges, and among environmental dangers it is surely the most serious of all. Whether we call it “climate change” or “global warming,” in the end we’re all left with the same set of facts. The facts of global warming demand our urgent attention, especially in Washington. Good stewardship, prudence, and simple commonsense demand that we to act meet the challenge, and act quickly. Some of the most compelling evidence of global warming comes to us from NASA. No longer do we need to rely on guesswork and computer modeling, because satellite images reveal a dramatic disappearance of glaciers, Antarctic ice shelves and polar ice sheets." From a speech in 2008
In an interview about Climate Change legislation in 2014, McCain said: "There’s going to be no movement in the Congress of the United States certainly this year and probably next year. So I just leave the issue alone because I don’t see a way through it, and there are certain fundamentals, for example nuke power, that people on the left will never agree with me on. So why should I waste my time when I know the people on the left are going to reject nuclear power? I don’t believe that you can really succeed in reducing greenhouse gases unless you have a lot of nuclear power plants. They’re against them. Well, okay, I move on to other issues."
Fast Track Vote
McCain voted in favor of giving the President fast track trade authority.
Other Wikis
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/06/10/533628/-John-McCains-Wiki