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Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, said Thursday that the Paris attacks should magnify the importance of national security in the 2016 campaign.
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WASHINGTON — Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, said Thursday that the Paris attacks should magnify the importance of national security in the 2016 campaign — and he questioned GOP front-runner Donald Trump’s qualifications for the job of commander in chief.
The political landscape should shift in the wake of the Islamic State assaults last week that left 129 dead in the heart of Europe, the Arizona senator told Capital Download. “I think that credentials, knowledge and background and experience in national security should be a much more important factor in the decision-making the voters will make,” McCain said, touting in particular South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, whom he has endorsed.
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Asked about Trump’s approach and credentials to be commander in chief, McCain scoffed. “Just to say that you’re going to solve the problem with ISIS by just bombing the hell out of them, I think the voters deserve more specifics rather than these kind of platitudes that I’m sure make for great sound bites, but I don’t think have anything to do with seriously addressing the challenge.”
In radio ads that began airing this week, Trump promises to “quickly and decisively bomb the hell out of ISIS.” The spots are running in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina — the states slated to hold the opening three presidential contests next year.
That said, McCain told USA TODAY’s weekly video newsmaker series that if the 2016 choice next November turns out to be Trump versus Democrat Hillary Clinton, “I vote for the Republican nominee, obviously. I am a loyal Republican.”
McCain, one of most powerful voices in Congress on national security issues, was caustic toward President Obama for a series of what he called “cardinal mistakes” that had contributed to rise of the ISIL in Syria and Iraq, among them failing to arm Syrian rebels or to take action when Syrian President Bashar Assad crossed a “red line” in using chemical weapons.
McCain proposed a series of specific steps, including deploying 10,000 U.S. troops to the region as part of an international coalition and establishing a no-fly zone. But he said Obama hadn’t called to ask his advice, and he doubted whether the president would consider taking it. “I’m afraid he is doubling down on what has clearly been failure,” he said.
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In an interview at his Senate offices, which boast a striking view of the Capitol building, McCain also:
• Endorsed a House bill that would impose stricter background checks on refugees from Syria and Iraq to prevent terrorists from being resettled in the United States. “We have to build confidence in the American people that this is not a threat, and if we have a system that would prevent that, then we have to show it to the governors and to the American people.”
• Described as “unpresidential” Obama’s mocking comment that Republicans who wanted to suspend the refugee program were “afraid of widows and orphans.” McCain, calling the remarks a “temper tantrum,” said, “What the president should be doing is rising above it, going directly to the American people, rather than getting into a food fight with some members of Congress.”
• Rejected the idea, broached by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a 2016 GOP candidate, of allowing only Christians in as refugees from the region. “This idea of Christians only in my view is un-Christian,” McCain said. “What about Jews? What about Buddhists? What about anybody else? That to me is slightly offensive.”
• Said it would be “a terrible idea” to forge an alliance with Russia in Syria, a step proposed by some in France. “Russia wants to maintain dominance in the region, a major role in the region. They want to protect their base. They also want to keep Bashar Assad in power, and they’re working closely with the Iranians. All of those are in direct contravention to United States interests there.”
French President Francois Hollande is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week to discuss how their armed forces might work together.
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