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Feb. 15, 2008
McCain leads the right
Candidate for president talks about Israel.
DAVE GORDON
Arizona Sen. John McCain is the presumptive Republican nominee to run for president of the United States in 2008. He recently spoke with the Jewish Independent.
JI: How should the United States deal with Syria?
JM: Syria and Lebanon would not have captured those two Israeli soldiers were it not for our weakness in Iraq. They were emboldened. They would not have supplied Hezbollah with that missile that hit that Israeli warship and be encouraging Hamas in the Palestinian areas.
Syria is a huge threat.... Everybody says, "Direct talks with them." Where do you begin the conversation? Is it on the destruction of Israel? Or on the topic of Armageddon, when their 14th imam comes to power? Or is it when all these terrorist organizations come together to support weapons, IEDs [improvised explosive devices] that are killing our men in Iraq?
If we sit down and talk with them, it elevates them to a significant degree.
JI: Then how do we encourage democracy and deal with terrorists?
JM: Let's get together a league of democracies, invented with the same goals as the United States – that of freedom – to impose economic sanctions on the Iranians today. Why is it we haven't been able to do that [in the United Nations]? Because of China and because of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.
JI: What about the situation in Iraq?
JM: I am more concerned about the ability or the willingness of the Iraqi government to govern effectively than I am [concerned] on the military side. [Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-] Maliki has not passed the law on de-Baathification. I am worried about that. When they told us they'll take two months off, we shook our heads, because our boys are still out there.... Iraq in five years – you will still be likely to see suicide bombers. In Israel, they've literally sealed their borders with the Gaza and the West Bank and still people who want to kill themselves in order to take the lives of others get across occasionally.
But I would [like to] see more reconciliation between Sunni and Shia and that is something which is not unimaginable... What I'd also like to see is the other countries in the region helping them achieve these institutions and democracy.... The leader of Iran said that if the United States leaves, it will be a void Iran wants to fill.... We should not set a date for surrender, as the Democrats want us to do. It's still long and hard and tough but it [the surge] is still succeeding.
Don't underestimate al Qaeda. Don't underestimate their ability to use cyberspace.... This is a struggle that will be with us the rest of this century.... [But] we have a new strategy and we have a new general and that strategy is to go into places in Baghdad and around Iraq and secure the area, allow the social economic and political process to move forward and give these people the opportunity to live normal lives, that's what this strategy is all about.
There are some successes and there are some failures, this is long and it's hard and it's tough. I'm not telling you mission accomplished, I'm not telling you last throws, I'm not telling you a few dead enders, but I'm telling you what happens if we withdraw from Iraq. If we set a date for leaving Iraq, it is setting a date for surrender and we cannot do that.... We lose this one and they will follow us home.
JI: How do you think Israel is faring after the Second Lebanon War?
JM: The security of the state of Israel is probably at worse risk than it has ever been in the history of that nation. In fact, in case you missed it, and I know you didn't, Israel lost the conflict. When you're in a conflict with terrorists and you don't win, you lose.
There's been a UN resolution for years calling for the disarming of Hezbollah. Have you seen any disarming of Hezbollah lately?
JI: What's the next step in the war on terrorism?
JM: I don't like to use the "war on terrorism." I like to use the "struggle against radical Islam."
Iran continues to pursue nuclear weapons and continues to talk about how it wants to destroy the state of Israel. There's a lot that democracies can do to punish the Iranians for their behavior. At the end of the day, I will not allow the Iranians to acquire nuclear weapons. My greatest fear today isn't the Iranians developing nuclear weapons, it's them giving them to a terrorist organization.
JI: Should the United States leave the UN?
JM: It's the only game in town! The problem with the United Nations isn't just corruption. We expect too much from the United Nations. We expect them to be peacemakers, where they do a pretty good job of peacekeeping. We expect them to stand up for human rights, but they have a group of members who have no regard for human rights. We expect them, frankly, to do things that are unrealistic. [But] they look after refugees well.
Should the United Nations leave the United States or the United States leave the United Nations? I think the answer is no.
JI: Many say that Jonathan Pollard, who passed secrets on to Israel a quarter century ago, received a disproportionate punishment relative to the crime. Would you consider pardoning him?
JM: No. He was a traitor. And I understand the Jewish community and the Israeli community, [but] he broke our laws.
JI: What about Ronald Monteperto, the American spy who passed secrets on to China and received three months in jail?
JM: Because someone didn't get the right punishment, doesn't mean I'm going to pardon someone, clearly.... I've had conversations with Benjamin Netanyahu and Ariel Sharon on this.
Dave Gordon is a freelance writer. His writing can be found at www.DaveGordonWrites.com.
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