October 2002: John McCain Defends Preemptive War For Oil
By Logan Murphy Wednesday Jul 09, 2008 12:00pm
If you're like me, it can be hard to get fired up about something John McCain says, but earlier this evening I spent twenty-something minutes watching John McCain's October, 2002 Senate floor speech in favor of launching a preemptive war against Iraq.
It was chilling. John McCain is a war hero, but his foreign policy judgment is both terrifying and dangerous. Despite his protestations to the contrary, it's impossible to watch this speech and not come to the conclusion that he is a trigger-happy war monger.
What stunned me most was that oil played a crucial role in McCain's rationale. Speaking of Saddam Hussein, he said: "his ambitions lie not in Baghdad, or Tikrit, or Basra, but in the deserts of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia." Explaining the reluctance of other powers to support the war, McCain said that Saddam had dangled "the prospect of oil contracts for friendly foreign powers." Read on...
John McCain doesn't want to talk about how we got into Iraq, just how to get out. Unfortunately for him, his flawed judgment in following George Bush into this mess is of major importance to voters and he won't be able to wiggle his way out of it no matter how hard he tries. There is little difference between McCain and Bush, and there is little doubt that he would take us straight into war with Iran if elected president -- that is, if George Bush doesn't beat him to it.
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I'm missing the soft shoe dance of "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb-bomb Ira
QN..
For the first 45 seconds, I thought he was talking about herr dubyah.
"It's a safe assumption that Iraqis will be grateful to whoever is responsible for securing their freedom. Perhaps that is what truly concerns some of our Gulf War allies: that among the consequences of regime change in Iraq might be a stronger demand for self-determination from their own people."
Could he be more wrong?
An oil-based civilization will crash. No ifs ands or buts about it.
Either we accept that oil was a bad idea, or we likely perish along with billions of others when the Big One hits.
John McCain is a POW survivor. He is not a "war hero."
Rusty Shackleford @ 5:
Yup. Exactly. He willingly surrendered to the enemy then willingly and freely signed anti-American documents and filmed propaganda clips for the enemy.
John McCain has said he 'hates' war. Well, sir, how do you explain the speech displayed above? The 'hate' thing doesn't quite come across. So I guess I can only conclude when you say you 'hate' war, you are LYING. War should never be something we seek to do, only something we have to do. And invading and occupying Iraq wasn't the latter. On that, sir, you are and will always be:WRONG. You, Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice, Wolfowitz, Chabali, and any other person who supported the Iraq invasion and occupation. And thank you for your service.
That gave me the creeps.
Dr. Hussein Matt @ 6:
To be fair, Dr. Matt, I don't think we know for sure about the propaganda films because McCain is afraid to release his records.
Rusty Shackleford @ 5:
and that didnt teach old man whistletooth anything at all.
I loves me some McCain singing...
"Old Old Old...Old Old I am...
Draft...draft...draft...draftdraft...I can...
Watch me maaaan....
the mean old maaaan...
Watch me maaan...mean mean old man..
I'll be a draftin and a bombin...when I'm not a noddin'
I'm a mean old man...mean mean I am"
Regarding the Yahoo Search advertisement, I knew that was a guy, the thighs were too big.
Regarding McCain - it's supposed to be news that he's an crazy old warmongering coot?
Rusty Shackleford @ 9:
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/2008/01/28/john-mccain-prisoner-of-w...
Crazy Johnny McWar...ready on day one to be President with judgment you can trust. LOL.
What a load of tripe.
The shameless predictable tying of Saddam to Al Qaeda,the baloney about "irrational hatred" toward good freedom loving nations who just want to spread democracy and would never,ever dream of stealing anybody's oil...
I'm not worried about waking President McCain with a phone call at 3 AM, but I am worried about waking him at 3 PM.
Dear Logan,
John McNutz is NOT a war hero. As mentioned above, he was a prisoner of war. Shot down while wreaking havoc dropping bombs on innocent civilians.
Songbird McWarpig. A scary individual.
FreeThought @ 17:
Ahh come on, torture is a means to prepare someone to become president.
Why do you think we built that Presidential Training Center in Guantanamo Bay? they aren't tortured POWs. they are Presidents in training.
"John McCain is a war hero" ?
John McCain was then and is now a proponent of killing just like all soldiers.
There are NO heroes in war. Only killers.
Memo to Every Country in the World: When John McCain is president, you will have to file monthly reports explaining why the United States should not attack you. It isn't our responsibility to justify going to war; it's your responsibility to convince us we don't need to (check one or more): a) obliterate you; b) remove your leadership and install a puppet government friendly to American business and willing to house American troops; c) spend billions of dollars undermining your government and stability in your region without having any plan for the future; all of the above or some other course guaranteed to leave your country or region FUBARed.
Also, be forewarned, all plans are subject to change based on day-to-day political and economic needs. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Important Note: John is given to fits of mindless rage and in addition to being quite stupid is also having trouble remembering his name and getting a good fit in Depends. Act accordingly.
Watch the last few minutes of Three Days of the Condor.
Pay close attention to what "Higgins" sez (@2:20 in) about the American public and oil and food.
Try to disagree.
Underground Pirate @ 20:
Yep. And you (and I) pay them to do your killin for you.
What's worse? Hypocrite.
Dr. Hussein Matt @ 13:
I couldn't make it through much of that, unfortunately. He's not much of a writer. I did catch where he expressed his admiration for Richard Nixon. I wonder if he's flip-flopped on that, too?
FreeThought @ 17:
Very true.
Dr. Acula @ 18:
Indeed, and that he will be the next leader is even worse ........ let alone that as soon as Israel kicks (under US orders) of and the US backs them against Iran Bush calls a state of emergency and puts back in the draft, game over.
21 oh really Says: Memo to Every Country in the World: When John McCain is president, you will have to file monthly reports explaining why the United States should not attack you. It isn’t our responsibility to justify going to war; it’s your responsibility to convince us we don’t need to (check one or more): a) obliterate you; b) remove your leadership and install a puppet government friendly to American business and willing to house American troops; c) spend billions of dollars undermining your government and stability in your region without having any plan for the future; all of the above or some other course guaranteed to leave your country or region FUBARed.
Also, be forewarned, all plans are subject to change based on day-to-day political and economic needs. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Important Note: John is given to fits of mindless rage and in addition to being quite stupid is also having trouble remembering his name and getting a good fit in Depends. Act accordingly.
====================================================
Doesn't the size of the depends, depend on the size of the load they are expected to carry? Just curious.
Johnny2Bad @ 22:
Nowadays they print it, and the population in the US shrugs.
It's obvious that the neocon way out of Iraq is through Iran...
this is the oil frontier that doesn't gain the attention the
middle east...oil in africa...somalia
The real motives behind the invasion were oil and geopolitics. According to most estimates 30 per cent of America's oil will come from Africa in the next ten years. Bush's new warlord-friends in the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) have already indicated that they are ready to pass a new oil law that will encourage foreign oil companies to return to Somalia. The same oil giants that are now lining up in Iraq will soon be making their way to Somalia as well.
The Horn of Africa is also critical for its deep-water ports and its strategic location for future military bases. It's all part of the Grand Schema for reconfiguring the region to accommodate America's hegemonic ambitions.
Come on everybody. Take it easy on the guy. His eyes are going to explode, and you all know you are taking him out of context.
I'm sorry mcstain was a lousy pilot and got himself shot down. I'm sorry he had to endure being a prisoner in a foreign country. I'm sorry he was abused, tortured and used for propaganda by his captors.
And that makes him a hero? I don't think so. It does make him a soldier worthy of respect for his sacrifices.
In fact mr. mcstain hasn't really done anything in his personal life that would warrant him being granted the title 'hero'. Most of his behavior is actually pretty bad but he's given a pass by those who have to deal with him because he's a brain injured war veteran.
Ok so if you take away his military service what have you got?
An elderly card carrying conservotard who doesn't have the first clue about the government he's been a part of for years let alone anything about foreign policy, economics, health care, education or for that matter how to spell the names of all the capitols.
He's certainly the 'go to' guy if you're a rich lobbyist or ceo who's looking to buy a vote in government.
I'm just wondering if they have to pay extra for the leiber-triloquist he travels with now to keep him on message... and awake.
He' at least as good a public servant as he was a pilot, right?
He's a Christian. Of _course_ he's a mass murdering terrorist.
Rusty Shackleford @ 5:
He's worse than Jane Fonda because after he turned into a traitor giving away military secrets, his father arranged to have John released, but nooooo, McCain was riding high on the hog and eating well, so he elected to stay with his comrades. He's just what this country needs - another "Mission Accompolished" Bush.
It was kind of chilling of how wrong he was in that speech. Because of the reason why he was mislead was his own grandizing the American flag before humanity. I think questioning Patriotism is the right thing to do, particularly questioning your own patriotism, in the content of blind patriotism of worshiping the flag.
"The three days of condor" right at the end was pretty significant!
Johnny2Bad @ 23:
Hypocrite? Money is stolen from me for this purpose. Get real moron!
Underground Pirate @ 36:
Stolen? You and everyone else pays it. If not you'd be in prison serving time as a tax evader for standing on your so-called principles. But I just know you don't have the balls for that. Instead you're driving around in a car filled with the gas they stole for you. After which you get on your oil based plastic computer and type "Killer Killer Killer".
You're not only a hypocrite but a despicable one.
Norse @ 27:
Yep.
Johnny2Bad @ 37:
Your ad hominem attacks are sophomoric. The fact is that McCain is not a hero, and neither is anyone who kills for money.
[quote=dickhead]"We fight for love of freedom and justice, a love that is invincible. " [/quote]
Fucking liar. The only thing they love enough to kill other people for is oil (money is a close second).
Wasn't it H. W. Bush's Ambassador to Iraq that gave Hussein the impression that it was O. K. with the U.S. for him to invade Kuwait?
Fredric L. Rice @ 33:
Just as ignorant as the cause you're fighting against. *sighs*
Are you in jail yourself right now for refusing to pay taxes, or are you just shilling for the continued bombing of women and children?
Those are the only conditions which could give rise to your comment.
prunes @ 43:
Shilling for more killing ? Me ? Your "argument" is that since I am not in jail for tax evasion, I am supporting war ?
Non sequitur !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
are you refusing to pay taxes yourself and thus justifiably calling others hypocrites, or are you hypocritically holding others to standards you yourself don't abide by?
Why do people continue to say Mcold is a war hero? Just because he graduated at the bottom of his class, crashed 5 planes does not make him a GD war hero. Please quit adding to this myth. The man is and always has been a complete dumbass.
So then, the purpose of diplomacy is not to avoid war, but to try and get our "allies" to support a preemptive invasion? Scary.
constituent @ 29:
Ah, so somebody else is paying attention to what's going on in Africa.
The oil is more in West Africa than East Africa, though. The Horn of Africa is one of the poorest regions of the world, and has the only anarchy in the world. That situation breeds fundamentalism. It never ends well when a region is not only poor, but kept that way by foreign powers, because the demons raised one day turn and rend their makers.
I would urge MoveOn.org and others to make this a perpetual television commercial over the next few months. But then I get to thinking that he's so screwed up on basic domestic issues that this probably doesn't even need to be a focus for Obama to win - and win big.
But do it anyhow.
"They fight to express an irrational hatred for all that is good in humanity" - that's already been disproven, Senator; but it's still a great quote because Americans are so stupid they'll believe anything!
"We will fight for the love of freedom and justice, a love that is invincible" - you forgot oil, Senator; but that's ok because Americans don't need to know what we're really fighting for!
"All we must do is stay true to our faith" - nobody would argue that point, Senator;going into war with more troops, more training and better armor would be nice, but everybody knows that our good, ol' American fortitude can conquer anything!
Wow - how stupid and sad this man is, not to mention how stupid and sad EVERYONE who thinks that way is. If they weren't screwing me over so badly I would actually feel sorry for them. As it stands, though, they're all too dangerous for me to garner any sympathy for them.
Everyone, including many progressives, say McCain is a war hero. But if dropping bombs from thousands of feet up on civilians of a (another) country we invaded illegally is defined as heroic, then there is no hope for peace, or sanity.
There is a fine line between a suicide bomber attacking an outdoor cafe and a Navy bomber killing civilians from in high; perhaps the "suicider" is more brave. Many old hands of the military echo McNamara saying that the US committed war crimes on a massive scale during WWII.
The fact that McCain was shot down, imprisoned and tortured for 6 years (like a "terrorist" at Gitmo) does not make him a hero. The double standard of American exceptionalism sucks, and progressives should not also practice it.
The real heros are the Berrigans and Kings who struggled and gave up comfort for themselves to save others. Time for progressives to stop parroting the "McCain is a hero" lie.
Underground Pirate @ 44:
You said that all soldiers are "proponents of killing". That's crap. You insult all soldiers and expect to get a pass? Not with me, Citizen.
Then you run for cover....cop out by saying that the government "steals" money from you to support it. B.S. If you believe its stealing....Don't pay it.
Otherwise you are nothing more than a "killer" by proxy. Take a stand for something. Grow testicles or STFU.
Was invading Iraq for oil largely McCain's idea??
McBluffer!
What got me in that speech, which noone has commented on, was how emphatic he was near the end when he spoke of how careful *and responsible* we must be in deciding when to go to war because the men and women who will fight that war depend on our good judgement. They will honorably and bravely do what we (commanders) tell them to do.
And we/they/he let them down. We irresponsibly rushed into this war, and we are continuing to fail the troops by keeping them there long past time to get out.
Please stop calling John McCaine a "war hero."
Dropping bombs from 30,000 ft. on innocent civilians makes one a war criminal, not a war hero.
There is nothing brave or honorable about getting shot down and taken prisoner for killing innocents in an immoral war. The only honorable thing is that the Vietnamese kept their cool and didn't shoot this maniac.
A true war hero is someone like John Kerry, a soldier who confronts the enemy head-on, man-to-man, and someone who risks his (or her) own life in defense of others (such as throwing onself on a grenade so your fellow soldiers don't get killed when it explodes).
Most Republicans haven't a clue what a genuine war hero is, nor do they know what real war is. You can tell that by how eager they are to send others and the children of others to fight the wars they start and act as cheerleaders for. Republicans are essentially cowards--they are sociopathic pukes like John McCaine who feels no guilt for the faceless, nameless innocents he has slaughtered by pushing a button. Don't call McCaine a war hero.
In his speech, McCaine claims that Saddam Hussein tells Sunnis in his country to actively support al Qaeda.
Why hasn't anyone with clout demanded that he either support that claim with evidence or admit that, along with the other war criminal, George Bush, he lied us into a war?
When Bush is prosecuted for the murder of US troops, maybe John McCaine can be a co-defendant.
Don't forget to play the speeches from John Jerry, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, et al. explaining why we urgently need to bomb the living shit out of Iraq.
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