McCain calls for no-fly zone over Libya, criticizes Obama's handling of situation

In some of his harshest comments so far, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) criticized the Obama administration Tuesday for its handling of tumultuous situations in Libya, Egypt and the Middle East.

McCain also shot down the argument that the U.S. could not afford to impose a no-fly zone over Libya.

"Of course we have to have a no-fly zone," McCain said at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council in Washington on Tuesday. "We are spending over $500 billion dollars, not counting Iraq and Afghanistan, on our nation's defense. Don't tell me we can't do a no-fly zone over Tripoli."

"I love the military, I love it, it's been my life, but they always seem to find reasons why you can't do something rather than why you can," he added.

Testifying before the House Appropriations Defense subcommittee Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates addressed the possibility of a no-fly zone. "A no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya to destroy the air defenses," Gates said.

Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have consistently said that all options are on the table in dealing with Muammar Qaddafi.

McCain described the Libyan leader's days as "numbered." "The question is, can we shorten those number of days to save lives? To save people's lives because it's clear he is going to kill whoever he can in order to stay in power."

The longtime senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee was asked if he was disappointed in the administration's handling of recent foreign affairs situations. "Yes I think so," McCain said, characterizing the Obama administration's approach in the Middle East as "behind."

Meanwhile, another prominent Republican, former Minnesota governor and potential 2012 presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty, also criticized President Obama for not condemning Qaddafi.

"A known psychopath is gunning down his own people in the streets of Libya, and the leader of the free world is muted for the better part of a week," Pawlenty told The Wall Street Journal Tuesday.

McCain just returned from a 12-day trip across the Middle East and North Africa, which included stops in Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the West Bank. McCain was joined by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).

"The number one hero in Tunisia is a guy named Mark Zuckerberg," McCain commented in a discussion on Mr. Obama's role in the region. "If he [Zuckerberg] would come to Tunisia, he would be a national hero." Hundreds of thousands of protesters were mobilized via Facebook.

The Atlantic Council is a non-partisan organization that promotes U.S. leadership and engagement in international affairs. At the event, McCain was also presented with the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland by Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Radoslaw Sikorski.

Christine Delargy is an associate producer for CBSNews.com. You can read more of her posts here. You can also follow her on Twitter here: http://www.twitter.com/cbswashunplug.

[wfw3536]

Obama will ride the fence until he see what the polls say.

[tsigili]

Obama showed total ignorance, when he appointed a woman as Secretary of State, when the middle east does not respect women.

[WeHappyFew]

McCain/Palin..................sit back down old man, your mental acuity is not what it used to be.

[nearl451]

If McCain or Liebermann were in charge, we would be permanently at war in an everlasting MiddleEast conflict.

[meboard]

This coming from Mr. "Bomb...bomb Iran." Great foreign policy we would have had...

[kazaamnow1]

This is the problem with McCain. Actually, this is a problem with our politicians where we are very quick to criticize and knock down the opposite party! 1st and Foremost, it's really none of our business to be involved, we have interests there, however, let the Libyans fight for themselves, and lets concentrate on our country getting things right here. McCain had also promised "change", I see no indifference between the way he would have handled this situation, and the good old Bush. 2nd, if we do need to get involved let the opposition ask us for help and not jump in. If we jump in ourselves and impose a no-fly zone, as Gates states it would first require us to take out Gaddafi's air defenses, and there would be civilian casualties, so lets let the revolutionaries ask us for help, and get them to understand the consequences as well prior to doing anything. Don't do the "lets go spend money and have our military jump in anywhere we please" attitude, understand the reprucussions. I think the current administration is handling this quite well where they are actually positioning and preparing, however no decisions have been made yet.

[steamed2]

John McCain is clearly a nut and allows his bias against a Democratic administration over-ride his addled brain. Essentially his response to even the simplest argument of why we shouldn't unilaterally involve the U.S. in Libya is, "Money's no problem." What? Say that again, you idiot. Sure, for the umpteenth time the U.S. should 'ride, boldly ride into the valley of economic ruin', not to mention risking U.S. military personnel for McCain's hazy, outdated and whimsical vision of international morality which no one else believes in. Certainly not Europe or anyone in the Mid-East. Jeez-Louise, when does this kind of muddled thinking finally come to an end in this country? Billions in foreign aid, billions more in military aid to foreign countries, billions, billions, billions! Meanwhile, state by state we ruin our educational system laying off teachers and closing schools, forget public safety while we lay off cops and firemen, watch our aging infrastructure and roads crumbling, etc., while we protect and fund the development of foreign countries. As nations go we are the craziest, most gullible bunch of SOB's the world has ever laid eyes on.

[doctor_know]

Thank god McCain is not president right now....

[sjc_1]

They removed my comment that was right here.

[jimbom121]

Well we have not invaded a country in 7 or 8 years. McCain must be getting an itchy trigger finger.

[redbeachvn]

This is the guy who said we should stay in Iraq for next 50 yrs. Yes, we can do the No Fly Zone missions but why can't the Air Forces of France, Italy, German, Spain and others? Don't they have fighters and tankers? They have more to lose and more to gain.