WASHINGTON, March 30, 2008
Schieffer: Kudos For Stating The Obvious
McCain's Statement That The U.S. Should Never Go It Alone Is, Sadly, Proved Right Too Often
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Sen. John McCain told the Los Angeles World Affairs Council this week that the military and economic power of the U.S. "does not mean we can do whatever we want whenever we want, nor should we assume we have all the wisdom and knowledge necessary to succeed." (AP)
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Play CBS Video Video Closer Look At American Power Bob Schieffer notes that the U.S. has encountered the most success when working with others in a diplomatic situation, which could perhaps explain the current setbacks facing the War in Iraq.
I like the speech that John McCain made on foreign policy last week. I liked it because he stated the obvious.
To quote, "In a world where power of all kinds is more widely and evenly distributed, the United States cannot lead by virtue of its power alone."
He went on to say that when international actions are required, we will try to persuade our friends we are right, but we in turn must also be willing to be persuaded by them.
For sure, our own history shows that when we have worked with others - those who shared our values and sometimes those who didn't - we have worked wonders: Winning World War II, rebuilding Europe, the triumph of Western values over communism. The list is long and something for which we can all be proud.
It is when we have trusted American power alone, especially when we've tried to use military power to solve political problems, that we have been less successful.
During the build-up to the invasion of Iraq, I remember some in government telling me the American military was so good, we didn't need any help, that bringing in others would just slow us down.
To be sure, when we let others know we needed no help, we got none.
But when it all went bad, we got plenty of advice on where we went wrong.
Yes, John McCain just stated the obvious. But it needed to be said. It's when we overlook the obvious that we seem to get into the most trouble.
By Bob Schieffer
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See all 46 CommentsI''m sure that he is a nice guy, but he is just an aging Vietnam vet that road his glory to a lifetime job.
As a Senator, he champions unpopular causes, but only until he actually figures out that they''re unpopular.
He''s not a leader, and not even a very good follower.
This ought to be good ...
Domestic terrorism is a big ongoing problem for them, but I''m not sure McCain has really stopped to learn about how that evolved for them and how their views may in fact be different from ours. If they didn''t feel the need to join in the ''coalition'' to overthrow Saddam, just how specifically does he think he''s going to persuade countries such as France to join in his fight against ''radical islam'' . . . is it by giving them our multi-billion dollar defense contracts?
That then brings up the question of whether the deficits he''s continuing to rack up are doing more long-term damage than good - because aren''t countries starting to look to China to borrow money, and hasn''t that given them increased influence in places like South America?
Posted by PARIS1969
Les French say oui to McAirbus!
--"Instead, he said, the country must lead by attracting others to its cause, demonstrating the virtues of freedom and democracy, defending the rules of an international civilized society and creating new international institutions."
"If we lead by shouldering our international responsibilities and pointing the way to a better and safer future for humanity ... it will strengthen us to confront the transcendent challenge of our time: the threat of radical Islamic terrorism"--
In another piece he also stated that he was interested in pursuing a free trade agreement with the European Union - not sure but I think he said it while in France congratulating them for subsidizing the Airbus deal that gave them our military contract.
As for Rowdy''s claim that a trip to Bosnia gives one greater principles of record, not a strong claim imo . . .
One very obvious point! If it''s a choice between McCain and Obama, it''s a no brainer. McCain is standing on the principles of record. Obama is right up there with Bush''s 935 lies.
He is way past his prime, his mind is VERY obviously gone or danged near it, and beyond that he offers no solutions, just more of the GW we can abide hardly one more day. As a matter of fact, we''re doggoned forunate we''ve survived is thus far. More of that? You most certainly have got to be kidding me. Tell me that you are, or if you can''t be honest make a case, any case if you can, why you think this poor old geezer could possibly make a good prez for this country. My guess is you cannot.
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Posted by alanrobisch2 at 09:50 PM : Mar 30, 2008
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Anyone who thinks this tired old man and his policies will get us out of the horrible mess we''re in is simply dreaming. He has NOTHING new to add and has proposed the same tired old economic plan as well. We have Social Security to deal with, Medicare to deal with, a failed Health Care System to deal with, Bin Laden is still out there and has to be dealt with... I could go on for awhile but the POINT is that ALL these problems were THERE and needed to be dealt with for 6 years that Mr. McSame and his Party had full and complete control of the Government. Did they even help any of those problems? Nope! All of them are bigger and thus more difficult to deal with today than they were when the Republican''s came into power. Now add to that the Trade Agreements which are HIGHLY discriminatory toward AMERICAN Workers and you have a situation Mr. McSame can NOT and has told us WILL NOT do anything about.
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