McCain: U.S. shouldn't stand by, watch slaughter
Sen. John McCain said today that imposing a no-fly zone over Libya would send a message to those opposed to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi that the U.S. supports them.
He also does not believe a no-fly zone would - or should - lead to the use of U.S. or NATO ground forces.
"I don't think we should end up on the ground. I think it would be counterproductive for us to send in ground forces," McCain said on CBS' "The Early Show" Tuesday. "But I think it's very clear that right now through the use of air power, Qaddafi has been able to stop the tide that's been running against him. He has been able to inflict casualties from the air. And we have not well-trained or untrained troops as we have on this anti-Qaddafi side. Air power really does change the equation.
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"I think we all realize American troops on the ground would be very harmful to our cause," he said. "But right now, Qaddafi is massacring his own people. He is committing war crimes. He is doing things which are in violation of every standard of international behavior."
"The President of the United States has said Qaddafi must go - that means that we need to take action," McCain told anchor Erica Hill. "A no-fly zone would not only stop the air attacks but it would also send a message to the anti-Qaddafi forces that we're assisting them. There is humanitarian aid that needs to be given, intelligence that we could share with them - a number of areas take we could help these anti-Qaddafi forces without sending in ground troops. And we're facing a huge humanitarian crisis there, too."
But can a no-fly zone fly without a ground invasion as well? McCain did not believe so.
"For ten years over Iraq, we imposed a no-fly zone, and the escalation was as a result of 9/11, not because of that," he told Hill.
"And I will point out again, Qaddafi's air capabilities are not very great, his maintenance is not good. It's not that huge a problem when you look at where his air assets are located."
When asked if he understood skepticism on the part of some to getting involved in any military conflict in the Middle East, McCain replied, "I certainly do - certainly a lot of skepticism given the length of our involvement and the losses we've sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan."
But, he added, "the American people also are not prepared to sit by and watch this bloodthirsty - one of the two or three worst despots in the world - slaughter innocent civilians."
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BTW; we need to save up our American military lives for an invasion of Iran.
Hey why not? We stand by and watch the Israelis slaughter the Palestinian civilians. Heck, we provide them with the tools to do it. Since when did we start caring about slaughter?
I do.......................... and oh yes, that's right, I've been there.
Your argument vis a vis the rich getting richer is often cited and never the less flawed.
It is precisely the percentile margin of difference in income between the richest and poorest in society that creates poverty and poor living standards.
That is because you presumably are not at the very bottom of the pyramid. No society where there is that great a differential can avoid a exponentially large under class.
I suppose, in layman's terms, what I'm saying is yours is a fallacious argument because this form of economics does not create jobs, however menial enough to justify its principles. ........And even feudalism did that.
What an idiot. How could America have ever considered this senile old fool for president? The invasion of Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. In fact, I believe the ill-timed operation against Iraq was directly responsible for our inability to take care of business in Afghanistan. We should have been finished there years ago but the premature Iraq invasion created a distraction that has prolonged the effort to bring to justice those responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Yes, I think Iraq needed to be dealt with, just dealt with after we had finished primary operations in Afghanistan. Sorry Mr. McCain. The result of that single comment: EPIC FAIL!
Education, Education, Education. The one and only road out of poverty. Even the third world knows this.
Look for the party that who is prepared to put their money where their mouth is on improving the standards of federal education.
Bottom line is those at the very top would rather have the middle pay for those with the very least instead of allowing everyone a chance to come to the poker table knowing what a decent hand looks like.
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Why is why the wealthy employ repubs to do their bidding.
They can't get any non-wealthy to buy the truth by saying "Our benefactors want MORE wealth" so they peddle their "trickle-down" BS.
Anytime anyone convinces you that the wealthy need MORE wealth just so you can have a job - you've just been had.....
Obama has adopted a strategy that Eisenhower first proposed as to how to proceed against communism. Not to pursue but containment only. Communist will self employ. In spite of Nixon's failure to observe his advice, communism fell without a shot fired directly between the opposing forces in 1991. Russia, 1997 China.
It is for the people to decide their fate and not for another. By not stepping into various sovereignties and cultures, at great expense to us, to tilt the situations in favor to our agendas. Obama allows the people by their own strengths and ideologies to bring to term their agendas. If he had interfered in any situation, a message to the people in transition is that they may manipulate the U.S. to intervene for one purpose or another. On and on we go until our resources are depleted and our demise exposed.
One small example; Computer virus to Iran rather than military. Obama/Israel superior strategy, to our Right Wing sludge hammer strategies. By the way Busch proved that sludge hammer does not work as we are still trying to disentangle ourselves from that failure.
In this alone how much Obama has saved us from a McCain/Cheney/ Rumesfield/ Kerry version.
Their repeated calls for intervention in just about any and all conflicts all over the world shows as much.
They don't pass up a chance for war, do they?
It's like "Hey, they're fighting in Egypt - let's jump into that. Or Hey, they're fighting in Libya - let's jump in to that"............
Democrats are always saying that they support the poor and minorities but yet they develope systems that do nothing more but institutionalize them maintaining thier economic status.
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Agreed.
I'm an Independent and I don't support giving hand-outs to healty adults.
Nor can I blind myself to the neo hypocrisy of "support ot troops" when they cavalierly call to waste our warriors in matters that are not our's to solve.
Some "support" that is.......
Look for the party that who is prepared to put their money where their mouth is on improving the standards of federal education.
Bottom line is those at the very top would rather have the middle pay for those with the very least instead of allowing everyone a chance to come to the poker table knowing what a decent hand looks like.