If it's Sunday, it's meet John McCain. McCain appeared on Face the Nation for I think about his gazillionth Sunday show appearance to throw some more stones at the Obama administration and beat some more war drums, because lord knows this man is not happy unless we're getting involved in another military engagement.
I hate to break it to McCain, but America's standing in the world improved the minute that President Obama was elected and the rest of the world was breathing a sigh of relief that George W. Bush was gone. There are plenty of us out here who don't like the fact that he's been too hawkish and continued too many of Bush's policies and hasn't held the Bush administration accountable for their actions. But to claim that because he hasn't been more aggressive that the President has somehow harmed our standing in the world is just utterly ridiculous.
McCain: U.S. "is weakened" under Obama:
Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., was skeptical that violent attacks on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya were not preplanned.
"Most people don't bring rocket-propelled grenades and heavy weapons to demonstrations. That was an act of terror," McCain said on "Face the Nation" Sunday. "For anyone to disagree with that fundamental fact I think is really ignoring the facts." [...]
McCain said the United States has adopted a policy of "disengagement" under President Obama, which, he said, has "weakened" America's standing in the world.
Pointing to the violent protests this week in Benghazi, Libya and Cairo, Egypt, McCain said, "The fact is the United States is weakened.
"It was Osama bin Laden that said, 'When people see the strong horse and the weak horse, people like the strong horse.' Right now the United States is the weak horse." [...]
He also defended Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's rapid criticism of a statement put out by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo - before the protests turned violent - condemning the anti-Islam film.
"It was a semi-apology," McCain said of the Embassy's statement. "We shouldn't be apologizing for freedom of speech. We should be saying we demand freedom of speech for these people," he said.
McCain also said the U.S. "need[s] to assist these people" in a post-Arab Spring transition.
Pointing to another country in turmoil, Syria, McCain said the United States has not done enough for Syrians living under the brutal regime of President Bashar al-Assad. A reported 20,000 Syrians have been killed since the insurrection began.
"The President of the United States will not speak up for them, much less provide them with the arms and the equipment for a fair fight," McCain said.
McCain pointed to increased violence - and increased Iranian presence - in Iraq; attacks on Americans in Afghanistan; and the killing of 20,000 Syrians as signs of America's "disengagement."
"Prior to 9-11, we had a policy of containment. Then after 9-11, it was confrontation.... Now it's disengagement," McCain said. "We're leaving Iraq. We're leaving Afghanistan.
"They believe the United States is weak and they are taking appropriate action," said McCain, who has opposed an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, adding that the U.S. needs to "reassert American leadership in the region."
