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Of all the inexplicable Beltway media fetishes, none is more bizarre than the undying love affair with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). So there he was, yet again, on a Sunday morning talk show, pretending to be relevant in a world that has long since passed him by. And how could any right-thinking (in the most nonpartisan sense) person take him seriously? The topic this Sunday, on CNN’s “State of the Union” program, was Libya, and specifically, how imperative it was for the U.S. to more forcefully engage in yet another expensive war. “If we have a stalemate, I think it’s...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Monday that he doesn't think it would be appropriate for the U.S. or NATO to intervene militarily in Syria the way they had in Libya. "I don't see a scenario right now or anytime in the near future where the injection of U.S. or NATO military action would in any way beneficially help the situation, I'm sorry to say," McCain said on NBC's "Today" show.

McCain calls the Libyan rebels his “heroes.” A year and a half earlier, in Tripoli, he described Gaddafi as America’s friend. Senator John McCain’s description of the Libyan rebels as his “heroes” has raised numerous eyebrows. PJM editor David Steinberg has had the excellent idea of seeking comment from the senator’s office on the extensive video evidence of atrocities committed by some of the senator’s newfound “heroes.”While one is at it, the senator should probably also be reminded about this: namely, his cordial handshake with Muammar al-Gaddafi in Tripoli in August 2009. There is more here, including McCain’s allusion to...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee sees a Libyan stalemate and wants NATO to bomb Moammar Gadhafi's inner circle and military headquarters. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham says those closest to Gadhafi "need to wake up every day wondering, 'Will this my last?'" Graham tells CNN's "State of the Union" that the quickest way to end the stalemate is "to cut the head of the snake off."

(snip) "I reminded them that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia reimbursed us after Operation Desert Storm," McCain says. "They said they'd be glad to discuss that.(snip) "They're very good people," he says. "Mainly well-educated, a number of women in the [Transitional National Council] -- very normal, dedicated people." (snip) McCain dismissed concerns that rebel forces include some veterans of al Qaeda. "I'm sure that there may be some element there, but I guarantee you that they didn't rise up because they wanted to be al Qaeda fighters," McCain says. "They rose up because they wanted to throw off the yoke of...

(AP) BENGHAZI, Libya - U.S. Sen. John McCain, one of the strongest proponents in Congress of the American military intervention in Libya, said Friday that Libyan rebels fighting Moammar Gadhafi’s troops are his heroes. (snip) When Obama acted with limited congressional consultation, McCain - who was the 2008 Republican presidential contender running against Obama - defended the president, saying he couldn’t wait for Congress to take even a few days to debate the use of force. If he had, "there would have been nothing left to save in Benghazi," the rebels’ de-facto capital.

Benghazi, Libya (CNN) -- Libyan opposition leaders received a major morale boost Friday as a top U.S. senator made a surprise visit to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi and urged greater American involvement in the bloody campaign to oust longtime strongman Moammar Gadhafi. The visit from Arizona Sen. John McCain came a day after the United States said it was deploying predator drones to Libya. (snip) He said he was against U.S. troops on the ground -- echoing Obama administration policy -- but argued that Western powers need to do more to "facilitate" the delivery of weapons and training for...

BENGHAZI, Libya, April 22 (UPI) -- Demonstrators waving American flags were on hand Friday morning when U.S. Sen. John McCain arrived in the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi. McCain's visit came one day after the Pentagon announced that Barack President Obama had authorized the use of armed U.S. Predator drones in Libya, CNN reported. "The American people support you very strongly and we know it's necessary to help as much as we can," McCain told a crowd of about 100 Libyans.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. John McCain, one of the strongest proponents in Congress of the U.S. military intervention in Libya, is heading to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi for a meeting with forces fighting to overthrow Moammar Gadhafi, an aide told The Associated Press. McCain was scheduled to arrive in Benghazi on Friday, said Brooke Buchanan, a spokeswoman for the senator.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Thursday evening that he and a group of negotiators have “nailed down” language on a Libya resolution and are waiting for instructions from leadership on how to proceed. The measure would serve as a symbolic gesture of support for President Barack Obama’s use of military force in the North African country. Under the War Powers Act, Congress must authorize continued military presence in Libya after a May deadline if American troops are still active there, but it’s unclear if the Senate needs to act. “We pretty well got the resolution nailed down and now we’re...

Obama is scheduled to speak at the National Defense University at Ft. McNair in Washington, D.C. about Libya at 7:30 p.m. EDT.

With a non-fly effectively put into place over Libya, Sen. John McCain says momentum in the fighting between the Muammar Qaddafi regime and rebel fighters can now swing back to anti-Qaddafi forces, but acknowledges they will need more weapons and better training. McCain, R-Ariz., said on CBS' "The Early Show" that he hopes the United States, or others in the international community, supplies rebels with arms, as it once did insurgents fighting the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. (snip) "If the goal then is to get him out, does that ultimately mean that the U.S. could end up arming the rebels...

It is official, Obama, the Nobel Peace Prize winning President of an unprovoked country, has launched an attack on, Libya, a Mideast country. So much for that moral high ground Obama and the Democrats claimed with the U.S. invasion of Iraq. So much for Obama’s “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” as predicted by the Norwegian Nobel Committee that issued Obama the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. So much for that Obama rhetoric that the future of those Mideast countries “will be determined by its people.” Those days are over, Obama is a war hypocrite.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that a no-fly zone will not be enough to stop Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's brutal crackdown on rebels but he precluded the use of ground troops there. "Now, a no-fly zone is not enough. There needs to be other efforts made," McCain said on CNN's “State of the Union.” The 2008 Republican presidential nominee added that he was not referring to ground troops, but instead to jamming Gadhafi's communications systems, sending more aircraft carriers into the area as well as sending weapons to Libyan rebels. "I want to preclude ground troops," McCain said. "That...

Barely nine months into office, President Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize — with the committee citing Obama’s “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy” and his support for nuclear arms reduction. "Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," said Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the Nobel Committee. But the prize shocked the White House and international observers — some of whom are already questioning what Obama has done in his short time as president to deserve the honor. The White...

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Two influential US senators Monday filed a resolution calling for President Barack Obama to recognize the Libyan opposition force battling against the regime of Moamer Kadhafi. The resolution, which does not carry the weight of becoming law if passed, also urges Obama to support a proposed no-fly zone over Libya to protect the rebels, who have been in retreat from Kadhafi's forces in recent days. It also asks Obama's administration to develop a strategy aimed at fulfilling the president's stated goal: the end of the Kadhafi regime. Senator John McCain, who co-authored the resolution with Senator Joseph...

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain called Moammar Khadafy "insane" today as he reaffirmed his call for a US-backed no-fly zone over Libya to prevent its embattled leader from using aircraft to slaughter its citizens. During an interview on ABC News' "This Week," McCain told Christiane Amanpour that the US cannot "risk allowing Gadhafi to massacre people from the air, both by helicopter and fixed-wing [aircraft]." McCain (R-Ariz.) furthered reiterated his support for imposing a no-fly zone, saying Ghadafi's air assets were "not overwhelming." "Let's just call a spade a spade. A no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya to...

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., reiterated his call for a U.S.-backed no-fly zone over Libya this morning and called Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi "insane."

(snip) "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," the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services said at the Atlantic Council Tuesday evening. "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," Sen. McCain said. (snip) On Libyan leader Qaddafi, McCain said, "This guy's days are numbered. The question is -- is can we shorten those number of days to...

Exile is one option for Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday. When asked if the United States would consider military aid to help topple the regime, Carney said “all options remain on the table.” President Barack Obama was meeting with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the White House on Monday to discuss sanctions and other potential actions against the Gadhafi government. Gadhafi has ordered the toughest crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators of any Middle Eastern leader whose rule is threatened by anti-government uprisings. The regime’s violent response prompted the United States, Britain and...