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McCain vows to back former Soviet 'captive' states
AFP ^ | August 18, 2008

Posted on 08/18/2008 6:43:11 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe

Republican White House hopeful John McCain vowed Monday to stand with "brave" new democracies that were once "captive" of the Soviet Union, and slammed the judgement of his Democratic foe Barack Obama. McCain stepped up his attacks on Obama, arguing that turbulent world events like Russia's clash with Georgia and his rival's initial opposition to the Iraq troop surge plan had showed his leadership skills as lacking.

"The Cold War is over, the Soviet empire is gone and neither one is missed," McCain told a convention of US military veterans in Florida.

"Least of all is that empire missed by the once captive nations of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Georgia.

"These brave young nations have joined the free world, and they are not going back."

McCain has been a frequent and vocal critic of Russia's government, and is trying to leverage the political impact of the war with Georgia to contrast his foreign policy experience with that of first-term Senator Obama.

He argued that eastern European democracies in the former Soviet orbit "should be able to count on the free world for support and solidarity."

"If I am elected president, they will have that support," he said, renewing his warnings that Russia should be rejected from the Group of Eight rich nations club and should not be allowed into the World Trade Organization.

McCain also accused Obama of refusing to recognize what he said was the success of the surge in Iraq, and his early opposition to the strategy which Republicans credit with stabilizing Iraq and cutting raging violence.

"It was a moment when political self interest and the national interest parted ways," McCain told the annual convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Orlando, which Obama is due to address on Tuesday.

"For my part, with so much in the balance, it was an easy call. As I said at the time, I would rather lose an election than lose a war."

McCain said Obama had plenty of "ambition to be president" but what was less apparent was "the judgement to be the next commander in chief."'

"In matters of national security, good judgement will be at a premium in the term of the next president -- as we were all reminded ten days ago by events in the nation of Georgia."


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections; Russia
KEYWORDS: foreignpolicy; georgia; mccain; mccainforeignpolicy
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To: Artemis Webb
rabscuttle385 you have my word that if I directly or by implication attack or criticize your ping list I will be sure to ping you directly.

Thank you.

On an unrelated note: Your state is a very nice place. I only wish I could have stayed longer. (I was traveling the past week.)

21 posted on 08/18/2008 7:40:29 PM PDT by rabscuttle385 ("When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat." Ronald Reagan)
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To: Artemis Webb
But calling him "Juan" and implying he is disloyal to The United States is something all together different in my opinion.

Calling him Juan is bad but it is okay to insult freepers as you did with your allegations in post #6?

("girlymen... To hell with Georgia To hell with Poland To hell with Israel...Iran can nuke em!
To hell with the unborn...there are too many mouths to feed anyway!
Who the hell cares if SCOTUS liberals gain even more power..."
)
I've seen people post a lot of reasons why they may not vote for McCain--none of them have included anything close to your comments.
22 posted on 08/18/2008 7:41:57 PM PDT by calcowgirl ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." P. J. O'Rourke)
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To: FFranco
Not that I want war, but I think we’re going to need to slap Russia down some day, and it might as well be now when it will do the most good for McCain and the Republican Party.

Unbelievable. I'm pretty much speechless on that one.

23 posted on 08/18/2008 7:46:41 PM PDT by calcowgirl ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." P. J. O'Rourke)
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To: calcowgirl

I stand by every word of what I said.

Criminal indifference does not have to be verbalized to be criminal indifference.


24 posted on 08/18/2008 7:47:57 PM PDT by Artemis Webb ("The church is near, but the road is icy. The bar is far away, but I will walk carefully.")
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To: Artemis Webb
I stand by every word of what I said.

Then I assume you can back it up with links where freepers have actually said these things?

("girlymen... To hell with Georgia To hell with Poland To hell with Israel...Iran can nuke em!
To hell with the unborn...there are too many mouths to feed anyway!
Who the hell cares if SCOTUS liberals gain even more power..."
)

25 posted on 08/18/2008 8:03:44 PM PDT by calcowgirl ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." P. J. O'Rourke)
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To: calcowgirl
("girlymen... To hell with Georgia To hell with Poland To hell with Israel...Iran can nuke em! To hell with the unborn...there are too many mouths to feed anyway! Who the hell cares if SCOTUS liberals gain even more power...")

Ignoring the name calling and the hyperbole that's certainly an interesting list or things to consider when deciding between Obama and McCain in November.

Thanks!

26 posted on 08/18/2008 8:12:58 PM PDT by FreeReign
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To: calcowgirl
You didn't read post #24 or did not understand it.

If you oppose John McCain for being soft on something like immigration (you don't want Jose to get a drivers licence), KNOWING McCain is the inevitable nominee of the GOP and KNOWING that Barack Obama does not have the political will (let alone the moral compass) to defend Georgia, Poland, Israel and the lives of the unborn then your position, stated or not is:

To Hell with Georgia
To Hell with Poland
To Hell with Israel, Iran can nuke em for all I care!
To Hell with the Unborn, abortion is OKAY with me!

The next President of the United States is either going to be Obama or McCain. Nobody can tell you what to do with your vote, that's your business. But when you are trying to obfuscate the issues that so many lives, born and unborn depend on because YOU see too many Mexicans in line at the local Walmart then you are guilty of “To Hell with...” attitude I've described.

27 posted on 08/18/2008 8:34:50 PM PDT by Artemis Webb ("The church is near, but the road is icy. The bar is far away, but I will walk carefully.")
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To: Artemis Webb; calcowgirl

Here’s the deal:

If Juan McCain pushes for comprehensive immigration reform, which is an amnesty, like he has promised to do in his first 100 days, and then pushes for cap and trade to cripple our economy to chase the non existant global warming hoax—guess what—there is no more USA.

With 30-50 million newly minted Hispanic citizens and their chain migration families and needing social services, and the strangulation of the economy for no gain, you lose the entire USA.

So none of the other things that you are so willing to hang around the neck of those of us “girly-men” who are not drinking the Kool Aid offered by one of the most disloyal RINOS to grace our party will matter, because the good old USA will not be in any condition to effect any of them.

McCain made a lot of the right noises on Saturday night at Saddleback, but quite frankly, when he waxed eloquent about the territorial integrity of Georgia, I wondered aloud—what about the territorial integrity of our own country?

The criminal indifference I see is the constant ignorance of the fact that McCain is a tiger that will not change his stripes. The self delusion of McCainiacs is astounding to see on this forum. But those of us who still want to see conservatism not be totally wiped out in the GOP—we are the ones called names and told we are the ones causing the problem, because we won’t march in lockstep with the latest RINO candidate.

As for your litmus tests—the President can’t change the abortion law; Poland and Georgia deserve our help—but good luck without a Congress that will support such help;Israel needs to bomb Iran and so do we for their acts of war against us in Iraq—but we have been too pussified to act in our self-interest and we have worked to weaken Israel as a sop to our ROP friends in the ME.

The future of our country lies in the securing of our borders and control over unchecked immigration, neither of which should even be an issue after 9/11/01 happened, period.

And the ruining of the economy of the country which is the engine of freedom for the entire planet over the stupidity of non existing global warming will destroy the resources needed to implement the work that needs to be done to ensure our future and security and those of our allies.

You want to look the other way while these two critical items remain unaddressed, be my guest.

If McCain is such a patriot—and always puts his country first like he says—these two should be no-brainers. That fact that Mr.-I-have-a-history-of-reaching-across-the-aisle-to-the-other-side cannot speak with the unequivocal clarity on these two items like he did on when life begins as well as other items at Saddleback is more than just troubling. It’s a strong indication that he doesn’t intend to alter, modify, change, or yield his position on these two critical items.


28 posted on 08/18/2008 9:08:08 PM PDT by exit82 (People get the government they deserve--and they are about to get it --in spades.)
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To: exit82

So if we can keep John McCain out of the White House then Barack Obama will secure the border.

Ok, now I understand.


29 posted on 08/18/2008 9:12:58 PM PDT by Artemis Webb ("The church is near, but the road is icy. The bar is far away, but I will walk carefully.")
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To: Artemis Webb

No. Neither Obama nor McCain will secure this country’s border.

That’s the problem.


30 posted on 08/18/2008 9:17:45 PM PDT by exit82 (People get the government they deserve--and they are about to get it --in spades.)
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To: Artemis Webb

What makes you think immigration is the only objection we have to John McCain? How about global warming, campaign finance, attacking right-to-life groups, gun control, his incessant trashing of Donald Rumsfeld, embryonic stem cells, the Gang of 14, his partnership with George Soros... ?

I’m voting for the guy most likely (unless he picks Lieberman or Ridge as VP), but we have every right to hold his feet to the fire for his transgressions against conservatism. He needs to win over conservatives to win these elections. Having his supporters running around calling them “girlmen” (which is kinda gay) is as counterproductive as anything his detractors are putting out there.

Smarten up. You’re not going to insult anyone into supporting the man. Find a new strategy.


31 posted on 08/18/2008 9:18:50 PM PDT by WhistlingPastTheGraveyard (i hate this election.)
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To: WhistlingPastTheGraveyard

I’m not trying to “insult anyone into supporting the man”.

I’m insulting them because they deserve it.


32 posted on 08/18/2008 9:20:58 PM PDT by Artemis Webb ("The church is near, but the road is icy. The bar is far away, but I will walk carefully.")
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To: exit82
Excellent post. You nailed the issues to the wall. Add to that McCain's confusion about the 1st Amendment, his support for Kosovar terrorists and his belligerent lying and pandering for votes and we don't have a weak candidate we have a candidate rotten to the core.

Why McCain sucks.

And he's still better than Obama ... small consolation. The Republican candidate is actually better than the most hardcore Marxist to ever run for office in the United States.

33 posted on 08/18/2008 10:03:28 PM PDT by TigersEye (2016 Summer Olympics ... Poti, Georgia!)
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To: Artemis Webb
Your cavalier attitude toward McCain's position is pretty smug considering your probably at least a 1000 miles from the Mexican border.

For some of us, it may at some point boil down to defending our homes against the masses from the south. So, yeah it is a big issue.

34 posted on 08/19/2008 3:16:01 AM PDT by catfish1957 (Hey algore...You'll have to pry the steering wheel of my 317 HP V8 truck from my cold dead hands)
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To: Artemis Webb

So people who have any problem at all with John McCain deserve to be insulted. That’s reasonable.


35 posted on 08/19/2008 5:15:40 AM PDT by WhistlingPastTheGraveyard (i hate this election.)
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To: catfish1957
"Your cavalier attitude toward McCain's position is pretty smug"

Smug cavalier (king charles spaniel)


36 posted on 08/19/2008 5:50:16 AM PDT by Artemis Webb ("The church is near, but the road is icy. The bar is far away, but I will walk carefully.")
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To: WhistlingPastTheGraveyard

Thanks!


37 posted on 08/19/2008 5:51:27 AM PDT by Artemis Webb ("The church is near, but the road is icy. The bar is far away, but I will walk carefully.")
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To: Artemis Webb

lol...you got some gall posting Hillary pics around here :)


38 posted on 08/19/2008 5:31:20 PM PDT by catfish1957 (Hey algore...You'll have to pry the steering wheel of my 317 HP V8 truck from my cold dead hands)
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To: calcowgirl

You and I both. Lord ‘a mercy.


39 posted on 08/20/2008 5:27:21 PM PDT by 383rr (Those who choose security over liberty deserve neither- GUN CONTROL=SLAVERY)
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To: 383rr

Thanks. I thought I was alone.
I’m seein’ a lot of that kind of talk lately.
Very disturbing (imo).


40 posted on 08/20/2008 5:35:04 PM PDT by calcowgirl ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." P. J. O'Rourke)
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