McCain Foreign Policy: Bush Doctrine Plus

What’s wrong with Bush’s foreign policy? According to Mad John McCain, it’s just too darned sensible and cautious:

"I'd institute a policy that I call 'rogue state rollback,'" McCain said during a GOP primary debate in February 2000. "I would arm, train, equip, both from without and from within, forces that would eventually overthrow the governments and install free and democratically elected governments." Though Bush himself would not embrace McCain's weltanshauung until after 9/11, this approach to global affairs would eventually become known as the Bush Doctrine.

Instead of bringing democracy, McCain’s and Bush’s weltanshauung might just result in Gotterdammerung. And that's exactly what we can expect, since McCain's made it clear he plans to stick to the Neocon agenda:

In a major speech, Sen. John McCain distanced himself Wednesday from President Bush's foreign-policy tactics, but embraced his foreign-policy goals.

In a nod to foreign-policy realists, McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, called for the U.S. to practice "international good citizenship" and reconnect with allies weary of Bush's go-it-alone doctrine. But, embracing neo-conservative thinking, he reiterated his support for the Iraq war and made clear that he would, as president, remain committed to an activist foreign policy bent on promoting democracy and confronting Islamic extremists.

"I am an idealist," McCain said, adding later that he was "a realistic idealist."

We real conservatives should revolt, because, as we've seen many times, the Neocon agenda means exactly what Robert E. Lee predicted would arise from centralized government. As he wrote to Lord Acton, ""The consolidation of the states into one vast Republic, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of that ruin which has overwhelmed all those that have preceded it."

Consolidation and centralization is what George W. Bush is all about. McCain promises to be W on crystal meth -- with a Red Bull chaser.

What if you don't want that kind of domestic and foreign policy? Tough. Our handlers know that the secret to keeping us controlled is to allow us to vote on questions THEY compose. In this presidential election, the question we're allowed to answer is, "Who is best qualified to expand and consolidate the DC empire?" If you think that's an exaggeration, let's recall the foreign policy promised by the other two contenders, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Hussein Obama.

First Hillary:

Like Bush, a tough-talking Clinton left open the possibility of military action against Iran if it attempts to acquire nuclear weapons. "We cannot take any option off the table in sending a clear message to the current leadership of Iran that they will not be permitted to acquire nuclear weapons," Clinton said.

Obama's proposed foreign policy is just like everything else in his kaleidoscope platform -- shifting, colorful, and pretty -- designed to make the audience believe he's going to give them whatever it is they want. But notice that despite the concessions to the growing peace movement, Obama knows what DC's real business is, and that's the bomb-and-rebuild business. He wants to be the CEO of the American Military-Industrial Complex, which keeps the cash flowing at Lockheed Martin when the bombs are flying, and at Halliburton, when the rebuilding begins. Read Obama on what he'll do in Iraq, and watch a master manipulator at work:

"After the December 15 elections and during the course of next year, we need to focus our attention on how to reduce the U.S. military footprint in Iraq. Notice that I say 'reduce,' and not 'fully withdraw.'"

"This course of action will help to focus our efforts on a more effective counter-insurgency strategy and take steam out of the insurgency. … I believe that U.S. forces are still a part of the solution in Iraq. The strategic goals should be to allow for a limited drawdown of U.S. troops, coupled with a shift to a more effective counter-insurgency strategy that puts the Iraqi security forces in the lead and intensifies our efforts to train Iraqi forces. At the same time, sufficient numbers of U.S. troops should be left in place to prevent Iraq from exploding into civil war, ethnic cleansing, and a haven for terrorism."

The legendary smoothtalk of "Slick Willie" may be eclipsed by "Slick Barry."

Of course, the real point here is that no matter which of the "mainstream" candidates wins the White House, expect DC to wage more war in the Middle East. Those making a bundle off the war machine don't care what the target is. And the ideologues; that is, the Neocons, or "idealists," as McCain calls them, will succeed in expending American blood and treasure for an "Israel First" foreign policy.