McCain Questions Rivals' National Security Credentials

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McCain Questions Rivals' National Security Credentials

November 02, 2007 2:13 PM

ABC News' Bret Hovell Reports: Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., strongly criticized his three chief rivals for the Republican nomination Friday, calling into question their qualifications on national security, highlighting their lack of military experience, and asking where they were when he was railing against the Bush administration's "failed strategy" in Iraq.

"There's a clear division between those who have a military background and experience in these issues and people like Giuliani, Romney and Thompson who don't; who chose to do other things when this nation was fighting its wars," McCain said, speaking to reporters after a town hall meeting in North Charleston, South Carolina.

For the first time in the campaign, McCain questioned where his chief 2008 rivals were at the beginning of the Iraq war when he was decrying Bush administration strategy.

"I would like to add again, I was the only one who's running for president who pointed out in 2003 the strategy was failing and advocated the strategy that's succeeding," he said. "I never saw Romney, Giuliani, or Thompson say a word about it except supporting what I clearly pointed out was a failed strategy."

Romney responded to McCain Friday, telling reporters after a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa, "I respect Sen. McCain's service during Vietnam and I respect also his service in the United States Senate."

Ticking off his experience in business, the Olympics, and Governor of Massachusetts, Romney said, "leading organizations through change I think is highly relevant to lead the nation at a time where we face such extraordinary challenges."

Kevin Madden, a Romney spokesman told ABC News, "Governor Romney's campaign is about leadership for the future of our country and our national security. We will leave it to other campaigns to make the mistake of merely assigning blame about the past."

McCain also took a swipe Friday at Giuliani's recent comments suggesting waterboarding as an interrogation technique may not be torture.

"Anybody who has experience in warfare thinks that waterboarding is by any definition torture, and cannot be condoned," McCain said.

Giuliani spokeswoman Maria Comella responded to McCain's comments, telling ABC News, "Mayor Giuliani has been perfectly clear -- if we're going to defeat the terrorists then we must use aggressive questioning. And in those extraordinary circumstances, the president needs all options available to ensure the safety and security of Americans."

In an interview with ABC News' Jan Crawford Greenburg Friday afternoon, McCain against blasted Giuliani.

"I notice that Mayor Giuliani in particular, and others who are seeking the nomination of the Republican party, speak favorably of this horrible technique, which is a violation of Geneva conventions and law, and that's what lack of experience in war is all about," he said.

"General George Washington issued an order that we would quote give quarter, in other words not torture British prisoners. Teddy Roosevelt said we would not abuse prisoners in the Philippines. It's a long tradition of United States conduct that we keep the moral high ground. We've got to continue to do that," McCain told ABC News.

ABC News' Jan Crawford Greenburg, Matt Stuart, Jan Simmonds and David Chalian contributed to this report.

November 2, 2007 in Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (6)

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McCain questioning anyone else's credentials is the biggest laugh this side of a particularly good episode of "Mind of Mencia"! Here we have the man who beat up on GOP bigotry and intolerance in 2000 but has since gotten all kinds of cozy with the gang at Bob Jones University in a desperate search for the lunatic-fringe votes that are so essential to any GOP candidate's prospects! This man is as unstable as Hillary Clinton and may even be a bigger flip-flopper! Thank God he has no chance at becoming president!

Posted by: TheDreaming1 | Nov 2, 2007 4:56:44 PM

I do not believe McCain would ever throw Ron Paul in the mix there. Ron Paul has the support and voters out there, and McCain is lacking greatly. His campaign is in serious trouble financially so of course he is going to try to reel folks in with his warmongering type of philosophy. He is no different than Bush and Hillary.
Ron Paul for the WIN!!!!

Posted by: Tess | Nov 2, 2007 8:05:22 PM

I would be humiliated like most Americans if we continue to be nice to the wrong people notwithstanding the enemy.Terrorists are brutal and deserve likewise treatment.

Posted by: kmjjp | Nov 3, 2007 2:56:22 AM

Unlike Hillery, and most of the other GOP candidates, Ron Paul actually served his country as a member of the military. Paul grew up in the western Pennsylvania town of Green Tree. His family ran a small dairy, with Ron delivering milk door-to-door. Sports were big around there and Paul was a terrific athlete, winning a state track meet in the 220 and excelling at football and baseball. After medical school at Duke, Paul joined the Air Force, where he served as a flight surgeon, tending to the ailments of pilots, and traveling to bases in Iran, Ethiopia and elsewhere. "I recall doing a lot of physicals on Army warrant officers who wanted to become helicopter pilots and go to Vietnam," he said. "They were gung-ho. I've often thought about how many of those people never came back." Paul is given to mulling things over morally. His family was pious and Lutheran; two of his brothers became ministers. Paul's children were baptized in the Episcopal church, but he now attends a Baptist one. He's been married to the same woman for 50 years. As a young man, though, he did not protest the Vietnam War, but he now says it was "totally unnecessary and illegal." Much later, after the United States invaded Iraq, he began reading St. Augustine. "I was annoyed by the evangelicals' being so supportive of pre-emptive war, which seems to contradict everything that I was taught as a Christian," he recalls. "The religion is based on somebody who's referred to as the Prince of Peace."

Posted by: Mike | Nov 3, 2007 2:50:31 PM

Now two Democrates on the committee have decided to vote to approve Bush's choice of attorney general even though this judge states he is not sure if waterboarding is torture. A judge not knowing what torture is?? What a joke. Even McCain knows that it is torture. I guess the fact that it has been considered torture for decades by the international community is not sufficient, nor the fact that the U.S. prosecuted a Japaneese officer and sent him to 15 years of hard labor for using waterboarding, as Kennedy revealed. Wake Up. Vote to stop the illegal torture activities of the CIA, stop nation building, stop policing the world, stop all unconstitional acts of this government. Vote for freedom, Vote for Bill of Rights, liberty and rule of law. Vote Ron Paul

Posted by: Greg | Nov 3, 2007 3:03:21 PM

McCain as an Air force pilot dropped bombs on people to killed and maimed them so what's all this fuss about treament of detainees.And why blame other worthy candidates that have nothing to do with the Iraq war from the very beginning up to this moment?John McCain as a Senator I'm sure voted to go to war that result in the captured of all the bad guys whom have had a disasterous agenda for the United States.It is sad when a candidate feels the heat of the campaign trail try to politicise turture just to boost his candidacy.By the way being a prisoner of war isn't all we need to run the entire country.An experince leader with skills as an executive and managerial expertise is very much the type of President the country need to control spending and lower taxes.I strongly believe Mitt Romney is a strong and sounding candidate for the top job.

Posted by: kmjjp | Nov 3, 2007 10:57:56 PM

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