NATIONAL SECURITY

McCain on National Security

by Sydney J. Freeedberg Jr.

Sat. Jul 12, 2008


Specific Policy Positions

Afghanistan
Almost always discusses it in the context of making Iraq his first priority. Would focus on soliciting larger NATO contingents rather than adding more U.S. forces, which he would keep focused on Iraq.

Pakistan
Has praised President Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in 1999, as "honest" and "legitimately elected." Denounced Obama for openly stating he would conduct unilateral strikes on Qaeda targets in Pakistan's territory if its government would not act.

Russia
Strongly denounced Vladimir Putin's government for dismantling democracy, even calling for Russia to be expelled from the G-8 group of industrialized democracies. Supports the Bush administration's plan to build missile defense sites in Eastern Europe and calls Russian objections an unwarranted interference in NATO affairs. Would work with the Russians on new arms control agreements, including a global ban on intermediate range ballistic missiles.

Nuclear weapons
Supports the eventual abolition of all nuclear weapons, Ronald Reagan's "dream." Promises increased funding for Cooperative Threat Reduction programs to secure weapons and weapons materials. Would work to strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, negotiate a fissile materials cutoff treaty to reduce production of uranium and plutonium, and increase the authority and funding of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Says he is willing to reconsider his 1999 vote against the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Would cancel research on a nuclear "bunker-buster" weapon.

Military forces
Supports the ongoing addition of 92,000 troops to the Army and Marine Corps, and favors further increases of 150,000 more. Wants to establish a security advisory corps dedicated to training foreign military and police forces, as in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Israel
Favors increased military aid. Calls Iranian development of nuclear weapons "unacceptable," but emphasizes multilateral sanctions and diplomatic pressure.

Key Advisers

Randy Scheunemann, a longtime Republican congressional staffer who founded the pro-invasion Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, has been the chief foreign-policy coordinator for both of McCain's presidential bids. He and Carnegie Endowment scholar Robert Kagan are two of the leading neoconservatives advising McCain. Most prominent of the campaign's self-proclaimed realists is Richard Armitage, Secretary of State Colin Powell's deputy who feuded with the administration's neocons. President Reagan's hard-charging and controversial Navy secretary, John Lehman, has worked with the candidate since McCain was the Navy's Senate liaison in the 1970s.

Record

U.N. peacekeeping dues: Favored a reduction in the U.S. share of U.N. peacekeeping operations. Voted against a State Department funding amendment--introduced by Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and supported by the Bush administration as well as Obama--that would have kept the U.S. payment share at 27.1 percent. The amendment failed, and the United States dropped its share to 25 percent.

Non-nuclear intercontinental missiles: Voted against $77 million to modify the Trident submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile to carry non-nuclear warheads. Such ICBMs are criticized as destabilizing, because Russia, China, and other countries might mistake a conventional launch for the start of a nuclear attack. Obama also voted against the program.

2008 GI Bill: Opposed the initial version of the new GI Bill sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., providing expanded tuition assistance and other education benefits to veterans who serve one tour of duty or more in Iraq or Afghanistan. McCain argued that the new benefits would encourage troops to leave the military rather than re-enlist. The final legislation signed into law largely addressed his concerns, but McCain was absent for the vote.

Key Interest Groups

Aerospace Industries Association: The defense contractors that are among the association's largest members have a tumultuous history with McCain. Boeing, which eventually lost the lucrative Air Force tanker deal partly because of McCain's searing oversight, has also fought with him over the Army's Future Combat System, for which Boeing is one of the lead contractors. But the Arizonan has also supported strong defense funding and free-trade measures, both profitable for the industry.

The American Legion: The veterans' group is generally conservative, supporting the troop surge in Iraq, higher defense spending, and crackdowns on illegal immigration. But its top priority by far this year was the 2008 GI Bill, which McCain initially opposed--and the nuances of his position may be lost on the legion's 2.7 million members.