In the November/December 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, Senator John McCain outlined his vision for America’s future in the war against terrorism. In the article he argued how he, as the next President, would push US foreign policy and what programs he would institute. The following is a list from that article.
1) Tougher political and economic sanctions against Iran.
2) Privatize the sanctions effort with other allies
3) Help friendly Muslim states build open and tolerant states
4) Establish a free-trade area from Morocco to Afghanistan
5) Increase size of US Army and Marine Corps to 900,000 troops
6) Increase military equipment
7) Create an Army Advisory Corps of 20,000 to partner with militaries abroad
Create a nonmilitary deployable force to train foreign forces
9) Launch programs in civilian and military schools for education in Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, and Pashto
10) Enlarge the military’s Foreign Area Officer Program for strategic interrogation
11) Create a new agency patterned after the Office of Strategic Services
12)Expand post conflict reconstruction capabilities
13) Create a new independent agency similar to the disbanded US Information Agency
14) Create a League of Democracies to act independent of the United Nations
15) Seek elevated partnership with Indonesia to expand defense cooperation with Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam
16) Seek to institutionalize new quadrilateral security partnership among Asia-Pacific democracies
17)Complete trade agreements with Malaysia and Thailand
After contemplating this list, does anyone really think that this is not just a further extension of the Bush-Cheny doctrine of meddling overseas? And at what cost? Even if we bring a good portion of our troops home next year from Iraq, the above list will cost an enormous amount of taxpayer money.
Does anyone who reads this blog want John McCain’s war? Please let me hear from you, pro or con. What we need is dialogue and debate before the voting starts.
“…our next president will have a mandate to build an enduring global peace on the foundations of freedom, security, opportunity, prosperity, and hope.” John McCain
