Back in the 2008 presidential election race, John McCain hammered at then-candidate Barack Obama for his lack of experience in military matters, especially compared to McCain himself, a veteran.
During one of the debates between the two men, McCain said of Obama, “I’m afraid Senator Obama doesn’t understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy.”
Obama shot back at McCain, “I absolutely understand the difference between tactics and strategy. And the strategic question that the president has to ask is not whether or not we are employing a particular approach in the country once we have made the decision to be there.”
Recently, McCain was asked about his opinion on President Obama’s record as Commander in Chief over the years since that election. McCain told this sobering story.
“I was in Louisiana campaigning for our candidate there and we went to a bunch of veterans’ events. At one of them, a young man came up to me and said, ‘Senator McCain, I was at the Second Battle of Fallujah’ — as you know, that was the bloodiest single encounter when the surge began; we lost 86 soldiers and Marines, [and] I think 400 were wounded — and he said, ‘I lost four guys in my platoon. Now the black flags of ISIS fly over Fallujah. Tell me, Senator, what do I tell my friends’ mothers?’”
McCain sees the current presence of ISIS in the region as entirely President Obama’s fault.
“That’s was a tough one for me to answer, and as you know, I believe that this could have been avoided by leaving a residual force behind, a stabilizing force behind. History will make that judgment; I’m growing a little weary of arguing it, but… We have to perform in a way that is worthy of these people’s sacrifice.”
McCain was asked about the plans for the incoming GOP-majority Senate.
“I was very pleased when one of the first things Mitch McConnell said yesterday was, ‘We’re not going to shut down the government again.’”
Word on the street is that this once again puts McCain at odds with Senator Ted Cruz, who has already promised to block Obama’s nominee for Attorney General.