Bush's Lessons for McCain Posted by Patrick Barry

Tonight at the RNC, President Bush argued that John McCain is ready to lead America in the 21st century, in part because he "understands the lessons of 9-11."  If what Bush means  is that McCain understands his Administration's lessons of 9-11, then yes, the senator from Arizona has been a quick study.  Here are just a few of the things Senator McCain has learned from President Bush following 9-11: 

Immediately after September 11th, McCain's focus wasn't on those who attacked us.  He looked instead to Syria, Iran and Iraq.

“That's where the tough part of this whole scenario is going to begin. And that is that, after the Taliban are overthrown -- which I believe they will be -- I have very little doubt in my mind -- after bin Laden is either taken prisoner or killed and his network is destroyed, then what's next? Obviously, Iraq is still bent on -- Saddam Hussein is still bent on developing weapons of mass destruction. Obviously, the Iranians are still supporting terrorist organizations, as are the Syrians. That's where the tough choices and decisions are going to be made.”

McCain and the Bush Administration’s decision to turn from the terrorist threat to Iraq has resulted in the death’s of over 4,000 Americans, a cost of over $1 trillion dollars, and the loss of good-will around the world.

After September 11th, McCain insisted on connections between Iraq and Al Qaeda, allegations which turned out to be completely false.

"Sept. 11, 2001 showed that al-Qaeda is a grave threat. Saddam Hussein has the ability to make a far worse day of infamy by turning Iraq into a weapons assembly line for al-Qaeda's network.”

Of course, the bi-partisan 9-11 commission came to a very different conclusion, finding no "collaborative relationship" between Iraq and al Qaeda.

In the volatile Afghanistan-Pakistan region, home to those who attacked us on September 11th, McCain said that the U.S. could afford to simply “muddle through.” 

“I am concerned about it, but I'm not as concerned as I am about Iraq today, obviously, or I'd be talking about Afghanistan. But I believe that if Karzai can make the progress that he is making, that -- in the long term, we may muddle through in Afghanistan.”

Today, the consequences of McCain's "muddling through" are dire. The Taliban are resurgent, and Al Qaeda “is improving the last key aspect of its ability to attack the U.S.”

Looking at this list, there is a very clear difference between learning Bush's lessons' from September 11th, and learning the right lessons. John McCain has learned plenty of the former, but of the latter, he falls pretty far short.