Pat Dollard | Young Americans

The Swamp:

by Mark Silva

Sen. John McCain, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee for president, said today that Iran’s test-firing of missiles today — including one reportedly capable of reaching Israel — is renewed evidence of the threat that Tehran poses to the region and of the need for a disputed U.S.-sponsored missle-defense shield in Eastern Europe.

McCain also dismissed the notion of any “unilateral” negotiations with iran — with Democratic rival Barack Obama today calling the missile tests evidence of the need for stepped up, direct U.S. diplomacy with iran in addition to tougher economic sanctions.

“Iran’s most recent missile tests demonstrate again the dangers it poses to its neighbors and to the wider region, especially Israel,” McCain said in a statement released by his campaign in Arlington, Va.

“Ballistic missile testing coupled with Iran’s continued refusal to cease its nuclear activities should unite the international community in efforts to counter Iran’s dangerous ambitions,” the senior senator from Arizona said.

“Iran’s missile tests also demonstrate the need for effective missile defense now and in the future, and this includes missile defense in Europe as is planned with the Czech Republic and Poland,” he said of a missile defense shield that the Bush administration is trying to build in Eastern Europe to defend against “rogue” states such as Iran.

Russia opposes the missle shield.

“Working with our European and regional allies is the best way to meet the threat posed by Iran,” McCain said, “not unilateral concessions that undermine multilateral diplomacy.”