McCain Told To “Be Quiet” After Criticizing Obama On Iran
Jun 23, 2009 23 Comments ›› Erik Wong
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Sen. John McCain continued to rap President Barack Obama for his measured reaction to the crisis in Iran, which McCain said was inadequate in its support for the protestors of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s contested re-election.
Appearing on C-Span’s Washington Journal on Tuesday morning, the Arizona Republican said that when it came to Iran, Obama response “has not been enough.”
Saying that he expected Obama to “come out more strongly” during his press conference on Tuesday, McCain urged the man who defeated him in the 2008 campaign to “follow the example of our founding fathers that declared that all of us are endowed with certain inalienable rights.”
“Sen. Daniel Webster, when the Greeks rose up against the Turks in 1823, I would love to give you the full quote, but he said it is our duty to stand up for people who are struggling for freedom,” McCain said. “That is what America is.”
As for George Washington’s famous farewell address, warning of the perils of foreign entanglements, McCain did not mention it.
The line pushed by McCain has become the de-facto Republican criticism of Obama since the crisis in Iran began. The president has expressed his concern with the rising violence in the country as well as the obvious inaccuracies in the presidential vote. But he has avoided outright support for the seating of opposition candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi.
The measured manner of Obama’s response, while criticized by some, has been described as essential by many foreign policy observers. On Monday night, Time Magazine’s Joe Klein applauded the president for his approach. And when asked about earlier McCain’s remarks, he urged the Arizona Republican to stop talking.
“Be quiet,” said Klein. “You don’t need to do this. You know? You know what you’re doing is a self-indulgent at this point. Sen. McCain, if he’s going to talk about this, should also talk about the fact that the United States supported Saddam Hussein in the Iran/Iraq war for eight years. Every one of those protesters out in the streets, every last one of them believes the United States supplied Saddam Hussein with the poison gas that has debilitated tens of thousands of Iranian men.”
