McCain Resorts to Scare Tactics and Smears

John McCain characterized antiwar Democrats as shortsighted political opportunists Wednesday during a speech at the Virginia Military Institute in which he repeatedly invoked the specter of “another 9/11.” With unimpressive fundraising and disappointing polling, the senator has made Iraq his signature issue in an effort to appeal to Republican primary voters.

New York Times:

Mr. McCain, a Republican presidential candidate whose candidacy has been shaken by his support of the war, spoke in vivid and even apocalyptic terms as he offered a forceful call for the United States to press on with the battle of Iraq. And he repeatedly portrayed Democrats as acting out of political opportunism — and Republicans as acting on principle — in the debate in Washington over the future of this war.

“America has a vital interest in preventing the emergence of Iraq as a Wild West for terrorists, similar to Afghanistan before 9/11,” he said in a speech before hundreds of cadets, clad in their grey-and-white uniforms, at the Virginia Military Institute here. “By leaving Iraq before there is a stable Iraqi governing authority we risk precisely this, and the potential consequence of allowing terrorists sanctuary in Iraq is another 9/11 or worse. “

“In Iraq today, terrorists have resorted to levels of barbarism that shock the world, and we should not be so naïve as to believe their intentions are limited solely to the borders of that country,” Mr. McCain said. “We Americans are their primary enemy, and we Americans are their ultimate target.”

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