This just in: If John McCain is elected president, we may not be on speaking terms with Spain.
(Remember, Spain is a democracy and a member of NATO with 1,000 troops currently in Afghanistan. It also has the 7th largest economy in the world. If Spain is attacked, treaty obligations require the United States to respond as if WE have been attacked.)
Shockingly, It appears that this we-don’t-talk-to-Spain policy was formulated to cover up for the fact that McCain couldn’t understand what was being asked of him during a radio interview. If you thought Bush policy was reckless and full of mindless bravado, get a load of this.
Here’s what John McCain said recently in an interview with Spanish owned Union Radio:
INTERVIEWER: Senator, finally, let’s talk about Spain. If you are elected president, would you be willing to invite President Jose Rodriguez Zapatero to the White House to meet with you?
McCAIN: I would be willing to meet with those leaders who are friends and want to work with us in a cooperative fashion. And by the way, President Calderon of Mexico is fighting a very, very tough fight against the drug cartels. I’m glad we are now working in cooperation with the Mexican government on the merida (sp?) plan, and I intend to move forward with relations and invite as many of them as I can, of those leaders, to the White House.
INTERVIEWER: Would that invitation be extended to the Zapatero government, to the president himself?
McCAIN: I don’t, you know, honestly, I have to look at the relations and the situations and the priorities, but I can assure you, I will establish closer relations with our friends, and I will stand up to those who want to do harm to the United States of America. I know how to do both.
INTERVIEWER: So you have to wait and see if he is willing to meet with you or if you be able to do it in the White House?
McCAIN: Again, I don’t, all I can tell you is that I have a clear record of working with leaders in the hemisphere that are friends with us and standing up to those that are not, and that’s judged based on the importance of the relationship with Latin America and the entire region.
INTERVIEWER: Ok, what about Europe? I’m talking about the president of Spain.
McCAIN: What about me, what?
INTERVIEWER: Ok, are you willing to meet with him if you are elected president?
McCAIN: I am willing to meet with any leader who is dedicated to the same principles and philosophy that we are, for human rights, democracy and freedom, and I will stand up to those that do not.
Did McCain understand that he was being asked about Spain? The interviewer clearly thought McCain might be confused after hearing the Senator refer to “the hemisphere” and “the importance of the relationship with Latin America and the entire region.”
But McCain foreign policy adviser Randy Sheunemann cleared that up in an email to Politico:
“No, the questioner asked several times about Senator McCain’s willingness to meet Zapatero, and ID’d him in the question so there is no doubt Senator McCain knew exactly to whom the question referred,” said McCain foreign policy adviser Randy Schuenemann in an email.
And he said this in an e-mail to the Washington Post:
“In this week’s interview, Senator McCain did not rule in or rule out a White House meeting with President Zapatero, a NATO ally,” he said in an e-mail. “If elected, he will meet with a wide range of allies in a wide variety of venues but is not going to spell out scheduling and meeting location specifics in advance. He also is not going to make reckless promises to meet America’s adversaries. It’s called keeping your options open, unlike Senator Obama, who has publicly committed to meeting some of the world’s worst dictators unconditionally in his first year in office.”
A Spanish newspaper apparently tells a different story about McCain’s views on meeting with Zapatero, according to a piece by Max Bergmann in The Huffington Post.
McCain even told El Pais, Spain’s major newspaper, in April that he would bring Prime Minister Zapatero to the White House. (translation via America Blog)
Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, is ready to change the policy of estrangement with the Spanish government that was put in place for four years now by George Bush. He declared that he was ready to fully normalize bilateral relations and that Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was invited to the White House.
Of course, it could be that McCain was simply lying to the Spanish press. Or, it could be that the Spanish press was lying. I don’t know much about the Spanish press, but I’d tend to believe they reported the story correctly, which means McCain has changed his position on meeting with Zapatero … why, exactly?
Apparently this story has been big in Spain. Imagine how you’d feel if you were a Spaniard reading about this. Is John McCain uncertain as to whether Spain stands for human rights, democracy and freedom? Is Spain on a list of nations John McCain intends to punish?
Are we scared yet?