Obama may have thought that taking a scripted trip to the Middle East was enough to boost his nonexistent foreign policy experience, but when a an actual international crisis occurs, Obama does little more than issue a vague, watery response, so he can get back to swimming and soaking up sun on the beach, while John McCain demonstrated which of the two contenders for the White House is truly ready to lead.
John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, on Monday upstaged George W. Bush’s administration over the Georgia crisis with his strongest statement so far calling on the US and its allies to come together in “universal condemnation of Russian aggression”.
Mr McCain, who gave his first response early last Friday several hours before any official word from the Bush administration, said the US should take steps to assist Georgia and other democracies in the region that he said were threatened by Russia’s actions.
“Russia’s aggression against Georgia is both a matter of urgent moral and strategic importance to the United States,” said Mr McCain. “The implications go beyond their threat to . . . a democratic Georgia. Russia is using violence against Georgia, in part, to intimidate other neighbours such as Ukraine, for choosing to associate with the west.”
Mr McCain’s statement – his third since the crisis began – stood in clear contrast on Monday to the relatively low-key response of the Bush administration and the Obama campaign. Barack Obama himself issued a statement on Saturday but remains on vacation in Hawaii. President Bush, at the Beijing Olympics on Saturday, expressed “grave concern” about Moscow’s “disproportionate response” in South Ossetia, but did not follow Mr McCain in portraying the crisis as a watershed moment for democracy in the region.
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