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John McCain
Transcript of John McCain during the third Republican presidential primary debate in New Hampshire (2008 election) (June 05 2007)
BLITZER: Senator McCain, arguably going to war is the most important decision a member of the Senate can make. Did you read the national intelligence estimate, which included all the caveats on whether or not there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I did not read that particular document. I received hundreds of briefing, tens and hundreds of hours of study and background and information on it. And the fact is that the sanctions were breaking down. The sanctions were not going to hold. We had a multi-billion dollar scandal in the form of oil for food. The fact is that Saddam Hussein had used weapons of mass destruction before on his own people and on his enemies. And if he'd gotten them again, he'd have used them again. That was his commitment and his belief, that he was going to. And we did the right thing. The problem was the mismanagement of the conflict.
Senator McCain, we've just spent a few minutes looking back. I'd ask you to look forward now, if you will. Since June 1st there have been at least 17 confirmed deaths of American soldiers in Iraq. Approximately 100 U. S. troops are dying there every month. If our top military commander in Iraq, General Petraeus, reports back to Congress this September that the surge hasn't significantly improved the situation on the ground, what then? MCCAIN: Well, let me say, first of all, I know how frustrated and saddened all Americans are. This morning I was with the family of Matthew Stanley of Wolfeboro, who sacrificed his life. And our hearts and our sympathy goes out to all those who have sacrificed their lives in this conflict. I (inaudible) think this strategy needs to be given a chance to succeed. We haven't barely gotten the fifth brigade over there, which is part of this strategy. I am convinced that if we fail and we have to withdraw, they will follow us home. It will be a base for Al Qaida. And we will be facing greater challenges and greater sacrifices than that already made by Matthew Stanley and his family. There is no doubt in my mind that this will become a base for terrorism, there will be chaos in the region. And when Senator Clinton says this is Mr. Bush's war, that this is President Bush's war -- when President Clinton was in power, I didn't say that Bosnia, our intervention there was President Clinton's war. When we intervened in Kosovo, I didn't say it was President Clinton's war. What Senator Clinton doesn't understand that presidents don't lose wars. Political parties don't lose wars. Nations lose wars, and nations lose the -- have the consequences of failure.
BLITZER: Senator. . .
MCCAIN: We must succeed in this conflict.
BLITZER: ... the question was, if General Petraeus says... (APPLAUSE) ... it's not working so far in September, what do you do then? MCCAIN: Then you have to examine the options. And I'll tell you the options: One is the division that Sam described. You would have to divide bedrooms in Baghdad because Sunni and Shia are married to each other. You have 2 million Sunni and 4 million Shia living in Baghdad together. You would have to -- you withdraw to the borders and watch genocide take place inside Baghdad. You watch the destabilization of Jordan. You see further jeopardy of Israel because of the threats of Hezbollah and Iranian hegemony in the region. All of the options I could run through with you. My friend, none of them are good. That's why we must succeed and give it a chance to succeed.
BLITZER: All right, Senator McCain, this is your chance. I'd like you to respond as someone who is the co-author of this legislation.
MCCAIN: Well, first of all, I agree with Judd Gregg. He's a great senator. (APPLAUSE) Second of all, Rudy, you just described our legislation, so I'd be glad to have further conversation with you, because it does account for people who are here illegally. It does have an employment verification system. And it weeds out those who shouldn't be here, and it gives others a chance to remain in this country. Look, this is a national security issue, first and foremost. Ever since 9/11, it's a national security issue. People came to Fort Dix, New Jersey, from across our southern border and tried to kill our soldiers. For us to do nothing is silent and de facto amnesty. What we have done is what you expect us to do, my friends, and that's come together with the president of the United States, the leader of our party, Democrat and Republican, conservative Republicans like Jon Kyl, Johnny Isakson, Saxby Chambliss and Trent Lott, and sit down and figure out an approach to this problem. And it is a serious national security problem. We need to act, my friends. And if someone else has a better idea, I'd love to have them pursue -- give it to us.
BLITZER: Thank you, Senator. (LAUGHTER) (APPLAUSE) Hold on.
MCCAIN: That can get...
BLITZER: Senator... (CROSSTALK) AUDIENCE MEMBER: . . . a better idea! MCCAIN: That will get the support of enough people so that we can pass legislation. This isn't the bill that I would have written, but it does. . .
BLITZER: All right. Thank you.
MCCAIN: ... it does satisfy our national security challenges, which are severe and intense. And we cannot 12 million people washing around America illegally, my friends. (CROSSTALK) MCCAIN: And I hope you'll examine the legislation.
BLITZER: Thank you, Senator.
MCCAIN: And I hope we can move forward with it. And we can make it better.
BLITZER: All right.
MCCAIN: But it's our job to do the hard things. . .
BLITZER: Mayor, go ahead.
MCCAIN: . . . not the easy things. (APPLAUSE) GIULIANI: I've read the 400 pages. And this is part of the problem in Washington: They say things and then it's not in the legislation. There are four or five different methods of identification, not one. It does not provide information about who exited the United States. Now, tell me how you're going to figure out who's in the United States if you can't figure out who's left the United States. And finally, it doesn't provide for a uniform database. Many countries have this. The United States doesn't have it. On September 11th, when we tried to figure out who was in this country, it took weeks to figure out who were the right people and who weren't, because there isn't such a database. And that is a fatal flaw in this legislation. And wishing it away doesn't make it possible. (APPLAUSE) BLITZER: Senator McCain, you've been involved in military matters virtually your whole life. What do you say? MCCAIN: We have the best-trained, most professional, best- equipped, most efficient, most wonderful military in the history of this country. And I'm proud of every one of them. (APPLAUSE) There just aren't enough of them. So I have to rely on our military leadership, in whom we place the responsibility to lead these brave young Americans in combat as we speak. So I think it would be a terrific mistake to even reopen the issue. It is working, my friends. The policy is working. And I am convinced that that's the way we can maintain this greatest military. As much as I revere the greatest generation, as much as I love my own generation, this is the very best. Let's not tamper with them.
BLITZER: I'm going to go back to Jennifer in a second, but I want Senator McCain to respond as well. When you hear what Congressman Tancredo says, what goes through your mind? MCCAIN: It's beyond my realm of thinking. Look, America is a land of opportunity. The question was just asked, what is it to be an American? It's to share a common goal that all of us -- a principle -- are created equal and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights. That means we go as far as our ambition will take us. That means we have a better life for ourselves and our children. And the lady that holds her lamp beside the golden door is still the ideal and the dream. Of course it has to be legal. Of course that it has to be regulated. And 18 months, by the way, will go by while we fix the border before we do anything else on this issue. But America is still the land of opportunity, and it is a beacon of hope and liberty and, as Ronald Reagan said, a shining city on the hill.
BLITZER: Thank you.
MCCAIN: And we're not going to erect barriers and fences.
Sam Brownback
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