John McCain, from Gadaffi crony to Libyan warmonger

This video from the USA says about itself:

26 April 2011

Sen. John McCain yesterday became the highest-profile U.S. official to visit Libya since international military intervention began, and gave a hearty endorsement to the rebels fighting the Gadhafi government … “They are my heroes,” he said … he called his visit “one of the most exciting and inspiring days of my life”.

….McCain‘s last visit to Libya was very different, and it’s amazing that U.S. media outlets reporting on his remarks yesterday are pretending this other visit never occurred. It was just 18 months ago that McCain traveled to Libya and cozied up to Gadhafi, visiting with him at the dictator’s home in Tripoli, shaking his hand, and even bowing a little to Gadhafi:

The point of the meeting was for McCain to discuss delivery of American military equipment to the Libyan regime. I guess the rebels didn’t hear about this? And that American media outlets simply forgot it happened?

Politics Daily (August 2009): Sen. John McCain, visiting Libya this past week, praised Muammar Gaddafi for his peacemaking efforts in Africa. In addition, McCain called for the U.S. Congress to expand ties with Gaddafi’s government, according to Libya’s state news agency. McCain had a face-to-face meeting with Gaddafi, which he detailed on his Twitter page with the following message:

“Late evening with Col. Qadhafi at his “ranch” in Libya — interesting meeting with an interesting man.”

By Tom Mellen:

Republican hawks touch down for Libya visit

Thursday 29 September 2011

Four hawkish US Republican senators travelled to Libya today to meet leaders of the new National Transitional Council regime which rules most of the oil-rich state.

The visit by Arizona’s John McCain, Illionois’s Mark Kirk, South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio of Florida was shrouded in secrecy but they reportedly planned to tour Tripoli’s main square.

Militiamen aligned with the NTC and backed by Nato air strikes seized the capital and much the country late last month but supporters of former leader Muammar Gadaffi remain in control of Sirte, Bani Walid and Sabha despite fierce bombardments.

Mr McCain and Mr Graham had pressed US President Barack Obama for military intervention in Libya weeks before the UN security council’s March resolution authorising military action to protect civilians.

Mr McCain, the top Republican on the Senate armed services committee, also rushed to defend Mr Obama after he came under attack for going to war without congressional approval and in April he visited Benghazi, where he hailed the rebels as “patriots” and “heroes.”

Probably one of the reasons why McCain was and is so eager for violent war, not just against Gadaffi but also against many Libyan civilians who had and have nothing to do with Gadaffi, was to hide his own recent past as a Gadaffi crony.

From The Raw Story in the USA:

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) promised to help former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi obtain U.S. military hardware as one of the United States’ partners in the war on terror, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable released Wednesday by anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

The Tom Mellen article continues:

Mr Rubio is a neoliberal hardliner who has been called the “crown prince” of the right-wing Tea Party movement.

Mr Graham argues that the US should keep at least 10,000 troops in Iraq into 2012 despite Washington’s deal with Baghdad to withdraw all troops at the end of this year.

And Mr Kirk stirred controversy when he said he was “OK with discrimination against young Arab males from terrorist-producing states.”

McCain-Hillary in 2009: Libya is “An Important Ally in the War on Terrorism”, Gaddafi is “a Peacemaker in Africa”: here.

In a recent teleconference with US businessmen, Washington’s ambassador to Libya let slip a telling phrase while referring to the North African nation’s oil reserves: here.

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