In Depth Analysis of McCain’s Hypocrisy Regarding Peace Talks With Hamas

May 16, 2008

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For me or anyone else for that matter to label Sen. John McCain’s latest flip flop regarding the willingness the American President should show in initiating peace talks with foreign leaders -in this case the leaders of Hamas- as simply an act of “hypocrisy,” would not come close to scratching the surface of just how obnoxious McCain’s latest pander really is.

Why would simply calling this an act of “hypocrisy” not be doing the situation at hand, the justice it’s entitled? Mainly because John McCain has become so hypocritical on such a wide array of issues, that this one, the most blatant of them all, would be lumped in with the rest of the lot.

Here’s a statement that Senator McCain went out of his way to vocalize last month, and is regarding former President Jimmy Carter’s steadfast plan to meet with elected Hamas officials to discuss the possibilities of spurring peace talks between Palestine and Israel, talks which had for the most part been non existent over the last seven years:

“It is a grave and dangerous mistake for an American leader to meet with a terrorist organization like Hamas…The very idea that a former President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief would meet with a terrorist organization demands a clear stance from all presidential candidates. Refusing to take a stand, as Senator Obama has done, is not the strong leadership we need today. If Senator Obama is not decisive enough to condemn former President Carter, how can he be strong enough to deal with the threat they pose to America and to our allies?”

And then their was the now infamous conference call between John McCain and conservative bloggers where Hamas once again became the topic of conversation:

“I think that the people should understand that I will be Hamas’s worst nightmare. I think it is very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president of the United States. If Senator Obama is favored by Hamas, I think people can make judgments accordingly.”

And now for the sheer hypocrisy part. The following are statements were made by Sen. John McCain during an interview with James Rubin of of Sky News two years ago. As you will clearly see in the exchange, McCain has simply done a 180 degree flip flop on the issue of diplomacy talks with Hamas:

JAMES RUBIN: Do you think that American diplomats should be operating the way they have in the past, working with the Palestinian government if Hamas is now in charge?”

Sen. JOHN MCCAIN: They’re the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it’s a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that.

Still not convinced? That’s alright, here’s video of the Rubin interview with Senator John McCain, and mind you, this was only two years ago, that an incredibly short span of time too change your stance so radically on a subject as serious as this:

James Rubin, the interviewer in the clip above, wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post which hit news stands today. Rubin goes into great detail about the interview, McCain’s tone, and that the statements he made two years ago, and then what he is saying today, is contradictory to say the least:

“Given that exchange, the new John McCain might say that Hamas should be rooting for the old John McCain to win the presidential election. The old John McCain, it appears, was ready to do business with a Hamas-led government, while both Clinton and Obama have said that Hamas must change its policies toward Israel and terrorism before it can have diplomatic relations with the United States. Even if McCain had not favored doing business with Hamas two years ago, he had no business smearing Barack Obama. But given his stated position then, it is either the height of hypocrisy or a case of political amnesia for McCain to inject Hamas into the American election.”

Senator McCain is not only showing his rear end in terms of contradicting himself directly, and in the most damning fashion, but he also shows his pure ignorance on both the middle east and the ongoing, and tragic, Palestine/Israel conflict.

Republican incompetence in dealing with foreign policy is nothing new in this country. The GOP has historically been scores behind in both cardinal knowledge and basic historical significance to the issues pressing nations abroad. The GOP loves to pony around the fallacy claiming “Reagan ended to Cold War,” a statement which any entry level history class will show is simply not the case. Even with that said, McCain is showing that he is head and shoulders ahead of the rest in his party in complete disconnect with the inter workings, factors, and arguments at the root of the conflict in the middle east.

While Senator Barack Obama could in fact be a little more conversational on the subject, one which he is by no means-scratch that- it’s a subject which he is light years ahead of his opponent, Senator McCain, in both the ability to comprehend, and to begin work on solving — opposed to the nuanced saber rattling the GOP has invoked as their primary ambassador when dealing with foreign nations, and our relations with them over time.