LOS ANGELES — Sen. John McCain on Wednesday promised a collaborative foreign policy that seeks the input of allies abroad and contrasts sharply with the go-it-alone approach of the Bush administration.
He also refused to give ground on Iraq to his Democratic rivals, declaring that America’s continued presence there is a “moral responsibility” and that a reckless withdrawal would be an “unconscionable act of betrayal, a stain on our character as a great nation.”
In his first extensive policy speech since securing the Republican presidential nomination, McCain delivered an impassioned argument that achieving democracy in Iraq is a necessary part of a peaceful world.
“Those who argue that our goals in Iraq are unachievable are wrong, just as they were wrong a year ago when they declared the war already lost in Iraq,” he said, without naming Sens. Hil lary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. “Those who claim we should withdraw from Iraq in order to fight al-Qaeda more effectively elsewhere are making a dangerous mistake.”
But even as McCain offered a defense of President Bush’s current war policy, he outlined a sharp critique of the administration’s dealings with America’s allies.
In a speech to the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles, McCain called himself a “realistic idealist” and outlined a world view that mirrors that of some Bush administration critics, who say the first task of the next president must be to repair relations around the world.
“Today we are not alone,” McCain said. “Our great power does not mean we can do whatever we want whenever we want, nor should we assume we have all the wisdom and knowledge necessary to succeed.”
McCain renewed his call for a “global compact — a League of Democracies” that would unite the world’s free countries against tyranny, disease and environmental destruction. As he did in Europe last week, he downplayed cowboy diplomacy and stressed cooperation on global warming, torture and trade.
