McCain: “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran"

McCain visits Murrells Inlet

By Scott Harper, sharper@gtowntimes.com April 19, 2007

Even though he was nursing a cold, Republican Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain spent nearly 90 minutes talking to nearly 500 people who crammed into the Murrells Inlet VFW Hall Wednesday morning.

The “Straight Talk” tour, as it’s called, included stops in Summerville and Charleston.
Many of the supporters of the Arizona senator were standing outside the VFW as McCain’s bus pulled into the parking lot right on time for the 9 a.m. start of the rally.

After being greeted by VFW member Lyn Dimery and his wife Cathy, McCain made his way inside the building where he was greeted with thunderous applause from the hundreds who had been waiting.

Before taking questions, McCain — who trails former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani by three points in the latest CNN poll — spent a few minutes talking about some of the issues facing the country. Most of his comments were about the war in Iraq.

“Many people in this room know the face of war,” McCain said to the mainly-veteran crowd.
He said he knows the war had been “badly mishandled” but “we are where we are now.”
He also acknowledged that his support of President George Bush’s plan to increase the number of troops has cost him some political points.

“We are seeing some small signs of success. I am not saying ‘mission accomplished.’ Am I guaranteeing there will be success? No. I am saying this plan gives us the best chance of success.”

He also repeated his denouncement of any bill that would set a date for military departure from Iraq, saying if such a bill were to pass it would be “disastrous.”

He also chastised Democratic Senator Harry Reed.

“He was on the Senate floor and said we will pick up senate seats because of this war. Is this war about winning seats? These are the most partisan and unpleasant times I have seen since the Vietnam war,” he said.

McCain said we will know the war has been successful when the people in that country have a secure environment where they have an efficient government and live normal lives.

When responding to a question, McCain spoke about the highly publicized conditions at the Walter Reed Medical Center. The facility has been under fire recently for poor treatment of injured soldiers.

“I am ashamed of Walter Reed. I apologize for not knowing about the conditions of the building,” he said.
When young people see the difficulty veterans have with getting proper medical treatment when it’s needed, it makes it hard to recruit, McCain said.

Another man — wondering if an attack on Iran is in the works — wanted to know when America is going to “send an air mail message to Tehran.”

McCain began his answer by changing the words to a popular Beach Boys song.

“Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran,” he sang to the tune of Barbara Ann. “Iran is dedicated to the destruction of Israel. That alone should concern us but now they are trying for nuclear capabilities. I totally support the President when he says we will not allow Iran to destroy Israel.”

He stopped short of answering the actual question and did not say if he supports an invasion of Iran.

A woman in the audience said she has been disappointed President Bush has not spent more time addressing the American people about the issues. She asked McCain if he would be more accessible.

“If I am elected I will go on TV every two weeks, even if it’s only carried by C-SPAN, and detail what is going on in Iraq and with other issues,” he said.

One man then asked if McCain is elected, will he try to get Don Imus back on the radio.
“I knew I should have ended this before now,” McCain joked.

He never said if he felt CBS Radio did the right thing by firing the talk show host for making racist and sexist remarks about the Rutgers women’s basketball team. After the controversy erupted McCain had said he would still be a guest on the show if invited.

“What he did was unacceptable and despicable but I believe in redemption,” he said.
McCain has yet to officially announce his bid for the presidency. He made an unofficial announcement on the Late Show with David Letterman in February. He told Letterman he would make an official announcement in April.

He has scheduled a two-day “announcement tour” for April 25 -26 which will include stops in New Hampshire, South Carolina, Iowa and Arizona.