Opinion: From veterans to the Dalai Lama, McCain has a day of contrasts
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It was a day of unusual contrasts for Sen. John McCain. He began it with martial music playing, striding to the podium at a veterans’ convention in a downtown Denver hotel, and painting a dire portrait of how Iraq would have been lost if his Democratic opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, had his way and ended the war there prematurely.
McCain finished his day hours later in the mountain air of Aspen, standing at the side of the Dalai Lama and praising the Tibetan exile’s lifelong commitment to nonviolence. (See video below.)
Here’s a sampling of what McCain had to say to the national convention of the GI Forum, a Latino veterans’ group:
‘The surge has succeeded and we are, at long last, winning this war.’
He noted Obama opposed the surge. “If Sen. Obama had prevailed, American forces would have had to retreat under fire. The Iraqi army would have collapsed. Civilian casualties would have increased dramatically. Civil war, genocide and wider conflict would have been very, very likely.
‘Above all, America would have been humiliated and weakened.”
Then, in Aspen: ‘I am very pleased and honored to meet with his holiness the Dalai Lama, a man of peace. His holiness represents the profound desire of millions of Tibetans for basic dignity and human rights.
‘His nonviolence approach and his lifelong approach of seeking common ground around cultural and religious divides are an inspiration for all of mankind and to millions of Americans.’
The Arizona senator did call on China to improve its treatment of Tibetans and release Tibetan political prisoners. Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama stressed that the appearance was not an endorsement -- an aide said he’s also spoken to Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton.
‘My basic commitment,’ the Dalai Lama said, ‘is promotion of human values. That means human compassion, human affection.’
--Nicholas Riccardi