THE scathing words used by Sen. John McCain to describe ex-US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will strike a chord with many in the Middle East and in the rest of the world. They, and indeed many Americans, will agree wholeheartedly with the front-runner for the Republican nomination for the 2008 US presidential election: Rumsfeld is one of the worst defense secretaries in American history.
The question, however, is why McCain, of all people, chose to put the knife in. This is after all the same McCain who said at the time Rumsfeld resigned that he was owed gratitude and respect for what he had achieved during his time in office. It is impossible to reconcile these two divergent comments. Nothing new has been learned about Rumsfeld’s handling of Iraq that was not known at the time of his resignation. No secret files have been discovered that provide grounds for a change of opinion. This is, moreover, the same McCain who has supported President Bush’s decision to send more troops to Iraq.
Yet the attack on Rumsfeld cannot be seen as anything other than an attack on Bush’s entire Iraq policy. Again, there seems to be no logic. But there is. It is all about the logic of self-interest.
McCain has been slipping in the opinion polls, particularly against Rudy Giuliani, the other leading contender for the Republican nomination. That is because the former Vietnam War hero, unlike the former mayor of New York, is seen as too closely linked to the White House’s Iraq policy. An attack on Rumsfeld is McCain’s way of putting some clear blue water between himself and the Bush team and its policies.
The attack should be seen as a sign of the change in the Republicans’ attitude to Iraq. McCain is not the only Republican critic of the war or of the president — and he is not going to be the last. It is fairly certain that more and more Republican presidential hopefuls are going to jump on the anti-war bandwagon in the coming weeks.
They have to, if they want to stand any chance of being elected. The majority of American voters are firmly anti-war. But will this anti-war position work for McCain?
The about-turn is unlikely to do him any good. That is not to say that he is wrong in his latest views. He is not.
But he has made the change for the most cynical of reasons — he wants to appeal to the voters. Neither they nor the American media are going to be taken in. Political cynicism and maneuvering are loathed in the US, as everywhere else. McCain is going to be pilloried in the press for this all-too -convenient change of heart. It conveys the impression that he is a man without consistency, without integrity and without loyalty.
That is a bigger political turn-off than holding unpopular views. Far from rescuing his campaign, this change is likely to deal it some very damaging blows.
