WASHINGTON, 21 April 2007 — Republican US presidential contender John McCain turned to popular music to illuminate the debate on the Middle East, singing at the suggestion that the United States “bomb, bomb, bomb” Iran.
“That old Beach Boys song, ‘Bomb Iran’?” McCain said in response to a question about US policy on its diplomatic pariah at an electoral campaign meeting in the state of North Carolina.
His questioner had struck an anti-Iran tone, asking him when the United States was going to “send an air mail message to Tehran,” drawing cheers from the crowd. McCain then briefly sang “Bomb, bomb, bomb” — an adapted snippet of the rock ‘n’ roll band’s refrain “Ba-ba-ba, Ba-Barbara Ann” — winning laughter from the audience.
The performance was filmed and posted by users on the video-sharing website YouTube. One posting presented an edited version of the clip, with added photographs of children suffering from injuries caused by violence in Iraq.
“Iran is dedicated to the destruction of Israel,” McCain went on in a serious tone. “That alone should concern us, but now they are trying for nuclear capabilities. I totally support the president (George W. Bush) when he says we will not allow Iran to destroy Israel.”
McCain is the Republican candidate most supportive of the war in Iraq, though he has harshly criticized Bush’s handling of it. He has long been seen as a likely favorite on the Republican side for the 2008 US presidential race, but recently has scrambled to overhaul his campaign strategy as he lags behind in fund-raising and in the polls.
McCain’s campaign spokesman Kevin McLaughlin told ABC news that the senator “was just trying to add a little humor to the event.”
But the liberal group MoveOn.org called the comment dangerous. The group said it has launched an ad against McCain and his joke, arguing that the United States “can’t afford another reckless president.”
The group plans to spend about $100,000 to air a commercial on network and some cable television stations in Iowa and New Hampshire, states that hold early contests in the presidential nomination process, spokesman Alex Howe said yesterday.
“America has lived through six years of a reckless foreign policy,” an announcer says in the ad. “We’re stuck in Iraq. More than 3,000 Americans are dead. And thousands more wounded. Now comes John McCain with his answer to what we should do about Iran. John McCain? We can’t afford another reckless president.”
McCain defended the joke during a campaign stop in the state of Nevada. “Please, I was talking to some of my old veterans friends,” he told reporters in Las Vegas. “My response is, Lighten up and get a life.”
Asked if his joke was insensitive, McCain said: “Insensitive to what? The Iranians?”
The head of MoveOn said McCain displayed “more out-of-control bravado.”
“At a tense moment, when cooler heads in his own party and many retired military leaders are calling on the president to negotiate with Iran, Sen. McCain’s outburst isn’t merely inappropriate, it’s dangerous,” Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org Political Action, said yesterday.
Meanwhile, a senior Kuwaiti minister said in comments published yesterday that Kuwait will form an emergency team to draw up contingency plans for any conflict between the United States and Iran.
“The team...will devise a comprehensive contingency plan to deal with risks that may result in case a war breaks out in the Gulf on the back of the rising US military escalation toward Iran,” State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Faisal Al-Hajji told the Al-Watan daily.
The Cabinet will form the team at its weekly meeting tomorrow, drawing on officials from the Defense, Interior, Oil and Health Ministries as well as the fire and civil defense departments, Hajji said.
