Does the Middle East have some sort of sick sex appeal when it comes to pompous militaristic bloviating by republicans?  This is what Senator John McCain has to say about American Security Threats:

“The greatest single threat that we are facing right now to our national security is Iran,” he said. “If they get that weapon, and they have the capability to deliver it, put yourself in the position of the government of the state of Israel. This could be one of the most unsettling and difficult challenges that we have ever faced.”

Senator John McCain seems to forget that unlike Iran, North Korea likely is in possesion of at least one nuclear weapon. Moreover, North Korea is ruled by a maniac dictator that has shown previous indifference to starving his entire country.

Iran doesn’t have nuclear weapons. Its government appears to want them, but unless our ally Pakistan gave them a couple, they don’t have any at this point.

So who is the larger threat to America?

In one of the most inane statements ever heard on the Sunday Morning talk circuit, Senator John McCain outlined his stance on the Dubai port deal:

I think our priorities are misplaced… We’ve got some very, very big issues that I think are perhaps more important than whether a country that’s freer than China should have control of some of our terminals.

So if a country is marginally freer than China (and that is certainly a debatable point about the UAE) we should hand them the keys to our country? Does McCain care about our security at all?

Think Progress does the research and comes up with some other countries that are ranked as “freer” than China by Freedom House: Iran, the Congo, Cote d’Iviore, and Rwanda.

This is simply a pander to Bush. Behind the scenes, every potential 2008 presidential candidate is staffing up and President Bush is in a position to push key staff either to or away from a particular candidate. McCain needs Bush and those enthralled by his cult of personality to build a GOP base. McCain is more than happy to sacrifice American security to increase his chances in 2008.

Nate makes a great point about McCain and the security of our ports. This administration has given the American people no reason to be confident when it comes to security. And, as Matt Stoller at MyDD has pointed out, McCain once thought so, too:

U.S. Sen. John McCain said Monday that he has “no confidence” in Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, citing Rumsfeld’s handling of the war in Iraq and the failure to send more troops.

So, Two-Faced McCain was against the Bush security strategy before he was for it? Is there anything this guy won’t do to get elected?

McCain commented today on the brewing port security scandal facing the Whitehouse:

“We all need to take a moment and not rush to judgment on this matter without knowing all the facts,” McCain said.

“The president’s leadership has earned our trust in the war on terror, and surely his administration deserves the presumption that they would not sell our security short.”

Yeah, the President has done a great job with security. Good thing we quickly apprehended Osama and found all of those WMDs in Iraq. Our ability to discern threats has clearly aided us in the past.

You have to wonder whether the same people who were working on WMD intelligence worked on clearing this UAE company for port security. Trust the president? America has been there, done that, and have 2,000 + of our best and bravest dead to prove it. By supporting the President in this matter, McCain again shows his true craven political face. He needs to continue to engender himself with hardcore bush supporters and he appears to be willing to sacrifice America’s national security for political gain.