McCain uneasy over Republican 'isolationism'

McCain uneasy over Republican 'isolationism'

WASHINGTON — US Senator John McCain on Sunday expressed concern about growing isolationism in the Republican party, particularly among those vying for the 2012 presidential nomination.
McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee, said he was alarmed to hear various candidates at a campaign forum last Monday express opposition to US military involvement in the NATO military assault on Libya's Moamer Kadhafi.
"There's always been an isolation strain in the Republican party, that Pat Buchanan (a former Republican presidential contender) wing of our party. But now it seems to have moved more center stage, so to speak," he said.
There is no question that President Barack Obama, a Democrat, made the right choice in lending US military support to the NATO mission in Libya, McCain told ABC television's "This Week" program.
"If we had not intervened, Kadhafi was at the gates of Benghazi. He said he was going to go house to house to kill everybody. That's a city of 700,000 people. What would be saying now if we had allowed for that to happen?
"That's not the Republican party of the 20th century and now the 21st century," McCain said.
Among Republican contenders voicing opposition on Libya at last week's debate in New Hampshire were tea party darling Michele Bachmann and Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney.
"It's time for us to bring our troops home as soon as we possibly can consistent with the word that comes from our generals that we can hand the country over," Romney said.
"I think we've learned some important lessons in our experience in Afghanistan. Our troops shouldn't go off and try and fight a war of independence for another nation. Only the Afghanis can win Afghanistan's independence from the Taliban."