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Although Senator and Republican presidential nominee John McCain has made Iraq the hallmark of his campaign, he took his last trip to the Middle East region as an opportunity to reiterate his unconditional support for Israel - something almost all Republican presidential nominees do. After all, this is one way to court Jewish voters in the run-up to the election.
Most alarmingly though, McCain went out of his way to insist that all of Occupied Jerusalem should be the capital of the Jewish state, including Occupied East Jerusalem. First of all, this contradicts the two-state solution which his current government (as well as previous ones) supports. Secondly, it goes against international opinion including the US's, and finally, it comes across as though the 71-year-old is trying very hard to please the most right-wing groups in Israel. His declaration shows ignorance of the issue.
McCain, a staunch backer of hawkish Israeli policies, decided in his trip to meet only with Israeli leaders. Palestinian leaders on the other hand, received a single phone call.
In Israel, he commented that, if elected, he would maintain the US's existing policies concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He should have realised by now that his current government has consistently failed in even reviving the so-called process and therefore, the least he could do, if elected, is to study those policies and seek alternative ones. That is, if he truly wanted to resolve the conflict once and for all.
McCain was in the Middle East to promote his "foreign policy expertise". That's the same McCain who couldn't really tell the difference between Al Qaida and Shiite groups in Iraq by suggesting that Iran was backing Al Qaida. Based on this, Americans and the rest of the world should be concerned with McCain's judgment and readiness to lead.
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