European criticism of Israel 'amazes' senator John Mccain

European criticism of Israel 'amazes' senator John Mccain


John McCain, the US senator, yesterday challenged European leaders who have criticised Israel's military operations in Lebanon as excessive, saying that "no nation in the world would react any differently than Israel has".

"I continue to be amazed by some of our European friends who have called on the Israelis" to rein in their military
campaign in Lebanon, Senator John McCain said. "Do I want the Israelis to exercise restraint? Yes, but only while doing what they
need to do to ensure theirsecurity."

Mr McCain, who sits on the Senate armed services committee and is expected to seek the Republican nomination for president
in 2008, made the remarks in a wide-ranging talk before
members of the Manhattan Institute, a conservative
think-tank in New York.

Mr McCain's comments come after President George W. Bush
sought at the G8 summit to play down differences with other countries over the confict, particularly France and Russia. While Mr Bush has repeatedly emphasised that blame for the Israeli incursions into Lebanon rests with Hizbollah and defended Israel's right to defend itself, in Paris and
Moscow there has been criticism of Israel for its "disproportionate response".

Mr McCain warned that the crisis could "widen rather dramatically" and expressed concern about Iran's role as possible supplier of rockets to Hizbollah, as well
as Iran's ultimate goals in the region.

"The Iranians are emerging in an interesting fashion," he said.

"We should have perhaps anticipated this a bit more after the speech . . . where [Iranian president] Mahmoud
Ahmadi-Nejad vowed to wipe Israel off the map."

He argued that if "liberty were extinguished in the state of Israel", then the US would be the next target of Hizbollah
and Hamas. "We cannot allow Iran to destroy Israel."

He said Russia should use its influence over Iran to
defuse the crisis. And he said the US should be working
to foster opposition inside Iran.

see more at.........
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/1aa40b12-15fa-11db-9950-0000779e2340.html

Senator John Mccain on stem-cell research..........

Senator John Mccain on stem-cell research..........

A number of Republicans with rumored presidential ambitions have wrestled with the political implications of the stem-cell research. While Senator Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican and a co-sponsor of the bill banning fetal farming, has consistently opposed embryonic stem-cell research, other likely members of the 2008 GOP field including Frist, Senator John McCain of Arizona and Senator George Allen of Virginia have been equivocal or reversed course.

Senator John Mccain on stem-cell research..........

Frist, a transplant surgeon, has said he will vote for all three bills in the package, which his spokesperson, Carolyn Weyforth, said was intended to broaden "the spectrum and allows people to vote according to their conscience and according to science."

Hadar Susskind, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs' representative in Washington, told the Forward that "there's no question" Frist "is trying to have it both ways."

"I give him credit for bringing it up and doing what he said he would do," Susskind said. But, he added, "I would not exactly call him a champion on this issue."

Allen who political observers say will need religious conservatives if he hopes to emerge from the primaries as the GOP presidential candidate was initially supportive of federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. But he reversed course last summer, and said he would only support research that did not destroy embryos.

In contrast, McCain, who depends on support from independent voters, has grown increasingly supportive of stem cell research.

Senator John Mccain on stem-cell research..........

While he was not among the 58 U.S. senators who in June 2004 signed a letter asking the president to loosen his restrictions, in May of last year he told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that he favored embryonic stem cell research, albeit with caveats.

"I think we need to expand it, but I think we've got to be very, very careful that we don't in any way get into
cloning," McCain reportedly said. "And I'm not smart
enough to ... know where that line is ... I think that
we need to expand stem cell research, but I would also
err on the side of caution."

This election season, meanwhile, Democrats are raising the stem-cell debate in a host of races the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has financed television advertisements highlighting the issue in a number of races while Republicans around the country are finding it to
be an Achilles' heel.

see more at...............
http://www.forward.com/articles/8098


Senator John Mccain on stem-cell research..........