CBS News) Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., argued this morning that Libya has made
foreign policy a major part of the presidential campaign and that President
Obama has shown "the worst kind of incompetence" on the issue.
"I don't know if it's either a cover-up or the worst kind of incompetence, which doesn't qualify the president as commander in chief," McCain said on "Face the Nation" today. He called the administration's handling of the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Libya that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, a "debacle" that has "exposed the failures of the Obama foreign policy."
McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been one of the most vocal critics of the Obama administration on the Libya issue.
McCain said the "worst" aspects of the Libya aftermath are the "gross, gross, outrageous statements" made by administration officials, including the president, in the days after the attack. He specifically referred to statements by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice made shortly after the attacks in which she blamed the violence on a "spontaneous" demonstration over an anti-Muslim American made film.
"We now know there was no demonstration. There was no mob," McCain said, referring to surveillance records he received from inside the consulate. "So for literally days and days, they told the American people something that had no basis in fact whatsoever," McCain added.
McCain also compared Libya to Watergate saying, "Nobody died in Watergate. But this is either a massive cover-up or incompetence that is not acceptable service to the American people," he said. "The American people may take that into consideration a week from Tuesday."
"What did the president know? When did he know it? And what did he do about it?" McCain asked rhetorically.
watch the short video clip at cbs news
"I don't know if it's either a cover-up or the worst kind of incompetence, which doesn't qualify the president as commander in chief," McCain said on "Face the Nation" today. He called the administration's handling of the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Libya that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, a "debacle" that has "exposed the failures of the Obama foreign policy."
McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been one of the most vocal critics of the Obama administration on the Libya issue.
McCain said the "worst" aspects of the Libya aftermath are the "gross, gross, outrageous statements" made by administration officials, including the president, in the days after the attack. He specifically referred to statements by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice made shortly after the attacks in which she blamed the violence on a "spontaneous" demonstration over an anti-Muslim American made film.
"We now know there was no demonstration. There was no mob," McCain said, referring to surveillance records he received from inside the consulate. "So for literally days and days, they told the American people something that had no basis in fact whatsoever," McCain added.
McCain also compared Libya to Watergate saying, "Nobody died in Watergate. But this is either a massive cover-up or incompetence that is not acceptable service to the American people," he said. "The American people may take that into consideration a week from Tuesday."
"What did the president know? When did he know it? And what did he do about it?" McCain asked rhetorically.
watch the short video clip at cbs news
