Arizona Sen. John McCain dismissed a working assumption by the Obama administration that the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya “began spontaneously,” instead branding it “an act of terror.”
Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee cited the heavy arms used in the assault and military tactics.
“Most people don’t bring rocket-propelled grenades and heavy weapons to a demonstration,” said McCain. “That was an act of terror and for anyone to disagree with that fundamental fact I think is really ignorant on the facts.”
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Appearing on the same program, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said that the best information at present is that the attack was not planned.
“We do not have information at present that leads us to conclude that this was pre-mediated or preplanned,” she told host Bob Bob Schieffer following an earlier appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
She cautioned that the Obama administration has only just begun its investigation and has not yet sent investigators to the scene.
“We believe that it looks like extremist elements individuals joined in that effort with heavy weapons of the sort that are unfortunately readily now available in Libya — post revolution,” she said. “And that spun from there into something much, much more violent.”
Rice did not rule out the possibility that the attack was carried out by al-Qaida, its affiliates or other Libyan-based extremists.
Commenting on ongoing concerns over Iran’s nuclear program, McCain said that the U.S. appears to be operating under a different so-called red line than Israel.
He said that the Obama administration appears to be more focused on the point at which Iran actually acquires such weapons, while Israel is determined to prevent its neighbor from reaching a level where it can quickly assemble a nuclear weapon.
“And that’s a big difference,” McCain explained. “The Israelis’ great fear is that at some point the Iranians are able to conceal and develop weapons to the degree that they militarily can’t stop that. So then they have to rely on us. Do you think that the Israeli government right now would readily rely on us? I don’t think so.”
McCain called on President Obama to come to an agreement with Israel on a mutual line that Iran will not be allowed to cross.
“We should in a quiet negotiation say ‘this is a line that you Israel can be confident that we will not let them cross and we will act with you militarily,’” asserted McCain. “The Israelis are aware of the consequences of acting alone in the Arab world.”
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McCain also defended GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s criticism of the Obama administration’s initial response to the attack in Libya.
“Of course that was a very week statement. It was a semi apology,” he said of the administration’s initial response. “We shouldn’t be apologizing for freedom of speech. We should be saying we demand freedom of speech for these people. That’s one of the fundamentals of democracy.”
He also accused the media of a “lack of symmetry” with respect to Romney’s statements on the attack in Libya as well as Medicare and other issues.
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