The McCain Payload

I am keenly interested in all the “table setting” for a wider war in the Persian Gulf.

If the most interesting element in John McCain’s new batch of ads is the footage of his Vietnam captivity, what is less apparent is the revised framing of what was formerly “The Iraq War.”  If you watch “No Surrender,” for example, you’ll notice that Iraq has virtually disappeared from the story line.  Instead, the target (employing a generic desert setting) is more simply defined as: “radical Islamic extremism.”

Following the same theme, take a look at the “quotes” portion of the spot, and notice the cues to geography.  Text is overlaid on two alternating maps.  One shows the Western Gulf dominated by Saudi Arabia.  The other map offers a generous swath of Iran.  (Notice also how each block of text, although centered on Iraq, basically covers up the name of the country.)

Of course, I understand McCain is establishing his bona fides with the reference to his experience as a fighter pilot.  Still, it is an interesting overlap — in the current environment, with the escalating threat of a bombing campaign against Iran — to see this video open up with a bombing run scene and include a spotlight panning across McCain’s fighter jet.

With all McCain’s kowtowing to the White House the past couple years, it sure looks like he, Bush and Cheney have their ammunition pointed in the same direction now.

No Surrender video.

(screen shots: McCain campaign via You Tube.)