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McCain Warns Of Iran Nukes During Tampa Visit

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By WILLIAM MARCH

wmarch@tampatrib.com

Published: October 30, 2008

TAMPA - Sen. John McCain said Wednesday that if Sen. Barack Obama is elected president, Iran may succeed in acquiring nuclear weapons.

"Because he is untested, Barack Obama would only invite an international crisis," he said. "And we know well what one of those crises could be: the success of the Iranian regime in its program of acquiring nuclear weapons."

McCain held a round table on national security issues at the University of Tampa, followed by a short speech delivered to a crowd of invited supporters and local Republican notables. The event was closed to the public and most of the press, and McCain didn't take any questions.

Seeming to want to switch the subject of the campaign from the economy - an issue that has hurt him in the campaign - to national defense, McCain said the nation is preoccupied with the economic crisis but will face dangers when that crisis is over.

"We're going to pull through these hard times," he said.

"But when that day arrives ... we will find awaiting our country all of the same great challenges and dangers that were there all along."

McCain based his assertion about Iran on a recent statement by Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, that Obama as a new president might be "tested" by an international crisis of some sort.

If Iran acquired such weapons, McCain said, "our troubles of today would dramatically escalate as a nuclear-armed Iran threatened Israel or sparked an uncontrollable nuclear arms race across the region."

McCain questioned whether Obama "has what it takes to protect America from Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida and the other great threats in the world. He has given no reason to answer in the affirmative."

Obama strategist Ian Bassin called McCain's comments "the same scare tactics and fear-mongering that were the hallmark of George Bush and Karl Rove" and noted that McCain supporter Joe Lieberman has said any new president is likely to be "tested" by America's enemies.

"The truth is that it's been eight years of failed Bush-McCain foreign policy that have strengthened Iran," Bassin said.

McCain's round table included Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Lieberman, and a group of retired generals and admirals, plus former homeland security secretary and Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge.

In his statement, he referred to receiving foreign policy advice from former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger, George Schultz and Lawrence Eagleburger. The crowd for his speech consisted of about 100 committed Republicans and McCain supporters.

Some seemed puzzled by the purpose of holding such an event, closed to the public, a week before the election.

Asked why McCain would hold such an event, Pinellas County GOP Chairman Tony DiMatteo said: "I don't know. I've been asking the same question."

Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe, McCain's county co-chairman, emphasized that national security concerns could affect voter decisions.

"It's a very important issue at a time when people are beginning to focus" on the election, he said.

As to why McCain would hold a closed event, he said, "McCain doesn't always do things that appear on their face to be purely political - he just does what seems right."

Reporter William March can be reached at (813) 259-7761.

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