The Manchurean Candidate celebrating Memorial Day in his own unique way.


McCain Says Russia Is Bigger Threat Than Islamic State
On visit to Australia, McCain said Putin was the ‘premier’ challenge to American security
By Rob Taylor
May 29, 2017 5:06 a.m. ET



CANBERRA, Australia—Russia is a bigger security threat than Islamic State, based on its willingness to challenge the democratic foundations of the U.S. by interfering in elections, Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) said during a visit to Australia.

Mr. McCain, who was in Australia to discuss Asia-Pacific security issues, said Russian President Vladimir Putin was the “premier” challenge to American security.

“I think ISIS can do terrible things and I worry a lot about what is happening with the Muslim faith,” he told Australian ABC state television Monday. “But it’s the Russians who tried to destroy the very fundamental of democracy, and that is to change the outcome of an American election.”

Mr. McCain recently walked back comments that the controversy surrounding investigations into potential collusion between associates of President Donald Trump and the Russian government had reached “Watergate size and scale,” saying he had seen no evidence Russia had succeeded in swaying the U.S. presidential-election process. “But they tried and they are still trying,” he said on Monday.

The visit to Australia by the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee was part of an Asia tour to outline a blueprint for the U.S. to invest nearly $8 billion bulking up its military presence in the region by upgrading infrastructure, conducting additional exercises and deploying more forces and ships.

Mr. McCain’s visit also was aimed at reassuring allies about U.S. willingness to remain engaged in Asia, both as a check against China’s increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea and on North Korea’s nuclear program.

After North Korea fired another short-range ballistic missile off its east coast on Monday, Mr. McCain said unless something could be done to restrain Pyongyang’s ambitions, the crisis could escalate along the lines of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union came close to nuclear conflict.

“What’s the best and easiest way [to deal with the situation]? Obviously the Chinese, because the Chinese control basically the North Korean economy,” Mr. McCain said. “We have to explain to the Chinese how this is a vital issue. We need their help and cooperation.”



https://www.wsj.com/articles/mccain-says...tate-1496048800