McCain Revisited

In an LA Times op-ed, Matt Welch compares presidential candidate John McCain’s recent statements about his post-Vietnam studies with an essay he wrote at the time.

Welch obtained a copy of a National War College thesis written by McCain in 1974, after spending five and a half years as a POW in Vietnam. He wrote the thesis during a nine-month course that, according to McCain, studied “why and how my country had fought in Vietnam.” However, Welch says the thesis is actually “a relatively technical assessment of how the military’s post-Korean War changes to the Code of Conduct for POWs played out on the ground in Vietnam.”

“What does the wide gap between stated subject and actual essay tell us about John McCain?” Welch asks.

Good question.

Welch concludes: “McCain didn’t necessarily attend the National War College to assess the wisdom of Vietnam. But he did reinforce a belief system that he’s carried to the present day: If you must fight, fight to win, and keep explaining to the American people all along why the sacrifice is necessary. Come January, we’ll begin to find out whether McCain’s message is resonating.”