Tagged: John McCain

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.

Be careful what you wish for. After John McCain so quickly clinched the Republican presidential nomination the last time around, the party changed its rules with an eye to extending their primary season, reaping public interest for months like the long Democratic primary season of 2008. You might wonder how they feel about that now. John McCain himself has dubbed this campaign the nastiest he's ever seen - akin to watching a Greek tragedy.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told the Senate Armed Services Committee today that the "terrible situation" in Syria "has no simple answers."

Pannetta was facing tough questions from Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, who on Monday called for U.S.-led air strikes on the security forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"In past situations, America has led. We're not leading, Mr. Secretary," McCain told Panetta.

Fox News reports that Panetta defended the administrations decision not to intervene militarily.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will later today become the first senator to call for U.S.-led air strikes on the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Foreign Policy magazine's The Cable blog reports:

President Obama has made the case that his administration spoke out forcefully when Iran's government used deadly force to suppress protests in the spring of 2009.