AP reported McCain attacks on Dems' threats to withdraw from NAFTA, ignored his own 2000 ABM Treaty threat

Written by Matt Gertz

Published

The AP's Glen Johnson reported Sen. John McCain's criticism of Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for considering U.S. withdrawal from NAFTA “to force Canada and Mexico to negotiate more protections for workers and the environment in the agreement.” The report continued: “If that threat is made, McCain asked, 'What are the other countries in the world going to think about the agreements we've negotiated with them?' ” But Johnson did not note that McCain himself threatened during his 2000 presidential campaign to pull out of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty.

In a March 12 Associated Press article, Glen Johnson reported that Sen. John McCain “said his potential Democratic opponents were wrong to threaten pulling out of NAFTA to force Canada and Mexico to negotiate more protections for workers and the environment in the agreement.” The report continued: “If that threat is made, McCain asked, 'What are the other countries in the world going to think about the agreements we've negotiated with them?' ” But McCain himself threatened during his 2000 presidential campaign to abrogate a treaty; he called the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty a “relic of the Cold War” and asserted that as president, he would unilaterally withdraw from the treaty if Russia were unwilling to renegotiate it. Johnson did not note McCain's statements on the ABM Treaty.

A December 7, 1999, CNN.com article reported that at a campaign event in New Hampshire, McCain said of the ABM Treaty, “I will withdraw from a treaty that has become a relic of the Cold War if it cannot be made relevant to our current security needs.” From the article:

To avoid nuclear blackmail by so-called rogue states, McCain called for making a ballistic missile defense system a national priority.

He also suggested the United States may need to renegotiate the 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty with Russia.

“I want to be candid with you: If these talks fail, I'll do what is right for the security of millions of Americans and for global strategic stability,” he said. “I will withdraw from a treaty that has become a relic of the Cold War if it cannot be made relevant to our current security needs.”

McCain repeated his assertion that he would be willing to withdraw from the ABM Treaty in a March 2, 2000, press release:

“Russia must be made to understand that we will not allow our people to be vulnerable to ballistic missile attack from North Korea, Iraq, or any other nation that may seek to threaten our nation,” wrote McCain.

McCain believes the ABM Treaty with Russia is an outdated relic of the Cold War. He believes the U.S. should withdraw from the treaty if Russia will not agree to changes that will allow the United States to defend against missiles being developed by countries hostile to the United States.

President Bush unilaterally withdrew from the ABM treaty on June 13, 2002.

From Johnson's March 12 AP article:

On the Republican side, John McCain, a veteran Arizona senator and former Vietnam prisoner of war who wrapped up his party's nomination last week, criticized the two Democrats on Tuesday for proposing to force the renegotiation the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“We've got to stop this protectionist, NAFTA-bashing,” McCain told a town hall meeting at Savvis Inc., an information technology company.

McCain said his potential Democratic opponents were wrong to threaten pulling out of NAFTA to force Canada and Mexico to negotiate more protections for workers and the environment in the agreement.

If that threat is made, McCain asked, “What are the other countries in the world going to think about the agreements we've negotiated with them?"

He said the government should instead focus on providing educational and training programs to those who have lost their jobs.

In a debate in Cleveland before the March 4 primary in Ohio, where NAFTA is blamed for the loss of industrial jobs, both Democratic presidential contenders endorsed threatening to pull out of NAFTA unless labor and environmental standards could be renegotiated.