Richard Whalen

Senator John McCain of Arizona, the son and grandson of admirals, and a heroic POW during the Vietnam War, has no illusions about the tough, dangerous world that the United States leads. McCain says that he alone among his Republican rivals has the credentials to deal with the national security threats posed by Islamic Jihadists.

At a morning rally in Urbandale, Iowa, the Washington Post quoted McCain as saying of his GOP rivals: “None of them supported what’s working in Iraq, except for me, and I was condemned at the time for it, for supporting the (troop) surge, which is succeeding. I think my record is clear – 20 years, I’ve been involved in every national security issue that’s faced this nation. And I have the judgment to handle it, and I’ve proven it.”

But while McCain talked about the importance of the unrest in Pakistan, he did not acknowledge that al Qaeda has switched from Iraq to Pakistan as the main front, and is now bent on subverting and controlling the oldest U.S. ally in South Asia. Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf – himself the target of nine assassination attempts – is strongly pro-U.S.

Al Qaeda is helped by renegade Islamists in the powerful, shadowy Pakistani spy agency, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), which secretly runs the country. The ISI created the Taliban and uses it to control neighboring Afghanistan, the world’s leading opium producer. The ISI controls the very lucrative drug traffic – and also simultaneously advises U.S. and NATO forces fighting the Taliban and trying to eradicate poppy-growing.

Saudi Arabia, another duplicitous U.S. “ally”, bankrolls Pakistan and also badly needs to be squeezed to come clean with the U.S. on a wide array of subjects, beginning with the truth about the 9/11 conspiracy in which 15 of the 17 hijackers were Saudis.

McCain has suffered politically for stretching the limits of loyalty by defending Bush’s war in Iraq. The question is now that his “surge” strategy has succeeded in stabilizing Baghdad, will voters forgive and forget?

The Des Moines Register's last pre-caucus poll Tuesday showed ex-Governor Huckabee at 32 percent, Romney at 26 percent and McCain 13 percent, having gained six points since November. McCain’s supporters are hoping for an upset and say that McCain could overtake Romney on Thursday, January 3. But even if he runs third in Iowa, he must win New Hampshire’s primary (January 8th), repeating his 2000 victory there. Will the backdrop of the Pakistan crisis give McCain the crucial momentum going into the flurry of primaries through early February?