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McCain Pushed to Arm Gadhafi, WikiLeaks Reveals

Cable details 2009 meeting

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 26, 2011 11:54 AM CDT

(Newser) – John McCain may be talking tough about Libya these days, but back in 2009 he promised Muatassim Gadhafi—Moammar’s fifth son and his national security adviser—that he’d do what he could to help Libya obtain military supplies, particularly new aircraft, a cable released by WikiLeaks reveals. McCain met with Gadhafi along with such Senate notables as Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins, and Joe Lieberman, but the cable indicates that McCain did most of the talking, Politico reports.

McCain stressed that Libya needed to fulfill its promise to give up its weapons of mass destruction, but he also described US-Libyan relations as strong, and thanked Libya for its counterterrorism cooperation. But in a May interview, Lindsey Graham said the meeting led nowhere. “We never did anything,” he said. “I didn’t feel comfortable pushing the Pentagon to provide military aircraft to Libya. None of us did."

John McCain, backdropped with a pre-Gadhafi flag, talks during a press conference in Benghazi, Libya Friday, April 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 29 comments

Person12345

Aug 26, 2011 9:00 PM CDT

McCain is a war monger and can't survive unless Americans are in combat everywhere. He is an old fart who should have retired decades ago. War has outlived it's usefulness, it's all about surveillance and intelligence now, not combat. McCain would appropriate all amounts of money to anyone who wants to be at war.

ProbolyKnot

Aug 26, 2011 5:52 PM CDT

Ronald Reagan met with the Taliban... in the White House. Likened them to the US founding fathers... gave them and Al Qaeda lots of our money.

Cat-Lover

Aug 26, 2011 5:43 PM CDT

Are Americans stupid? John McCain likes war -- he loves it, in fact. It's what he's about and he basks in wars going on around the world. It sort of gives him credit for his service as a POW who saw just a few months of real action out of years in the Navy. The fact that he's also a two-faced idiot is an aside.

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John McCain • Libya • Joe Lieberman • Moammar Gadhafi • Susan Collins • Lindsey Graham • WikiLeaks • Mutassim Gadhafi

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(NEWSER) - If NATO forces happen to kill Moammar Gadhafi, count Lindsey Graham and John McCain among those who won't be shedding a tear, reports Politico. "We should be taking out his command and control," McCain said today. "If he is killed or injured because of that, that's fine." And despite international laws against assassinating foreign leaders, Graham says such a move is legal because "In my view, he's not a foreign leader, he's a murderer. He is a legitimate military target." Elsewhere on the Sunday dial: More»

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(NEWSER) - Two of Moammar Gadhafi’s sons have offered a plan for Libya: they would push their father from power, allowing son Seif al-Islam to helm a constitutional democracy, an insider tells the New York Times . It’s not known whether Moammar himself is on board with the proposal, which would entail a less radical transition than the rebels have demanded. And the Gadhafi family has long appeared politically divided, with Seif and Saadi Gadhafi supporting a more Western approach than their militia-leading brothers. More»

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McCain Pushed to Arm Gadhafi, WikiLeaks Reveals

Cable details 2009 meeting

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

John McCain • Libya • Joe Lieberman • Moammar Gadhafi • Susan Collins • Lindsey Graham • WikiLeaks • Mutassim Gadhafi

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McCain, Graham: Sure, Kill Gadhafi

Plus, more of the Donald....

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Libyans crowd in to take photos

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But family appears split on country's direction

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