For all of McCain's droning on about Obama's naivety regarding cross-border attacks into Pakistan, McCain's policy Guru, George Bush, can't hide his affinity for the Democratic nominee's ideas. For what seems like the dozenth time since Obama first declared that, as president, he would hunt down Al Queda hiding in Pakistan (even if it meant offending fair-weather friends in Islamabad), Bush did just that:
The missile strike by a suspected U.S. drone killed at least six people in a Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, two Pakistani intelligence officials said Wednesday.
American forces recently ramped up cross-border operations against Taliban and al-Qaida militants in Pakistan's wild border zone, a possible hiding place for Osama bin Laden.
The attacks have drawn stiff protests from Islamabad, an uneasy ally in Washington's seven-year war on terror, particularly since an highly unusual Sept. 3 raid by U.S. ground troops in the South Waziristan region.
And Bush's two-timing, formerly despotic friend, Pakistan, was not impressed. Islamabad much prefers John McCain's approach of no US approach at all:
Pakistani leaders insist only their forces are allowed to carry out operations inside Pakistan, and its troops recently fired warning shots at U.S. helicopters flying over the ill-marked frontier.
So, despite the potential for "stiff protests" from Pakistan, once again, Bush deploys the Obama doctrine to fight terror with successful results. And, once again, he draws Pakistani disdain. Sadly, had Bush possessed this fervor for Obama's brilliantly obvious terror-fighting strategy six years ago, McCain could today been running a campaign strategy centered around the credit he stole from Bush for killing or capturing Bin Laden. McCain could hail himself as such a hero that the POW card would stay in the deck the entire election.
But, alas, McCain instead finds himself running against Obama's tested ideas, which, tellingly, are the source of some of Bush's few successful acts as president. Joe Biden put it best: