McCain win would mean war with Iran

"More wars" could prove to be the oddest of all presidential campaign slogans. Especially if it works.

Presidential candidate John McCain shocked observers on Sunday when he told a crowd of supporters, "There's going to be other wars. ... I'm sorry to tell you, there's going to be other wars. We will never surrender but there will be other wars."

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough asked old-line conservative Pat Buchanan about McCain's remarks, saying, "He talked about promising that more wars were coming. ... Is he so desperate to get off the economic issue?"

Pat Buchanan replied that McCain never used the word "promise" but simply said there would be more wars, and that from McCain's point of view, "that is straight talk. ... You get John McCain in the White House, and I do believe we will be at war with Iran."

"That's one of the things that makes me very nervous about him," Buchanan went on.

"There's no doubt John McCain is going to be a war president. ... His whole career is wrapped up in the military, national security. He's in Putin's face, he's threatening the Iranians, we're going to be in Iraq a hundred years."

"So when he says more war," Scarborough commented, "he is promising you, if he gets in the White House, we'll not only be fighting this war but starting new wars. Is that what conservative Republicans want?

"I don't say he's starting them," Buchanan answered. "He expects more wars. ... I think he's talking straight, because if you take a look at the McCain foreign policy, he is in everybody's face. Did you see Thad Cochran's comment when he endorsed Romney? He said, look, John McCain is a bellicose, red-faced, angry guy, who constantly explodes."

"Not a happy message," commented Scarborough. "Not Reaganesque."

This video is from MSNBC News Live, broadcast January 28, 2008.

Transcript via closed captions

:: all right. let me ask you, we're going to talk about the kennedy endorsement in a second, but we're down in florida at universal orlando resorts. it's florida, florida, florida. it's a little chilly, but john mccain, yesterday, said something very interesting. he talked about a promising that more wars were coming. he kept talking about more wars, we counted it three times in five seconds. is he so desperate to get off the economic issue --

:: yes.

:: -- that he will basically promise americas that they're facing grim times ahead and he's the only guy that can save america when we get in all these future wars?

:: he didn't say promise. what he said was, make no mistake, there are going to be more wars. that is straight talk, to be quite frank, joe. you get john mccain in the white house, and i do believe we'll be at war with iraq. that's one of the things that makes me very nervous about him. i think we need an eisenhower, who got us out of korea or a nixon who tried to get us out of vietnam with honor. i think that's the kind of president this country needs. there's no doubt john mccain is going to be a war president. can anybody see john mccain as sort of a peace-time calvin coolidge president? it's preposterous. his whole career is wrapped up in the military, national security. he's in putin's face, he's threatening the iranians. we're going to be in iraq 100 years. if we're in iraq 100 years, joe, we'll be fighting 100 years of war, just as the british, if they stayed in our country 100 years, would be fighting the americans for a century. i'm telling you, what john mccain's promising you.

:: so he's promising wow if he gets into the white house, we won't only be fighting this war but starting new wars.

:: i don't say he's starting them. he expects more wars and he anticipates them and he's predicting them. and i think he's talking straight because if you take a look at the mccain foreign policy, he is in everybody's face. did you see thad cochran's comment when he endorsed romney? he is john mccain is an angry guy who constantly explodes. his whole career is the military. his big issue, the one he's comfortable with is what? is national security, fachism, the long war, 100 years in iraq. that's where he's comfortable, that where he's at his best.

:: pat buchanan, as we say good-bye to you --

:: not a happy message.

:: not at all.

:: thank you, pat.

:: pat, the bar hasn't opened yet.

:: i'm not talking about you, i'm talking about john mccain. it was very, very bellicose.

:: i think mccain is straight talk.

:: yeah. that's what he said it was. i don't know. it struck me as a little bit -- i don't know. it struck me as a little bit contrived yesterday. i could be wrong. pat buchanan, thank you very much.