McCain On the Use of Force

USA Today's got a big piece on John McCain's disposition on the use of force, "McCain: Life Shaped Judgment on Use of Force."

Check the whole thing, but here's an excerpt from the graph of McCain's military decision-making in Congress:

Republican John McCain says his experience in national security and foreign policy makes him the best candidate for president. That experience includes his education at the U.S. Naval Academy, his work as a Navy pilot in combat during the Vietnam War and his entire military career, and service on key committees in Congress. Since entering Congress in 1983, McCain has been confronted with several decisions of when to use military force.

The trend over McCain's career in Congress has been his tendency to move from a position of realist restraint, carefully assessing the costs and benefits of military action in terms of rational national interest maximization, to more of a foreign policy exceptionalism, seeing moral clarity in America's international challenges.

In this shift McCain appears to be more open to the robust exertion of American military power to achieve national security objectives.

This is especially true after September 11, 2001.

McCain's expected to give a major foreign policy address today in Los Angeles.