U.S. Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain said Wednesday that personal experience makes him "detest war."
"It (war) might not be the worst thing to befall human beings, but it is wretched beyond all description, " the Arizona senator and a former prisoner of war said in a speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council in Los Angeles, Calif.
"Only a fool or a fraud sentimentalizes the merciless reality of war," he added.
A quarter-century in the House of Representatives and Senate yields a mixed answer in McCain's case.
He has backed the use of force many times, including Grenada, Panama, the Balkans, and most notably, the Iraq war.
But McCain opposed military missions in Lebanon, Somalia and Haiti, arguing that the national interest did not justify them.
While vowing to continue the war efforts in Iraq, he tried to distance from President George W. Bush's foreign policy on other fronts in Wednesday's speech.
"Our great power does not mean we can do whatever we want whenever we want, nor should we assume we have all the wisdom and knowledge necessary to succeed," McCain said.
"We need to listen to the views and respect the collective will of our democratic allies," he added.
Though short of calling Bush's name, the Arizona senator subtly acknowledged that the nation's image has been tarnished under Bush's rule.
Combined with his recent trip to the Mideast and Europe, McCain's speech was aimed to impress the world community, which is fed up with Bush's unilateral policies.
Source:Xinhua
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