War Zone Visit A McCain Trademark
There are risks aplenty for a U.S. lawmaker who makes a surprise visit to a war zone, as Sen. John McCain recently did when he crossed the border from Turkey into Syria.
The perils to life and limb go without saying. But there are also other risks: trying to tell the good guys from the bad guys; or being victimized by disinformation from unfriendly Middle Eastern interests.
While McCain got out unscathed from Syria, where he visited rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces, he may have had less success navigating the other risks.
On Thursday, a Lebanese newspaper reported that McCain may have unwittingly had his photo taken with a rebel, Mohamed Nour, allegedly involved in the kidnapping of 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims last year.
It being the Middle East, however, there's always the chance that something else entirely is going on. Brian Rogers, McCain's press secretary, notes that the kidnapper claim first appeared on a pro-Hezbollah Lebanese TV network opposed to the Syrian opposition.
In a statement, Rogers said in part:
"A number of the Syrians who greeted Senator McCain upon his arrival in Syria asked to take pictures with him, and as always, the Senator complied. If the individual photographed with Senator McCain is in fact Mohamed Nour, that is regrettable. But it would be ludicrous to suggest that the Senator in any way condones the kidnapping of Lebanese Shia pilgrims or has any communication with those responsible. Senator McCain condemns such heinous actions in the strongest possible terms.
"The Senator believes his visit to Syria was critical to supporting the many brave Syrians who are fighting for their lives and the freedom of their country against a brutal regime and its foreign allies that are massacring Syrian citizens on Syrian territory."