On the campaign trail, Republican candidate John McCain outlined his foreign policy platform on Wednesday. Speaking in Los Angeles, McCain suggested he would reverse the Bush administration’s isolation of the international community, but renewed his call for a so-called “League of Democracies” that some see as an attempt to sideline the UN. McCain also vowed to continue the US occupation of Iraq, which he called a non-issue.

Sen. John McCain: “The question of Iraq is not presence, my friends, just like it’s not a question of presence in Kuwait or Turkey or South Korea or
Japan or Germany. The question is American casualties. That’s what Americans care about.”

In response, a spokesperson for Senator Barack Obama castigated McCain for seeking to continue an “open-ended war.” Senator Hillary Clinton was more conciliatory, saying, “While there is much to praise in Senator McCain’s speech, he and I continue to have a fundamental disagreement on Iraq.”