Musings From Abroad

“I like acting like no one has me captured.” Why McCain fenced off Trump even in death

Published

6 years ago

August 26, 2018

It’s no longer news that late Senator John McCain does not want incumbent President Donald Trump anywhere near his burial rites.

The deep resentment goes way back and SlamReportsAfrica drives down memory lane to relieve what may have prompted the quarrel that lingered till McCain’s death.

New York Times provides some insight.

When Senator John McCain of Arizona returned to Washington with a fresh scar from brain surgery, it was widely seen as a dramatic effort to help Republicans overturn Obamacare.

President Trump had criticized Mr. McCain in the past and derided his military service, saying in 2015 of the former Vietnam prisoner of war, “I like people who weren’t captured.”

But in late July 2017, Mr. Trump welcomed him back to Washington. “So great that John McCain is coming back to vote. Brave – American hero! Thank you John,” he said.

Little did Mr. Trump know that the Arizona senator would help drive the stake through legislation that sought to realize the Republicans’ seven-year dream of finally dismantling Obamacare, handing the president an embarrassing legislative setback.

He was joined in his vote by two fellow Republicans, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, and 48 Democrats who defeated the slimmed-down repeal bill early Friday.

Mr. McCain left his intentions secret until the end, then cast his vote in a dramatic fashion, walking to the middle of the floor, holding his arm out and then giving a thumbs-down.

Audible gasps and muffled applause could be heard on the Senate floor. Outside a crowd of opponents of the Republican plan roared. The Republican senator offered a short explanation of his vote.

McCain leaving the Capitol asked why he voted NO: “I thought it was the right thing to do.”

After the vote, his office released a statement that he still wanted to see a repeal of Obamacare, while saying that the proposed legislation did nothing to offer more affordable health care to Americans. He called for a new legislative effort, with input from Democrats and Republicans.

The turn of events was the latest in the tumultuous relationship between the president and the Arizona senator, who has also been a thorn in Mr. Trump’s side by pushing for an aggressive stance toward Russia and on other foreign policy issues. After Thursday night’s vote, President Trump criticized the three Republicans who voted against the health care bill in a late-night tweet.

“3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down. As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!”

On Twitter, defenders of Obamacare saw Mr. McCain’s vote as sweet retribution for Mr. Trump’s past disparagement of him.

McCain to Trump tonight: “I like acting like no one has me captured.”

The late Senator had taken great pride in the role he played in the course of America’s intervention in Vietnam. Military service, he believed, was the ultimate price to pay in defense of one’s country, and could hardly comprehend why an American leader would make light of it.

By fencing off Trump, McCain may have wished that the incumbent President earned no political capital from his demise.

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Musings From Abroad

Seeking to expand ties in Africa, Indonesia’s Prabowo attends D-8 economic meeting in Egypt

Published

18 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to the government, Indonesian President, Prabowo Subianto, travelled to Egypt on Tuesday to attend meetings of the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation, a group of eight significant Muslim developing nations.

To enhance collaboration between the nations spanning from Southeast Asia to Africa, the D-8 was formed in 1997 and consists of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey. Beginning in January 2026, Indonesia will serve as the group’s chair.

Prabowo said that he would meet with Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the president of Egypt.

“Egypt is our close friend, our strategic partner and an important country in the Middle East,” he said before his departure, adding he would also meet the Egyptian business community.

He would go to Malaysia from Egypt and then return to Indonesia.

Since taking office in October, Prabowo has stated that his administration will uphold Indonesia’s long-standing non-alignment foreign policy.

Since winning the presidency earlier this year, he has been to more than 20 nations, including China, the US, Japan, and Russia.

Musings From Abroad

UN warns Sudan rebels may be getting weapons in Chad from UAE cargo planes

Published

5 days ago

December 14, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Flight data and satellite photographs reveal that dozens of UAE cargo planes have landed at a small Chad airstrip since Sudan’s civil war began last year, which some U.N. experts and diplomats fear is being used to transport guns into the fight.

At least 86 UAE planes have landed at Amdjarass airfield in eastern Chad since the war started in April 2023.

According to flight data and business records examined by Reuters, three-quarters of them were operated by airlines accused by the U.N. of transporting Emirati weaponry to a Libyan warlord.

The UAE, a key Western partner in the Middle East, insists it sends Sudan aid through Chad, not armaments.

The UAE denied “credible” allegations that it was supplying Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group fighting the Sudanese army in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, via the Chad airstrip in January.

Reuters uncovered footage from Amdjarass this year, revealing two pallets loaded with khaki containers, some labelled with the UAE flag, on the tarmac.

Reuters is obscuring the footage’s date and provenance for fear of reprisals.

Three weapons specialists, two of whom were U.N. inspectors, said the containers were unlikely to convey humanitarian material, generally bundled in cardboard boxes coated in plastic and stacked high on pallets due to its lightweight. The footage shows metal containers packed low on pallets.

One U.N. weapons inspector said the contents were “highly probably ammunition or weapons, based on the design and colour of boxes,” but requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information.

He stated that right-hand pallet cases are long and slender, suggesting weaponry.

Reuters could not independently verify the containers’ contents. The filming date is being withheld to protect the source.

The UAE government told Reuters it has deployed 159 relief planes with more than 10,000 tonnes of food and medical assistance to feed its Amdjarass field hospital.

“We firmly reject the baseless and unfounded claims regarding the provision of arms and military equipment to any warring party since the beginning of the conflict,” the statement said.

To counter Islamist militants, the oil-rich Gulf kingdom has interfered in crises from Yemen to Libya since the Arab Spring protests of 2011. The UAE views Muslim Brotherhood and other groups as threats to internal stability.

In Sudan’s army, Islamists affiliated with deposed President Omar al-Bashir have long held power.

Senior RSF official Brigadier General Omar Hamdan rejected foreign help. He told Nairobi media on Nov. 18 that Sudanese firms made its guns and ammunition. The RSF declined to comment on this topic.