John McCain and I have a personal interest in the success of the war in Iraq. Our sons are fighting in it. When we take positions on the war, it is personal. There are ramifications for our country and our families. We don't assert our opinions with disregard.
John McCain and I have something else in common which has shaped our view of this war. We shared several years together in a prison camp in North Vietnam. This Friday marks the 40th anniversary of the day John McCain was shot down over Hanoi and captured. At the time, we personally felt the impact when our nation's political will for that war eroded. We both chose the duties and risks that accompany the life of an aviator. We accepted our fates as POWs when we were shot down on bombing raids over North Vietnam. We did not like being propaganda pawns for the North Vietnamese, but we also did not expect our nation to give in to our captors' demands or to the growing U.S. public discontent. We expected our government to have conviction and to seek a resolution from a position of strength, not cave to expediency.
John McCain and I believe our enemy today in Iraq and around the world is radical Islamic extremism, a political movement just as anathema to freedom as communism was -- but amorphous, elusive and cowardly. The Global War on Terrorism is just that: global. It is greater than Iraq.
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