Morning Bell: Maintaining Our Dominant Military

Conn Carroll /

At the close of this week’s nuclear summit, President Barack Obama told a press conference: “Whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower, and when conflicts break out, one way or another we get pulled into them.”

Yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) responded to these comments, calling President Obama’s remark a “direct contradiction to everything America believes in.” McCain went on to tell Fox News:

That’s one of the more incredible statements I’ve ever heard a president of the United States make in modern times. We are the dominant superpower, and we’re the greatest force for good in the history of this country, and I thank God every day that we are a dominant superpower.

Sensing trouble, the White House quickly set out to spin the President’s words with deputy national security adviser for strategic communications Ben Rhodes telling The Daily Caller: “He was saying we are the global superpower. Like it or not that means that we are going to have to play a role.” But notice what word is conspicuously absent from Rhodes recasting of the President’s remarks … “military.”

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