This is amazing, from John McCain's Mother Jones interview in November/December 1998:
MJ: You not only have had combat experience in Vietnam, but you were also a prisoner of war. When you look at terrorism right now, with people like Osama bin Laden, do you have any reservations about watching strikes like that?John McCain: You could say, Look, is this guy, Laden, really the bad guy that's depicted? Most of us have never heard of him before. And where there is a parallel with Vietnam is: What's plan B? What do we do next? We sent our troops into Vietnam to protect the bases. Lyndon Johnson said, Only to protect the bases. Next thing you know.... Well, we've declared to the terrorists that we're going to strike them wherever they live. That's fine. But what's next? That's where there might be some comparison.
Just as a reminder, McCain's interview - in which he pooh-pooh'ed the threat by this "Laden" who "most of us have never heard of" and asked whether "Laden" was really such a "bad guy" - came a few months after the horrific US embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya by Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda organization. Yet John McCain was clueless and uncaring/oblivious to the threat that Bin Laden and Al Qaeda posed to the United States. Yeah, just the guy we want as president, so STRONG on national security! (snark)
The real issue to be concerned with is the rise of anti-Americanism and fundamental, radical Islam across the world. Electing Barack Obama would do wonders for repairing our image abroad, but I hope his foreign policy plan goes beyond capturing Bin Laden. He's just the tip of the iceberg.
Lots of people were aware, back then, that bin Laden was a growing threat. And John McCain was in a position to have, at least, a more cautious attitude than he displayed. But this is consistent for a man who still doesn't know the difference between the Sunnis and Shiites.