McCain's trip to Colombia and Mexico, an attempt to 'emphasize his national security credentials and to differentiate himself from Obama on trade', is a great opportunity for us and Obama to hit him on several fronts.

First, let us get this out of the way: McCain finds yet another opportunity to mention his being a POW:
 

John McCain urged Colombia to try to free a U.S. pilot and two other Americans held by leftist guerrillas, an echo of his time as a POW in Vietnam..

I swear, he could bring it into any issue. Were he talking about maple syrup I'm sure he'd mention how much he missed it when he was a POW in Vietnam.

That covered, let's get to the meat of it, shall we?

 
Free Trade

NAFTA has brought about two noticeable changes to the American workforce: lower wages and job loss. Studies in several states have shown a high degree of job loss due, in part, to NAFTA. They also show that high-paying manufacturing jobs are often replaced with lower-paid employment with fewer benefits, including health insurance.

It has also had a negative effect on American worker's wage and benefits bargaining positions due to them being put in direct competition with South American workers who work for less, with fewer benefits, and under worse conditions.

And so what of McCain's view of NAFTA and American economics? In a WaPo article today (link), McCain says he is "better prepared to deal with the economy" than Obama and that he is "very strong on the economy". Stating, "I understand it, I have a lot more experience than my opponent."
 

McCain has acknowledged his support for NAFTA is a hard sell in industrial states reeling from the loss of jobs. But he insisted the voters there know the U.S. economy is changing and that retraining for the new economy will be beneficial to the country and to their families over time.

"I'm confident that the American people - a majority of them - understand we are in a period of transition," McCain said. "And meaningful re-education and training programs will give our workers another opportunity to be part of the information revolution we're in today."
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"Free trade is important for Colombia and for the world," he said.

 
I can't help but notice that America and it's workforce wasn't in the statement.

So when your job is shipped to another country, or your wages and benefits and health care drops, McCain suggests re-training you to get another job. Obama on the other hand will "provide a tax credit to companies that maintain or increase the number of full-time workers in America."

And what hasn't NAFTA brought about? Better working conditions, pay and worker's rights in South American countries; the primary reason for the legislation in the first place.

The International Trade Union Confederation reports that more than 3000 union leaders, activists and members from all sectors, including teachers, bank, factory, and health workers, have been killed since 1985.

An article on AltaNet from earlier this year (link) By Roxanna Altholz, UC Berkeley School of Law, highlights the problem:

The recent acquittal by a Bogotá court of General Jaime Humberto Uscátegui, the highest ranking military official ever prosecuted for human rights violations, shows that Colombia's justice system continues to let the worst perpetrators go free.

Mired in a 50-year civil war and plagued by drug trafficking, Colombia boasts some of the world's most ruthless criminals. Many of them are what one would expect: drug runners, paramilitary thugs, guerilla warlords. But many others appear to be model citizens -- senators, generals, judges -- who, by turning a blind eye, lifting a checkpoint, or providing a list of names, facilitate unspeakable atrocities. General Uscategui is such a man. In 1997, over 50 residents of Mapiripán, a small village in southern Colombia, were tortured for days, hacked to death and thrown into a nearby river. Uscategui could have stopped the massacre -- but chose not to.

And so how does McCain feel about this? Refer again to the WaPo article:

McCain met with Uribe Tuesday night at the Colombian leader's seaside retreat here. The two talked for nearly two hours and addressed the country's problematic human rights record, McCain said.

"I've been a supporter of human rights for my entire life and career," McCain told reporters after the meeting. "We have discussed this issue with President Uribe and will continue to urge progress in that direction. I believe progress is being made and that more progress needs to be made."

When asked in April of this year President Bush had this to say on the issue, "Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has addressed those concerns."

Obama doesn't support the free trade deal explicitly because of the lack of progress in this area. I agree and see it as rewarding the Columbian government while allowing them to continue to ignore, and at times further, the injustices of the past they claim to be fighting against.

Which brings us to..

 
Terrorists

When McCain needs money he knows where to turn; Carl H. Lindner Jr.; Chairman and CEO of the American Financial Group.

Lindner, who is on McCain's Ohio Victory Team, hosted a $25,000-per-person fundraiser for McCain which raised about $2 million for his presidential campaign. SourceWatch (link) reports that Lindner has donated more money, $2.6 million to federal candidates including President Bush, the Republican party and Political Action Committees, than any other American.

But according to the Justice Department, while he was serving as the Chairman of the Board of Chiquita Brands; which was owned by what was once George H. W. Bush's Zapata Corporation, which owns Zapato Oil and engages almost exclusively in off-shore drilling (oh really?); company officials "knowingly engaged in a scheme to pay at least $1.7 million" in protection payments to right-wing AUC and leftist FARC and ELN guerrillas in Columbia.

The US has provided Columbian President Alvaro Uribe's government with more than $6.2 billion in mostly military aid since 2000 to aid his fight against terrorists and the drug industry.

Which take us to..

 
Drugs

The War On Drugs has failed. While it has funneled many billions of dollars to the police and the military, and foreign governments no less, the net effect has been an increase in production, profits; and use.

According to an editorial today in the New York Times, Not Winning the War on Drugs  (link), the drug cartels are not only not on the run, they're growing at a phenomenal rate:

While seizures are up, so are shipments. According to United States government figures, 1,421 metric tons of cocaine were shipped through Latin America to the United States and Europe last year — 39 percent more than in 2006. And despite massive efforts at eradication, the United Nations estimates that the area devoted to growing coca leaf in the Andes expanded 16 percent last year.

It's a never ending circle: the more we money we throw at the problem, the higher the price goes, more production and shipments increase, the more makes it onto our streets, the more money we have to throw..and on and on it goes.

And McCain doesn't just want to continue Bush's failed program, he wants to step it up a notch while ignoring the facts on the ground:

McCain was asked about a recent United Nations survey that showed a 27% increase in coca cultivation in Colombia over the last year, despite U.S. aid showered on the country under Plan Colombia. McCain pointed out that street prices of cocaine had risen in recent months, which he said was an indication that "the strategy is working." (LA times - link)

How can he tell 'the strategy is working'? Because we are topping the world in drug use:

U.S. leads world in substance abuse, WHO finds

The United States leads the world in rates of experimenting with marijuana and cocaine despite strict drug laws, World Health Organization researchers said on Tuesday.

Countries with looser drug laws have lower rates of abuse, the researchers report in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine.

The survey of 54,000 people in 17 countries found that 16 percent of people in the United States had used cocaine in their lifetimes -- far higher than the next highest rate, found in New Zealand, where 4.3 percent of people reported having used cocaine.

With billions of dollars spent year after year, and millions of arrests and incarcerations, we are making no headway and are losing the battle. Rather like Iraq, wouldn't you say? Yet more Bush policies which have cost us in ways we can't even begin to imagine and which have failed to deliver the desired result; and which McCain will not only continue in the wake of Bush, but will 'step up'; should he reach the White House.

And so here we have it. Three issues which McCain will be touching on during his South American tour to 'emphasize his national security credentials' which highlight serious flaws in his understanding of economics, his campaign, and his policies. mind you, with the same policies, people and ideals as Bush, I can't see how he can call them his at all.

All I can see he will emphasize with his trip is his continued lack of judgment and his unpreparedness to lead this country.