The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations

by John McCain

In 2013, Putin had an op-ed published in the New York Times, warning the U.S. not to intervene in the Syrian war on the side of the Syrians murdered with chemical weapons, or the millions of Syrians killed, injured, and dislocated by the Assad regime. Two years later, Putin would deploy Russian soldiers to Syria to fight on behalf of the murderers. I asked and was allowed to publish a response to Putin in Pravda. I began by addressing the falsehood that I was anti-Russian. “I am pro-Russian,” I claimed. “I’m more pro-Russian than the regime that misrules you today. I make that claim because I respect your dignity and your right to self-determination. I believe you should live according to the dictates of your conscience, not your government. I believe that you deserve the opportunity to improve your lives in an economy that is built to last and benefits the many, not just the powerful few. You should be governed by a rule of law that is clear, consistently and impartially enforced and just. I make that claim because I believe the Russian people, no less than Americans, are endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Much of the commentary in Washington about my op-ed was focused on the fact that it had been published on an online news site, Pravda.ru, and not in the old Communist Party organ, Pravda. Some analysts believed Russians would be offended by my criticism of the regime, despite the fact that the largest anti-regim...