Q: How?
A: Well, we're going to recruit, and send people in who can blend into the culture, into the tribal communities. I didn't say it was going to be easy. But I will get him. And why is it so important? One, he killed 3,000 Americans. But two, he is recruiting & instructing radical Islamic extremists who want to destroy everything we stand for. This guy is a continuing threat.
Meet the Press: 2008 "Meet the Candidates" series Jan 6, 2008

Q: Does the president have inherent powers to conduct surveillance for national security purposes without judicial warrants?
A: There are some areas where the statutes don't apply, such as in the surveillance of overseas communications. Where they do apply, however, I think that presidents have the obligation to obey and enforce laws that are passed by Congress, no matter what the situation is.

Q: So is that a no?
A: I don't think the president has the right to disobey any law.
Boston Globe questionnaire on Executive Power Dec 20, 2007

"I firmly believe that the challenge of the 21st century is the struggle against radical Islamic extremism. It is a transcendent issue. It is hydra-headed. It will be with us for the rest of the century. I have served my nation and my country and the people of this country for all of my adult life. I am the most prepared. I have been involved in these issues. I have served this nation in the military and in the Congress, and I'm the best prepared and need no on-the-job training to meet that challenge."
John McCain, 2007 GOP Iowa Straw Poll debate Aug 5, 2007

Q: Do you believe in the Bush doctrine? In 2002, the president said we have a right to a pre-emptive attack, that we can attack if this country feels threatened. And on that basis we went into Iraq. Do you agree with the doctrine, or would you change it?
A: I agree with the doctrine. And I'd also like to give President Bush a little credit. Right after 9/11, every expert in the world said there would be another attack on the US. There hasn't been. Now, maybe that's all by accident. But if there had been, I think it's very clear where the responsibility would have been placed. We created the Department of Homeland Security, and America is safer. I'd like to give the president some credit for that. Now, I strongly disagreed with the strategy employed by Secretary Rumsfeld. And I'm the only one at the time that said we've got to employ a new strategy and outlined what it was, which is the Petraeus strategy. But we are succeeding now in Iraq.
2008 Facebook/WMUR-NH Republican primary debate Jan 5, 2006

"Crime rates rise and fall and rise again, and claim victims and leave tragedies behind, but lawlessness is still much less prevalent today than it was a century ago. We are the world's only superpower, with armed forces so powerful that they deter all but the most irrational of adversaries from significantly challenging our security. We don't have as much to fear as we had in the past. Courage may be in scarce supply, but the demand appears down as well. And we have come to grade courage on the curve."
John McCain, Why Courage Matters, p. 21 Apr 1, 2004

"I think the state of our military is still important. I think the fact that we have a president of the United States, National Security Adviser, a Secretary of State and a Secretary of Defense, none of whom have ever spent one minute wearing the uniform of the United States of America?s military is a disgrace, and we?re going to change that."
John McCain, Republican Debate in West Columbia, SC Jan 7, 2000