“This is a moral debate. It is about who we are.”

— John McCain

As quoted in "Bin Laden's death and the debate over torture" (11 May 2011), The Washington Post
2010s, 2011
Context: This is a moral debate. It is about who we are. I don’t mourn the loss of any terrorist’s life. What I do mourn is what we lose when by official policy or official neglect we confuse or encourage those who fight this war for us to forget that best sense of ourselves. Through the violence, chaos and heartache of war, through deprivation and cruelty and loss, we are always Americans, and different, stronger and better than those who would destroy us.

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John McCain 169

politician from the United States 1936–2018

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“This is a moral debate. It is about who we are.”

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