--- title: John McCain Boasts of Winning 'Superfecta' After Syrian Complaint description: U.S. Senator John McCain has managed to upset Vladimir Putin, Fidel Castro, ISIS and now, it seems the Assad regime canonical: https://time.com/3655223/syria-john-mccain-superfecta-putin-castro-isis/ author: David Stout article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-06T05:16:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:18:37.562Z article:section: Politics og:title: McCain Boasts of Diplomatic "Superfecta" og:description: The Senator delightedly upsets Putin, ISIS, Castro, and now Assad. og:url: https://time.com/3655223/syria-john-mccain-superfecta-putin-castro-isis/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcec7fbfc6d4a3bdc/6987784a5f570fce42b1487d/460826006.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4928 og:image:height: 2772 og:image:alt: AFGHANISTAN-US-DIPLOMACY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: McCain Boasts of Diplomatic "Superfecta" twitter:description: The Senator delightedly upsets Putin, ISIS, Castro, and now Assad. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcec7fbfc6d4a3bdc/6987784a5f570fce42b1487d/460826006.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # John McCain Hits the Jackpot With a Syrian Complaint > Sponsored content. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=9b6ca353-9ee9-44c9-a32c-f61f6dfdfc83&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Jan 6, 2015 5:16 AM UTC  U.S. Senator John McCain looks on during a meeting with Afghan Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul on Dec. 25, 2014 U.S. Senator John McCain looks on during a meeting with Afghan Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul on Dec. 25, 2014 Wakil Kohsar—AFP/Getty Images by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Jan 6, 2015 5:16 AM UTC U.S. Senator John McCain tweeted his pride at winning a diplomatic “superfecta” Monday night, after Syria’s ambassador to the U.N. lashed out at him for violating the country’s sovereignty after McCain visited rebel-held territory in 2013. A delighted McCain grouped the Syrian complaint with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s March 2014 decision to put him on a [sanctions list](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/17/russia-will-sanction-u-s-officials.html) as occasions when he had upset powers to which he was opposed. The other two occasions were former Cuban President Fidel Castro’s September 2014 [tirade](http://thehill.com/policy/international/216608-fidel-castro-accuses-mccain-israel-of-creating-isis), in which he accused McCain of creating the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) together with the Israeli secret service agency Mossad, and the time, he [claimed to Fox News](http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/2014/08/23/mccain-best-way-send-message-isis-blowing-them-smithereens-blowing-them-straight-hell-whe), when ISIS declared him as their No. 1 enemy. > [](https://twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain/status/552242407757336577) > [](https://twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain/status/552242548899860480) The Syrian complaint was made on Monday, when envoy Bashar Ja’afari asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the U.N.’s 15-member Security Council in a letter to take “the necessary measures against their nationals who enter Syrian territory illegally,” [according](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/05/us-mideast-crisis-syria-mccain-idUSKBN0KE1P220150105?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews) to Reuters. Ja’afari also lambasted French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and former U.S. diplomat Peter Galbraith for entering Syria without a visa. The Arizona Senator fired back at Damascus and accused Bashar Assad’s government of massacring its own people. “It is a sad but unsurprising truth that the Assad regime is less concerned with its massacre of more than 200,000 men, women and children than it is my visit with those brave Syrians fighting for their freedom and dignity,” [said](http://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=0d38f97a-700f-4e03-98b9-95940e40988c) McCain in a statement. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3655223/syria-john-mccain-superfecta-putin-castro-isis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3655223/syria-john-mccain-superfecta-putin-castro-isis/"},"headline":"John McCain Hits the Jackpot With a Syrian Complaint","datePublished":"2015-01-06T05:16:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:18:37.562Z","description":"He's now upset Vladimir Putin, ISIS, Fidel Castro, and the Syrian regime — and he couldn't be more pleased","url":"https://time.com/3655223/syria-john-mccain-superfecta-putin-castro-isis/","keywords":["Syria","France","Middle East","U.N.","Ban Ki-Moon","John McCain"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcec7fbfc6d4a3bdc/6987784a5f570fce42b1487d/460826006.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Stout","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/david-stout/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcec7fbfc6d4a3bdc/6987784a5f570fce42b1487d/460826006.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"AFGHANISTAN-US-DIPLOMACY","caption":"AFGHANISTAN-US-DIPLOMACY","creditText":"Wakil Kohsar—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/syria/","name":"Syria"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3655223/syria-john-mccain-superfecta-putin-castro-isis/","name":"John McCain Hits the Jackpot With a Syrian Complaint"}}]}] ```