Sen. John McCain: "You can't expect the French to lead. You can't expect the Germans to lead. You can't even expect the British, our friends, to lead. The United States has to lead."

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FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill. — Rejecting condemnation by some over the extent of Israel's use of force, Sen. John McCain on Saturday called appropriate the country's response to an assault by Islamic guerrillas who crossed over from Lebanon and captured two Israeli soldiers.

During a fund-raising luncheon for Republican gubernatorial candidate Judy Baar Topinka, the senator from Arizona — himself a former prisoner of war in Vietnam — insisted Israel had every right to defend itself against Wednesday's attacks by Hezbollah.

Since Wednesday, Israel has bombarded Lebanon's airport and main roads in the most intense offensive against the country in 24 years, while Hezbollah has launched hundreds of rockets into Israel.

"My dear friends, you have probably seen our European friends say, 'Well, the Israelis have got to stop,' " McCain told about 120 people during the fund-raiser at a golf course in this St. Louis suburb.

"What would we do if somebody came across our borders and killed our soldiers and captured our soldiers? Do you think we would be exercising total restraint?"

Such restraint should come from Hezbollah and the nations sponsoring it, notably Iran, McCain said in remarks that became a freewheeling, far-reaching speech on foreign policy, including his views on matters involving North Korea, Iraq and the U.S. war on terrorism.

McCain said he would encourage President Bush, who is in Russia attending the Group of Eight summit, to ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to urge Iran to stop helping Hezbollah.

Bush blamed Hezbollah and a compliant Syria Saturday for the escalating violence in the Middle East, taking a sharper stance than Putin. At a joint news conference in Russia, Bush held Israel blameless while Putin criticized Israel's military response.

"I have confidence in this president (Bush) and I have confidence in his team that they will lead us through this crisis," McCain said, noting that the U.S. role as a superpower demands that it flex its diplomatic muscle.

"You can't expect the French to lead. You can't expect the Germans to lead. You can't even expect the British, our friends, to lead. The United States has to lead," he said.

The conflict involving Israel, McCain said, "is all part of this struggle that we're in."

"The struggle is between radical extremist Islamic forces throughout the world, particularly in the Middle East, and West values and standards and beliefs and everything that we stand for."