Sen. John McCain feels justifiably comfortable using the word "gook" to describe the captors who confined and abused him for over five years.  When approached by a reporter on a bus in South Carolina, the Vietnam veteran was asked to respond to allegations he had used the word "gook" to describe them.

''I will continue to refer to them in language that might offend some people because of the beating and torture of my friends," McCain said.  The senator also said the guards "deserved worse appellations than gook, in fact they received appelations that were four-letter words."

His words are admittedly harsh, but understandable.  Both in public and in his private life, John McCain is not a racist.  His adopted daughter Bridget is from Bangladesh.  As a senator, McCain's support of normalizing trade relations with Vietnam gave President Clinton the backing he needed to make the controversial change in U.S. policy.  And of course, the toughest years of McCain's life were spent due to his desire to help defend the Vietnamese, many of whom suffered the same kind of pain he faced at the Hanoi Hilton.

"We called our guards [gooks], that tortured and hurt my friends," McCain said. "And I know that most of my South Vietnamese friends would call them that too."

Adding insult to his 5 1/2 years of injury, the Vietnamese government says that McCain was never tortured.  Testimonials of those who suffered alongside McCain in Hanoi debunk such ridiculous claims.

Sen. McCain's words could never do the kind of damage that years of inhumane treatment did to him.  His recovery from the suffering he endured is inspiring, and his choice of words to describe his captors is entirely understandable.