The South apparently hasn't gotten the message yet

Y'know, the war is over. The confederacy doesn't exist. So housing U.S. troops in Alabama in no way counts as an occupation:

Clearly McCain was talking about a peace time standing presence ... Someone should ask the Democrats if they think we're still at war with the confederacy, the Germans, and the Japanese given all the standing American armies in the South, Germany, and Japan.

Perhaps he just doesn't get that the South is part of the U.S.