During his dust-up with Barack Obama yesterday over Iraq, John McCain said:
“[M]y friends, if we left, they (al-Qaida) wouldn’t be establishing a base,” McCain said Wednesday. “They’d be taking a country, and I’m not going to allow that to happen, my friends. I will not surrender. I will not surrender to al-Qaida.”
Now, McCain fancies himself something of an expert on matters regarding the military, national security, and foreign policy, which makes it all the more interesting when he says dumb things that don’t make any sense.
AQI can’t “take a country,” and certainly can’t “take” Iraq. McCain hasn’t shown up for work in a while, so perhaps he’s missed some briefings, but the reality is AQI has no real allies in Iraq. The Kurds have no use for them, the Shiite majority has no use for murderous Sunni jihadists running around their country, and Sunnis have been rising up against AQI since before the “surge” even began. If we left, al Qaeda would “take” Iraq? Not in this reality, it won’t.
Time’s Joe Klein notes how wrong McCain is, and adds, “The sadness here is that McCain knows better.” But does he really?
Klein argued:
The sadness here is that McCain knows better. He knows the complexities of the world, and the region. But I suspect he’s overplaying his Iraq hand in order to win favor with the wingnuts in his party. That is extremely unfortunate: As McCain should know better than anyone, it is extremely dishonorable for politicians to play bloody-shirt games when the nation is at war.
There may be some truth to this. McCain is going out of his way to act like an uniformed hack — on purpose — because the Republican Party’s far-right base is just confused enough to think AQI really could somehow take over Iraq. McCain doesn’t want to educate them; he wants to exploit their confusion and ignorance for electoral gain. It’s easier, in McCain’s case, for voters to be wrong — an informed voter is less likely to support him.
But I’m not at all sure why we should assume that McCain really does know what he’s talking about. He’s offered precious little evidence of it. McCain was wrong before the invasion (he said the conflict would be short and easy); he was wrong at the start of the occupation (he supported the Rumsfeld strategy and said we simply needed to “stay the course”); and he’s been wrong about the surge (he predicted widespread political reconciliation, none of which has happened).
As recently as November 2006, McCain couldn’t even talk about his own opinions on the war without reading prepared notes on the subject. As recently as March 2007, McCain was embarrassing himself by insisting that Gen. Petraeus travels around Baghdad “in a non-armed Humvee” (a comment that military leaders literally laughed at, and which CNN’s Michael Ware responded to by saying McCain’s credibility “has now been left out hanging to dry.”)
So, how do we know McCain really “knows better”? Is it unreasonable to at least entertain the possibility that the senator simply doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and that his reputation for expertise is a media-hyped mirage? At this point, the difference between a politician who gets Iraq wrong on purpose to make right-wing activists happy, and a politician who gets Iraq wrong accidentally is fairly small.
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Barack!
“My friends”
This reiteration is without doubt intentional.
I guess this is a variation of Karl Rove’s attack-your-opponent’s-strength-and-turn-it-into-a-weakness. Now, we get the GOP attempting to take their Iraq invasion liability and turn it into a positive. Just classic.
McCain is rapidly becoming more and more unhinged. Other than getting the shit beat out of him in Vietnam for five years, I’m not sure what makes McCain a foreign policy expert.
I don’t think that the question is whether McCain knows better, because he does…. I think the question is whether the American People know better. McCain is obviously trying to frame the issue for those still in favor of this war in Iraq. Besides policy wonks and people who visit this site, does the American public actually know the difference and distiction between Sunnis, Shiia (sp?), and Kurds?
I swear, if I hear another right-wing hack refer to Hillary as “Rodham”, I’m going to SNAP! :P
#2 RueMorgue: “My friends” = fingernails on a chalkboard. Gives me the willies.
And to think ,this guy was being considered as John Kerry`s running mate in the 2004 election fix.(my humble yet highly likely opinion.
Anyway,these folks will swing every which way to get the votes.Gotta keep those neocons happy,and war is the way to go for their support.
Even if McCain DOES know better, he is playing to the Bush loyalist 20% who DON’T know better. Bush has been getting away with it for years, pols from BOTH sides have repeated it. It never was true, but it’s the same sad song that’s been playing for 6 years.
John McCain knows better??? Won’t surrender to the boogieman ehh… Ya know, for my money, it really doesn’t matter if McCain knows better or not… Apparently the answer is ‘not’ if this is his gameplan… But his RNC handlers have their meme in place, and he’s working the angle and trying to run the dirty smear part thru proxies… Not buyin it Johnny boy…That shit won’t fly with me old man..
But really… All this war hero shit really doesn’t jibe with reality anyways.. Just how hot can an ex flyby be when the bulk of his military rep and experience revolves around being shot down and rendered a P.O.W… And while the lessor acknowledged fact is he’s the jerkwad who earlier crashed his jet on the USS Forrestal apparently… Footage of which was required bootcamp viewing in the 80’s….Don’t know about now.. So, to recap: He crashes his jet on the flightdeck and later ends up a P.O.W. Just how bright can this bulb be at 70 something after what he displayed by way of smarts in his prime…..
Does this old fart who sold out really know better.. Decide for yourselves folks… I know what I think, and it ain’t too flattering…..JD
My friends, why should we care what Senator McNotaNaturalBornCitizen says?
Iraqis have many reasons for us to leave. Warning, very graphic.
http://www.wired.com/science/d.....d_zimbardo
calgarylady @ 6:
I agree! McCain saying “My friends” is almost as bad as hearing GWBuster saying “…In other words…” Drives me crazy!!
He knows what sells. He doesn’t have to know how (or if) it works.
Not only can’t “al-Qaida” take Iraq, they aren’t even there, only a group that’s dubbed “al-Qaida in Iraq.” The Bush regime has won a major propaganda coup by confusing these unrelated organizations in the mind of the American public. Now, the media use “al-Qaida” when they really mean “al-Qaida in Iraq” which has nothing to do with 9/11 and is primarily an insignificant part of the domestic Iraqi insurgency.
Oh, and can we agree to call it an occupation, not a war? A war is between two or more states, a foreign occupation can never really be won. The occupied will fight until the occupier leaves.
“I will not surrender. I will not surrender to al-Qaida”
Wouldn’t we have to find OBL to surrender to?
Dam republicans. Won’t even let us surrender.
McCain was born in Panama: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain
Doesn’t anyone who is running for the presidency have to be born in the states? Correct me if I’m wrong…
McCain is a good soldier and does what he’s told. He’s not built to think for himself. Shame on you, C&L
/dripping sarcasm
All Right Johnny! McJihad! McJihad! McJihad! We can’t let those McInsurgents win the McWarOnIslam! We must McBombard them with McMOABs till the McCamelHumpers come McHomeForTheMentallyInsane!!
Everybody now…………And the land of the freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee……….and the home.of.the.McBrave!!!!
John Sidney McCain , John Sidney McCain,
John Sidney McCain What does he know and when did he know it? Or has he forgotten it all already?
Bob Loblaw @ 17:
If one of the Democratic candidates had not been born in the US, you can bet there’s be a stink about it in the Corporate Media.
HELL NO!
Bob Loblaw @ 17:
He was a McPanamaCanalBaby……water on the brain….McWaterBoarded from birth…explains the McBirthDefect.
Snowball @ 14:
The administration has labeled every IED attack, suicide bomber, Sunni or Shiite attack as an al qaida attack. To them, the Iraqis are the al qaida.
Snowball @ 21:
I’m certain of that also.
Bob Loblaw @ 17:
He was born on a military base to American citizens… It shouldn’t be an issue, my Friend. ;)
But that is about as mature an argument making an issue as Barack Hussein Obama’s middle name. But good try.
Snowball @ 21:
You can also be a “naturalized citizen”
In other news Matt Drudge outs Prince Harry endangering his life, the life of his comrades and compromising the mission.
indeed, I get the feeling that Mr. McCain has very little of an idea of what has been going on in Iraq over the past few years, and what’s going on there now. the ’surge’ has been a stunt designed to allow the White House to claim victory by playing fast and loose with numbers, McCain was claiming it was ‘working’ at the same time as he was arguing that those saying it wasn’t were incoherent because it hadn’t began yet. then he went over there and did the near-campaign-sinking photo op of him in the flak jacket with the armed guards and helicopters in a feeble attempt to ‘prove’ how saw your average Baghdad market was (a bomb was set off in that same market later that day after the entourage left). that was when McCain’s numbers tanked at the offset. enough repetitions of the phrase ‘the surge is working!’ from Bush lackeys and the old guy himself, and McCain magically, pretty much, vaulted back into the front of the Republican field. but the whole thing has been a complete crock all along. McCain ‘goes with his gut’ just like George Bush. McCain sucked in school (really sucked) even worse than George Bush. he is a worldly person, in a sense, but retains a very narrow, insulated worldview. while he does rise a level above the rest of the GOP in terms of being less hateful and discriminatory, but that seems more like a manifestation of his nearly insane level of American exceptionalism as a belief system. if you’re American, he cares about you, you’re fine. if you’re not, he could give a rat’s ass about what happens to you, and if you’re the wrong person at the wrong time, he’s happy to have you melted down in order to score political points back home.
ConcernedCanuck @ 23:
Tank you dare M. Canuck. I tink I understand de ting yoor saying… :)
Bottom Line: Republicans are liars and simply cannot be trusted.
All about oil.
Ruthless People @ 28:
….I can’t wait for the right wing talking point. Al Queda already know Harry was in Iraq. Harry outed himself.
calgarylady @ 6:
“My friends”….God, that phrase is sickening me more than Reagan’s “there he goes again”.
First of all, McCain, I’m not one of your friends. I pick my friends and you ain’t one of ‘em. So, knock off the folksy horseshit.
Al-Qiada never had any allies in Iraq, and the ONLY reason they were tollerated there by Sunni militias in the first place was BECAUSE Americans were there. ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as long as my enemy is around.’ But still, the MSM allowed Rumsfeld and Cheney and the others to go around repeating the bald-faced lie that there was a connection between Saddam/Iraq and Al-Qiada for years AFTER it was proven to be totally false. It took some retired old coot from the CIA to call Rummy on his s#!t during a speech before the lie got any attention from the MSM.
I think Obama handled this issue very well by reminding McCain that AQ wasn’t in Irag until we attacked them on trumped up Lies. McCain is on the wrong side on this one, most Americans know that this war is illegal and that this administration was absolutely wrong in attacking Iraq. McCain better do some back-peddling if he want to stay relevant (I personally think he has already lost on that one).
I’d like to know how McCain feels about what his fearless leader bush said today about the economy. Bush slapped every working American in the face today with his idiotic ramblings about the economy and embarrassed the nation by not being in touch enough to know the cost of Gasoline. We always knew W was out of touch, but to find out that McCain is too?
Elvis #12: Yes, the “in other words” phrase has become a favourite of Dubya’s lately hasn’t it. Drives me crazy too.
He apparently has to “explain” things carefully to the American public because he views them as ignorant stupid masses who have to be told what to believe and whom they should fear. George Bush is what we should fear. He is dangerous.
McCain sounds like a gangbanger fighting over turf they don’t own.
No, he doesn’t know any better. He’s a senile old man with an itchy trigger-finger. I wrtote an article here about his plan for Iran. This guy scares me.
My political blog
CoIntelPro @ 27:
Being born in the USA (please, no Bruce) is the requirement. Naturalized citizens are not allowed to serve as President to my understanding of the law. That’s not to say I agree with it.
Ruthless People @ 28:
I know people are never supposed to justify violence, but I would love to see Drudge get his know-it-all ass kicked for the crap he writes in his mother’s basement, hidden under her skirt.
“Oh, and can we agree to call it an occupation, not a war?”
How about agreeing to call it what it really is: an unprovoked, criminal aggression.
From the link on naturalized citizens:
the longer he hangs on to Bush’s ball and chain Iraq policies, the deep he will fall into the abyss. McCainiac’s platform is fear based just like Bush’s three years ago, only this time their are just too many americans that are sick of hearing it. Obama has energized so many people to come out and vote against this kind of crap that theres no way in hell that a war monger like McCain could win … is there?
Steve, you raise a good point. On many issues, I believe <i.some reporters and pundits aren’t being hacks - they’re truly ignorant. Some of it’s moot, and here the consistent element is Klein, like many of his MSM pals, making excuses for McCain. Still, it’s food for thought.
left of center @ 43:
Electronic voting machines and scanners.
Snowball @ 39:
I was of the understanding that children born to two American parents on an American military base, are considered US born children. No?