McCain Conflates Shiite Iran And Sunni Al Qaeda, Needs To Be Corrected By Lieberman

[marmar]

They're like a Laurel and Hardy from hell.



from ThinkProgress:



McCain Conflates Shiite Iran And Sunni Al Qaeda, Needs To Be Corrected By Lieberman»

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has spent a majority of his presidential campaign trying to convince voters that he is the most qualified to tackle foreign policy issues:

I would believe that my knowledge and experience and background clearly indicates that if the phone rang in the White House and I was the one to answer it, I would be the one to best address a national security crisis. (3/3/08)

I have the most experience of any presidential candidate when it comes to foreign policy and advancing our national and economic security priorities around the globe. (1/29/08)

On matters of war and peace, I offer Americans my experience, my personal familiarity with the tragedy of war, deep involvement in all of the national security issues of the last two decades… {11/18/07}

Of course, McCain’s supposed prescient understanding of foreign policy has been proven faulty over and over. Today, as the Washington Post’s Cameron Barr and Michael Shear report, McCain further undermined his claim to be the best qualified on matters of foreign policy, when he repeated a mistaken claim that Iran was training al Qaeda fighters:

Speaking to reporters in Amman, the Jordanian capital, McCain said he and two Senate colleagues traveling with him continue to be concerned about Iranian operatives “taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back.”

Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was “common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that’s well known. And it’s unfortunate.” A few moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate’s ear. McCain then said: “I’m sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda.”

He made the same assertion on right-wing Hugh Hewitt’s radio show last night. Listen here: http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/18/mccain-iran-al-qaeda/


The “common knowledge” McCain cites is simply false. Far from working together, Iran and al Qaeda represent opposing sides in the Iraq civil war. Al Qaeda is a Sunni Muslim extremist group, while Iran is ruled by Shiites, where they make up 90 percent of the population.

McCain, the so-called foreign policy expert, is confusing reports that Iran was aiding Shiite insurgents in Iraq — one of the groups that virulently opposes al Qaeda. Even some aspects of those reports have been disputed.

Considering he had to correct McCain himself, does Lieberman still insist that McCain is “almost always right on the big issues in foreign policy”?


http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/18/mccain-iran-al-qaeda/

[Sub Atomic]

1. This smacks of Ronald Reagan

believing he was a war veteran because he was an actor in several war movies.

[MisterP]

6. he told Shamir and Wiesenthal he liberated the death camps

even though he never left Hollywood and actually only processed footage for newsreels.
I went through his papers at the Reagan Library: he was never more than a mascot for his staff, barely even writing letters to supporters. He did get a lot of congratulations from Buz Lukens, though. And Pat Buchanan has always been that way.

[librechik]

2. Damn that nosy Liberman ruined McCain's ongoing campaign to conflate Sunni and Shiite into one AlQ

mishmash for purposes of terrorizing the electorate. And how dare he correct His Holiness???

They'll be fighting in bed tonight, no doubt!

[chat_noir]

3. A McCain Gaffe in Jordan

AMMAN, Jordan -- Sen. John McCain, traveling in the Middle East to promote his foreign policy expertise, misidentified in remarks Tuesday which broad category of Iraqi extremists are allegedly receiving support from Iran.

He said several times that Iran, a predominately Shiite country, was supplying the mostly Sunni militant group, al-Qaeda. In fact, officials have said they believe Iran is helping Shiite extremists in Iraq.

Speaking to reporters in Amman, the Jordanian capital, McCain said he and two Senate colleagues traveling with him continue to be concerned about Iranian operatives "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back."

Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was "common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate." A few moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate's ear. McCain then said: "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda."

The mistake threatened to undermine McCain's argument that his decades of foreign policy experience make him the natural choice to lead a country at war with terrorists. In recent days, McCain has repeatedly said his intimate knowledge of foreign policy make him the best equipped to answer a phone ringing in the White House late at night.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/03/18/a_mccain_gaffe_in_jordan_1.html?hpid=topnews

[Supersedeas]

4. McBush is sounding more and more like Bush, everyday, more of the same

[Jack Rabbit]

5. How disappointing

While McCain is dead wrong about what to do in Iraq, I at least thought he knew more about the complexities of the nation than the Frat Boy.

Maybe it's not too late for the Republicans to nominate Lieberman.