http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ilan-goldenberg/not-a-gaffe-a-fundaemtnal_b_114394.html Not a Gaffe: A Fundemental Misunderstanding of Iraq John McCain made a mistake this evening, which as far as I'm concerned, disqualifies him from being president. It is so appalling and so factually wrong that I'm actually sitting here wondering who McCain's advisers are. This isn't some gaffe where he talks about the Iraq-Pakistan border. It's a real misunderstanding of what has happened in Iraq over the past year. It is even more disturbing because according to John McCain, Iraq is the central front in the "war on terror." If we are going to have an Iraq-centric policy, he should at least understand what he is talking about. But anyway, what happened. On Katie Couric tonight McCain says: Kate Couric: Senator McCain, Senator Obama says, while the increased number of US troops contributed to increased security in Iraq, he also credits the Sunni awakening and the Shiite government going after militias. And says that there might have been improved security even without the surge. What's your response to that? McCain: I don't know how you respond to something that is as -- such a false depiction of what actually happened. Colonel McFarlane [phonetic] was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening. I mean, that's just a matter of history. Thanks to General Petraeus, our leadership, and the sacrifice of brave young Americans. I mean, to deny that their sacrifice didn't make possible the success of the surge in Iraq, I think, does a great disservice to young men and women who are serving and have sacrificed. One problem. The surge wasn't even announced until a few months after the Anbar Awakening. Via Spencer Ackerman, here is Colonel MacFarland explaining the Anbar Awakening to Pam Hass of UPI, on September 29, 2006. That would be almost four months before the President even announced the surge. Petraeus wasn't even in Iraq yet. With respect to the violence between the Sunnis and the al Qaeda -- actually, I would disagree with the assessment that the al Qaeda have the upper hand. That was true earlier this year when some of the sheikhs began to step forward and some of the insurgent groups began to fight against al Qaeda. The insurgent groups, the nationalist groups, were pretty well beaten by al Qaeda. This is a different phenomena that's going on right now. I think that it's not so much the insurgent groups that are fighting al Qaeda, it's the -- well, it used to be the fence-sitters, the tribal leaders, are stepping forward and cooperating with the Iraqi security forces against al Qaeda, and it's had a very different result. I think al Qaeda has been pushed up against the ropes by this, and now they're finding themselves trapped between the coalition and ISF on the one side, and the people on the other. And here is the NY Times talking about the Anbar Awakening back in March 2007. The formation of the group in September shocked many Sunni Arabs. It was the most public stand anyone in Anbar had taken against Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, which was founded by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. And here is Colin Kahl in Foreign Affairs: The Awakening began in Anbar Province more than a year before the surge and took off in the summer and fall of 2006 in Ramadi and elsewhere, long before extra U.S. forces started flowing into Iraq in February and March of 2007. Throughout the war, enemy-of-my-enemy logic has driven Sunni decision-making. The Sunnis have seen three "occupiers" as threats: the United States, the Shiites (and their presumed Iranian patrons), and the foreigners and extremists in AQI. Crucial to the Awakening was the reordering of these threats. This is not controversial history. It is history that anyone trying out for Commander and Chief must understand when there are 150,000 American troops stationed in Iraq. It is an absolutely essential element to the story of the past two years. YOU CANNOT GET THIS WRONG. Moreover, what is most disturbing is that according to McCain's inaccurate version of history, military force came first and solved all of our problems. If that is the lesson he takes from the Anbar Awakening, I am afraid it is the lesson he will apply to every other crisis he faces including, for example, Iran. This is just incredibly disturbing. I have no choice but to conclude that John McCain has simply no idea what is actually happened and happening in Iraq.
I don't think he doesn't understand, I think he's just being deliberately untruthful or willfully blnd.
McCain is making the bet that Republican's routinely make and win- that these details are too deep in the weeds for the general public to pay attention. Sadly, this tactic is often successful.
I seriously disagree. McCain really believed what he said. Call it a "senior moment" if you like. I do not believe McCain would deliberately lie like this. For one, it would be stupid because he's intelligent enough to know he will be caught. For two, he isn't that kind of guy. All politicians, Obama included, exaggerate and embellish. But this would be way beyond that, almost pathological, and thankfully I don't think either of these two candidates is in that category. That all said, this is bad. Very bad. I'm hoping the story is wrong.
In terms of the surge, I have to score it for McCain over Obama. McCain favored staying the course a bit longer and giving patreus a chance - and Obama didn't. Many people here discredited the initial results, and now that they are sustained, I think we have to give credit to Patreus and to the shift in tactics, including the surge. But that doesn't mean McCain will be a better president. He's wrong on a lot of things, but i do think he was right to back staying in iraq.
Tens of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of men that could be going to the search for Bin Laden or could be going to the economy at home. Nobody has any idea what the hell we are doing over there. Nobody knows what the goals are, what victory is, what failure is. We are the corner policeman in a nation full of people that hate us. The surge is like plugging the hole in the dam with your finger. It is not a long term solution. Obama has a realistic long term solution. Mccain and Bush want us to stand there and keep holding the dam up and taking losses until some other president comes along and has the balls to stop wasting our money and men on a HUGE mistake.
The most recent "Classic McCain Moment" was when he was asked about Viagra and contraceptives. You really have to watch the video to see how hilarious, and possibly disturbing, McCain's response was to the question. McCain dodges Viagra, contraceptives question Doesn't recall the vote on insurance matter, but 'I'll try to get back to you' When asked Wednesday if he had voted in the Senate against a proposal to require insurance companies to cover contraceptive products, McCain replied, "I don't know enough about it to give you an informed answer because I don't recall the vote... I don't usually duck an issue, but I'll try to get back to you." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25621588/ Anyone have the YouTube video? Impeach Somebody!!!
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Thanks! Man, that is hilarious. Poor, poor John. Dollars to donuts the man takes Viagra. No wonder he was caught off guard. Impeach Bush/Nixon... I mean Cheney.
I believe the public has been alot more informed in this election because both candidates are raising the level of discourse from "either with us or against us"
Leaving Iraq a stable country versus creating another Afganistan? Yeah, I'd say that's worth 10's of billions of dollars. Easily. I will be the first to say going into Iraq may be one of the worst blunders by the U.S. ever second only to the intelligence failure that led to 9/11, but making two big mistakes don't make a right - leaving that country to ruins would be repeating the same mistake all over again.
McCain is a good guy, but he is not good in front of the camera 24/7 -- he struggles frequently to the point he is uncomfortable to watch.
The sad update to this story is that McCain was wrong on another front too. The sheik that McFarlane was referring to got assassinated somewhere in middle of the surge. So, the surge didn't actually "go out and protect that sheik."
We were fighting a proxy war. The USSR failed because of covert American interference. Both countries left and a void was created - setting up the vaccum needed to house the Taliban and than Al Qaeda. Do you want the same thing to happen in Iraq? You can't leave that country to the same faith or it will come back to bite us.
