AMMAN, Jordan, March 19, 2008
McCain Mixes Up Iraqi Groups
Washington Post: While In Jordan, Senator Misstates Which Extremists Are Aided by Iran
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McCain's Foreign Policy Gaffe
"CBS News RAW": Speaking to reporters in Jordan, John McCain mistakenly referred to Iranian extremists as al Qaeda terrorists. McCain recanted after being corrected by Sen. Joseph Lieberman.
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Sen. John McCain talks to reporters during his visit to Amman, Jordan, Tuesday, March 18, 2008. (AP)
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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., left, John McCain, R-Ariz., center, and Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., lay a wreath at the Hall of Remembrance during a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, Tuesday, March 18, 2008. (AP)
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In this photo released by the U.S. Army on Monday, March 17, 2008, U.S. Sen. John McCain, left, listens to Iraq's Lt. Gen. Riyadh Jalal Tawfiq, center, commander of the Ninevah Operations Command, and U.S. Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, right, commander of Multi-National Division-North, during a briefing in Mosul, Iraq, Sunday, March 16, 2008. (AP)
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Sen. John McCain, in the midst of a trip to the Middle East that he hoped would help burnish his foreign policy expertise, incorrectly asserted Tuesday that Iran is training and supplying al-Qaeda in Iraq, confusing the Sunni insurgent group with the Shiite extremists who U.S. officials believe are supported by their religious brethren in the neighboring country.
The mistake, which he quickly corrected after a brief whisper from a colleague, was an unwelcome stumble as McCain (Ariz.), the all-but-certain Republican nominee for the White House, spends seven days in the Middle East and Europe.(Watch the video.)
His campaign asserts that McCain's decades of foreign policy experience make him the candidate best equipped to lead the country in a time of international peril, and he has staked his bid in particular on his deep knowledge of the military and political situation in Iraq, frequently mocking his Democratic rivals for what he describes as a naive desire to pull troops out quickly. He is spending two days in Israel after 48 hours in Iraq, where he met with top Iraqi officials and U.S. military officers to assess progress there.
Standing with two of his Senate colleagues at the Citadel, a set of ancient ruins in downtown Amman, McCain told reporters that he is concerned about Iran's influence in Iraq and cited a recently discovered cache of weapons that he said could be particularly lethal in being used to target Americans in the country.
"We continue to be concerned about Iranian [operatives] taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back," he said in comments after meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II on Tuesday afternoon.
Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it is "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 I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in his ear. McCain then said, "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda."
The United States has long asserted that elements of Iran's security forces have been training and supplying weapons to Iraq's Shiite militias. Iran is an overwhelmingly Shiite country whose government has applauded the emergence of a Shiite-led government in Iraq but has denied supporting Shiite militias inside Iraq.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq is a predominantly Sunni militant group that has been blamed for deadly mass killings of Shiites and attacks on U.S. forces. Some Sunni extremists consider Shiites to be heretics and therefore legitimate targets of attack. The schism between Islam's Sunni and Shiite sects grw out of a dispute over the leadership of the faithful after the death of the prophet Muhammad in A.D. 632.
Democrats pointed out that McCain made the same assertion in a radio interview with talk show host Hugh Hewitt on Monday night, saying that "there are al-Qaeda operatives that are taken back into Iran, given training as leaders, and they're moving back into Iraq."
In a statement, Democratic Party spokeswoman Karen Finney seized on the mistakes.
"After eight years of the Bush Administration's incompetence in Iraq, McCain's comments don't give the American people a reason to believe that he can be trusted to offer a clear way forward," she said. "Not only is Senator McCain wrong on Iraq once again, but he showed he either doesn't understand the challenges facing Iraq and the region or is willing to ignore the facts on the ground."
A spokesman for McCain's campaign accused the Democrats of launching unwarranted political attacks.
"In a press conference today, John McCain misspoke and immediately corrected himself by stating that Iran is in fact supporting radical Islamic extremists in Iraq, not al Qaeda -- as the transcript shows," Brian Rogers said from McCain's Virginia headquarters. "Democrats have launched political attacks today because they know the American people have deep concerns about their candidates' judgment and readiness to lead as commander in chief."
McCain has said repeatedly that he is leading the three-person congressional delegation abroad as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, not as a candidate for president. But he is giving daily interviews to U.S. networks and will hold a campaign fundraiser in London on Thursday. And in both Jordan and Israel, he was mobbed by reporters anxious to hear from him.
His political advisers had said that a side benefit from the trip would be images of McCain standing shoulder-to-shoulder with world leaders and showing his expertise on issues of war, foreign policy and terrorism.
McCain continued that effort after leaving Jordan, meeting Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem before a series of other high-level talks in the city Wednesday. McCain, Lieberman and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) met with Peres in his residence, at a long table set with cookies, water bottles and a floral centerpiece.
"Could I just say, Mr. President, I'm happy to have the opportunity to see you again. And we've met on many occasions. And I've always appreciated your words of wisdom and guidance," McCain told Peres in a brief exchange for the news media at the beginning of the meeting.
Peres said he admires McCain's "courage and stamina" and said Israel needs a partner in achieving peace with the Palestinians.
"The situation among the Palestinians, they are divided, alas, which makes them weak," Peres said. "And their weakness is our weakness because we [need a] partner."
Shear reported from Jerusalem.
By Cameron W. Barr and Michael D. Shear
© 2008 The Washington Post Company
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See all 120 CommentsLIEberman, "John, shiite is the stuff you have in your depends"
John: "Yeah, that the extremist I''m talking about, right?"
LIEberman: "No John, that would be excrementt."
John: "Well dammitt, let''s just sing the Bomb Iran song."
I am embarrased for my country.
This man is running for presiden of the U.S. and doesn''t know what is going on with the war?
If we don''t know the enemy how can we win?
Does he even know where he is?
I have a suspicion he thinks he is on the Arizona-Mexico border.
I''m looking for all the reetard repub posters to write something witty about this incident.
Guess they''re all wetting their Depends also.
Either that or they forgot their log in names.
"John McCain misspoke and immediately corrected himself"
Instant replay of the tape shows the old farrt being corrected by LIE-berman.
Guess McCain and LIE-berman are one and the same.
This is telling several things including:
1. The press KNOWS this man is absolutely not qualified and has a hard time hiding the fact.
2.Seniority in congress is a BAD thing after soo many years.
3. Tim Russert should press John like he does Hillary with a pop quiz to see if the man is qualified to be president.
Of course the republican voters are more interested in the ssex lives of democrats than a war involving Americans.
That and they just HAVE to see Hillary''s tax return and doings when she was first lady -
-tax returns! - tax returns!
and the diference between a shiite and extremist?
Who cares?
We just have to see Hillary''s tax return.
Go figure.
Thanks Tim for going after the hard stories.
Wow, McCain is sounding more like Bush every day!
In simple terms I would say that to understand the players in a war gives a leader perspective on how to win it.
This clown is the best the repubs could come up with?
What a shame!
A few moments later, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in his ear. McCain then said, "I''''m sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda."
Posted by jh6379 at 09:28 AM : Mar 19, 2008
The sad part is that we''ve seen alot of Repugs make this mistake in supporting Dumbya''s Iranian policy - it''ll be very good for this country if Repugs tried to educate themselves on these issues rather than just believing everything on Faux. Cheers!
Folks, I believe America can do better.
So sad to see the repub party try to fool all of America into thinking this man is presidential material.
John would be sending young men to fight and die not knowing where the enemy is getting trained or who the enemy(ies) are.
Very sad indeed.
Oh, but he can sing, "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran"
Don''t know much about history
Don''t know much biology
Don''t know much about science books
Don''t know much about the french I took
And the snake
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.)
egged him on.
And the snake
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.)
egged him on.
Absolutely pathetic
that not even one repub conserv
poster explains how their
defacto party nominee is clueless
about Iran, Iraq, extremist, al qaeda.
Even worse, the press will not pressure this nut as to HOW he could make such a HUGE mistake.
Why don''t they pressure him about this?
For one there are NO REAL journalist anymore.
They are all just clowns and puppets.
They ALL lack real guts to ask realistic questions.
"Welcome to the nation of Walmart."
Let''s all begin to learn to speak chineeze.
so we can at least understand the double speak.
Hee hee hee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To recap:
So we have a republican nominee for president of the U.S.A.
and he doesn''t know what is going on with this war.
And we have not one repub poster such as mudrose, hawksprings, or any of the others that are soooo
quick to post about demo ssexual issues
willing or able to post anything about this major
slip up.
Arizona, please come and pick up your senator.
He is lost and needs to return to his home.
Pleeze do not punish him for wandering off.
His nurse LIEberman put him up to it.
Lol!
McCain is sounding more like Bu$h every day!
Later John clarified the statement by saying he didn''t know Al but the Qaeda family would like Al to return home.
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