McCain Denies Misstatement On Iraq Surge

Ariz. Senator Pushes Back Against Criticism Of Comments Made During CBS News Interview

(CBS/ AP)  Republican John McCain pushed back on Wednesday against Democratic criticism that he misstated when the troop buildup ordered by President Bush began, saying elements were put in place before Bush announced the strategy in early 2007.

He told reporters during an unscheduled stop in a super market that, what the Bush administration calls "the surge" was actually "made up of a number of components," some of which began before the president's order for more troops.

It's all a matter of semantics, he suggested.

McCain said Army Col. Sean MacFarland started carrying out elements of a new counterinsurgency strategy as early as December 2006.

At issue are McCain's comments in a Tuesday interview with CBS News. The Arizona senator disputed Democrat Barack Obama's contention that a Sunni revolt against al Qaeda combined with the dispatch of thousands more U.S. combat troops to Iraq to produce the improved security situation there. McCain called that a "false depiction."

---

CBS News anchor Katie Couric spoke exclusively Tuesday to Barack Obama in Amman and to McCain via satellite.
Click to see the full transcript of Couric's interview with Obama | Full video.
Click to see the full transcript of Couric's interview with McCain | Full video.

---

Democrats jumped on his comments. They said McCain's remarks showed he was out of touch, because the rebellion of U.S.-backed Sunni sheiks against al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq's Anbar province was under way well before Bush announced in January 2007 his decision to send 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq.

McCain asserted he knew that and didn't commit a gaffe. "A surge is really a counterinsurgency made up of a number of components. ... I'm not sure people understand that `surge' is part of a counterinsurgency."

Speaking on CBS Tuesday of a Sunni sheik who approached Col. MacFarland, McCain said, "Because of the surge, we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening."

On Wednesday McCain continued to try to portray his opponent as naive on Iraq while the Illinois Democrat is visiting the war zone, the Middle East and Europe.

"I am again deeply disappointed that Sen. Obama will not recognize that the surge has succeeded," McCain said. He said that "no rational person" could think otherwise.

McCain said he had been briefed by Col. MacFarland, commander of 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, in December 2006 to discuss the strategy that remains in force today. Bush announced the surge in January 2007 and the first of the new troops began arriving in Iraq in mid-February 2007.

McCain made an unscheduled stop at "Kings Supermarket" in a shopping mall here, and greeted shoppers and commiserated with them on the soaring costs of both food and fuel.

"Among other challenges, Americans face the price of milk at over $4 a gallon," McCain told reporters as he stood in front of a dairy case.

But questions quickly turned to other subjects.

McCain brushed aside a question on a running mate when asked whether Minnesota's Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty, was now at the top of his list.

"I can't mention names," he said. But asked what he thought of Pawlenty, McCain said, "He's a great, fine person."

"He, and (Louisiana Gov.) Bobby Jindal and a number of other governors are the future of the Republican party," McCain said.

McCain had been headed to Louisiana later Wednesday, but bad weather generated by Hurricane Dolly, forced a last minute postponement of the trip. He was going to Ohio instead.

Earlier, campaigning in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., McCain credited the recent $10-a-barrel drop in the price of oil to President Bush's lifting of a presidential ban on offshore drilling, an action he has been advocating in his presidential campaign.

The cost of oil and gasoline is "on everybody's mind in this room," McCain told a town-hall meeting.

He criticized Obama for opposing drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf.

Bush recently lifted the executive order banning offshore drilling that his father put in place in 1990. He also asked Congress to lift its own moratorium on oil exploration on the outer continental shelf which includes coastal waters as close as three miles from shore.

"The price of oil dropped $10 a barrel," said McCain, who argued that the psychology of lifting the ban has affected world markets.

The White House didn't go that far. Presidential spokeswoman Dana Perino said the price drop also could reflect diminished demand.

"I don't know if we fully deserve the credit," Perino said.

"We don't predict what happens in the market," she said. "We can't really tell. Certainly, taking that action would send a signal that at least the executive branch is serious about moving forward and increasing the supply we have in America."

A barrel of light, sweet crude fell $1.86 to $126.56 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's down from more than $140 a barrel earlier in the summer. There are 42 gallons in each barrel.

[rltw175b]

the picture above looks like mccain is having a heart attack!!

[tbweb]

Sen. McCain just spent some time with Bush Sr. and is now praising Bush Jr., Sen. McCain should stay out the bushes, its not politically popular and his unflinching loyally will be the end of his campaign!

[realpatriot1]

I credit the American people for driving less, but if we can get the price down without ripping mother nature apart then let''s stick with Bush waving his magic Wand!

[hypnotoad72]

I just don''t see how lifting the ban would do anything so quickly; other articles on the same subject claim it would take years to actually produce enough oil to make true dents in prices. Those articles could be wrong too.

I am also FOR such drilling. Long-term goals are the inclusion of usage of other power sources, but there is nothing wrong with oil. Like the TV adverts have said, we should use oil more responsibly.

[Gary Kempf]

McCain Credits Bush For Drop In Oil Price

Can to much Geritol be making McCain delusional? or did he start taking Cindy''s prescriptions? It looks like he is flipping out on something from the picture above.

[hasher47]

HypoToad,
Taking the ban off of offshore drilling would not effect the price of oil. In case you haven''t figured it out, Mc Cain has not clue about just about everything.

btw: the Oil companies ALREADY have 32 million leased offshore acres that they could have already been explioting...oops, exploring, developing, and drilling. Big Oil hasn''t.

More Republican VooDoo economics.

[omnibus66]

The price of oil is artificially inflated, and everyone in the market knows it. Some traders cashed in on a nice profit, and the market fell. A simple trading truism. Bush''s rantings had nothing to do with it.

McCain is only proving that he truly knows nothing about economics.

[lugarbow]

McCain should be locked up in a padded room!!! This guy has no more brains then a peapod!! Credit bush with reduction in oil prices my butt !!! Credit goes to the consumers who are saying enough is enough!!!

[john-in-ct]

So McCain credits Bush for the lower oil prices. Why doesn''t McCain credit Bush with the high prices of oil that we''ve been dealing with too? After all, he has been the president for seven plus years.

[lugarbow]

I wonder if McCain really knows how he comes across to the public. He comes across as a over the hill person who is dependent on his wife for a living, and for the most part spends most of his time and his wife''s money in LasVegas Casino''s. This guy is a gambling fool, and you want him as President??? You had better investagate him because the newsmedia is not willing to tell the public the truth about his gambling habit, ask the guys who protect his sorry butt!!!!

[rowdywicca]

I wonder if McCain really knows how he comes across to the public. He comes across as a over the hill person who is dependent on his wife for a living, and for the most part spends most of his time and his wife''''s money in LasVegas Casino''''s. This guy is a gambling fool, and you want him as President??? You had better investagate him because the newsmedia is not willing to tell the public the truth about his gambling habit, ask the guys who protect his sorry butt!!!!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by lugarbow at 01:20 PM : Jul 23, 2008

Your bigotry becomes you! And evidently you haven''t paid much attention to politics....McCain has been a statements for 26 years...

What he and his wife do with their personal money is their business...they have plenty to gamble! She runs a very successful distributing company to get it!

If you are jealous and want more money...get off your *** and set yourself up a successful business to get it!

[rowdywicca]

Strange...nobody ever credited Carter with the energy crisis he created...they happed their heads off trying to blame the republicans!

[rltw175b]

lugarbow - McCain has ever filed the proper federal tax forms for gambling profits and losses he also has a big gambling problem.

[ariel133]

OK, This will be blunt- so be aware-

This pathetic piece of trash paper depicts McCain as a crazy person while praising Obama to high heaven, and they are not the only ones who are biased..

The media is garbadge and those who promote someone who is not qualified is a clear inidcation that America is breeding too many idiots.

Obama is nothing more than an empty, uneducated black man with no experiance. Certainly I would vote for a black man if HE WERE QUALIFIED. Those who are voting for him are just plainly insane.

[jtyler271]

Posted by Ariel133 at 01:32 PM : Jul 23, 2008

You''re right, Harvard has a reputation for not educating their students.

[rltw175b]

Ariel133 - your right mccain has lots of experience... experience in crashing planes.... by the way we paid his mistakes with are tax dollars...

[cfin5]

He is correct. Don''t stop there though, tell everyone that if elected, we''re gonna drill holes like never before. If the environmentalist try to stop it, just declare the need for oil an economic homeland security issue by executive order and let the ones who know how to get it do their job. My wife''s Grandmother is selling her house just because she can''t afford to heat it anymore. Those prices have robbed her of the VERY little she has left to live on Socialist Security.

[hasher47]

Ariel, How does Bush lifing the non-biding ban on offshore drilling effect the price at the pump?

[rltw175b]

Hasher47 well 10 - 15 years from now it might have a effect of about $0.30 thats great... LOL

[hasher47]

How come the Repugs ''disappear'' when you ask them to support issues with facts? :-)

[rltw175b]

apparently everyone that calls for offshore drilling has never been to the beaches of cali or anywhere in the west coast...

[chalres-2009]

Anyone who believes this B.S. would believe anything. Oh ya, I got some land for sale, are you beleivers insterested?

[hasher47]

Can you believe Mc Cain actually believe this.
Of course, he probably heard it from his economic expert Phil Gramm.

[tbweb]

Posted by Ariel133 at 01:32 PM : Jul 23, 2008

You''re right, Harvard has a reputation for not educating their students.

Posted by jtyler271 at 01:33 PM : Jul 23, 2008,,,

In 1990, Barack Obama was elected Harvard Law Review president over 18 others! Cream rises to the top!

[likeitis5050]

Obama=miracles, salvation, eternal life and he''ll prove it by lowering gas prices WITHOUT giving credit to any one else!!!! Obama is a jealous god...don''t get caught looking at anyone else!!! If he can LOWER the price of gas he can do something just as amazing to make you sorry you looked away!!! Suckers.

[jongood65]

How come the Repugs ''''disappear'''' when you ask them to support issues with facts? :-)
Posted by Hasher47 at 01:44 PM : Jul 23, 2008
===================

Maybe because we get tired of waiting on you Sen. NObama worshipping hyphenated-Americans to stop picking your noses long enough to offer an intelligent exchange?

[whitemale08]

This is the type of lunacy economics that we would get with McCain.

America just cannot afford to take that chance.

McCain scares me to death.

[rltw175b]

the same Phil Gramm that said we are in a mental recession or the phil gramm that invested his money in porn?

[kailumego1]

Ariel133, you''re a joke in a clown''s suit, a "mudoidiota", and a "mullah".

A misanthrope that clings to primitive ideologies based on illogical reasoning.

You are a malignant narcissist whose view of others is so distorted that if a black man had developed a cure for AIDS, you would resoundingly discredit it as a "quack cure", notwithstanding the mountainous evidence has proved otherwise.

You are a "throwback", a malignant cancer that just keeps on metastizing, until it destroys the rational element of society.

You may not agree with Obama''s policies or his political agenda, but to discredit his education, because of your backwards paranoid egoistic logic makes you nothing more than a "blood-sucking leech".

[jongood65]

My Lord, the level deep thought being demonstrated by the drivel and various other excretions on this board goes so far in preparing us real Americans about what a Sen. NObama White House will look like.

I can just hear Sen. NObama addressing these minions:
"Quit eating those boogers, bend over and grab your ankles in preparation to receive your breech loading!"

[future121]

I think Al Gore''s challenge of 100% off oil and T. Boone Pickens plan and the public writing their reps to get off oil---scared the OPEC. (At least is is just as valid as McCain''s claim)

[aldon61]

A misanthrope that clings to primitive ideologies based on illogical reasoning.

You are a malignant narcissist whose view of others is so distorted that if a black man had developed a cure for AIDS, you would resoundingly discredit it as a "quack cure", notwithstanding the mountainous evidence has proved otherwise.

You are a "throwback", a malignant cancer that just keeps on metastizing, until it destroys the rational element of society.

You may not agree with Obama''''s policies or his political agenda, but to discredit his education, because of your backwards paranoid egoistic logic makes you nothing more than a "blood-sucking leech".






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by kailumego1 at 01:54 PM : Jul 23, 2008

Gee buddy, why don''t ya tell us what''s really on your mind? Good post!

[hasher47]

"...to offer an intelligent exchange?
Posted by JonNoGood
-------------------------------------------------
So genuis, can you make a (intelligent) link between Bush lifting his fathers executive order Ban Offshore Drilling to the cost per barrel. Or do you agree with Phil Gramm and McCorpse that this is all psychological?

[DCropp]

I heard the offshore rigs were evacuated because of the hurricane. If we are dependent on off shore oil, each hurricane will cause a major price spike.

Remember when the offshore rigs were closed after Katrina, several gas stations ran out of gas.

Way to go McCain, plan on offshore oil so that we end up without any gas at times. Once again, you intentionally ignore historical facts from the past few years.

Someone needs to remind McCain that earlier this month he blamed Washington''s policies over the last 30 years for the oil crisis. (McCain has been in Washington for 26 of those years).

[kailumego1]

JonGood65 you fit right at home with this type of slang.

You seem to understand it so well!!

Have yet to see any post which features 1/100 of an intellectual response coming from you.

You keep right on degressing to infantility.

[antoniof123]

Is this man an idiot gas is still over $4 dollars a gallon!

Trickle down economics are you tired of being trickled on.

[thcarson-2009]

I paid 3.77 on Saturday.

[rltw175b]

mccains picture above looks a lot like the night of living dead...

[hasher47]

"...to offer an intelligent exchange?
Posted by JonNoGood
-----------------------------
--------------------
So genuis, can you make a (intelligent) link between Bush lifting his fathers executive order Ban Offshore Drilling to the cost per barrel. Or do you agree with Phil Gramm and McCorpse that this is all psychological?
Posted by Hasher47 at 01:59 PM : Jul 23, 2008
----------------------------------

Well, JonNoGood65, we''re still waiting for your "intelligent" response. Come on. Show support for your old, feable minded candidant.

[rltw175b]

I paid 3.77 on Saturday.?
what the hell? where is that?

[armydog2]

mccain has got to be kidding. the enron loophole is the MAIN reason for the high gas prices, that mccains economic advisor designed and pushed thru the republican held congress. Get rid of that and prices will surely come down.offshore drilling will only put more profits in the pockets of exxon mobil and all the other big oil companies.mccain looks like he is having an out of body experiance in the picture above.

[parrot123-2009]

This pathetic piece of trash paper depicts McCain as a crazy person while praising Obama to high heaven, and they are not the only ones who are biased..
Posted by Ariel133 at 01:32 PM : Jul 23, 2008

CBS did not depict McCain as being Crazy ..... He really did say the things being attributed to him (Thought it was some left-wing BS story too - till i''d seen that he really thinks and believes this - truly remarkable ! ) and some that CBS had edited due to Repug pressure. IMO, i think he''s really very senile and i hear when it starts to go, it goes really fast. Cheers!

[rltw175b]

armydog2 - sad on how most people don''t know that!!

[cfin5]

I filled up my truck with E85 yesterday for $3.08 per gallon. Beats 4.56 for diesel anytime. Glad I got the flex-fuel this time,.....not the first minutes problem.

[hasher47]

Ok, since JonNoGood65 or McCain have a clue as to why there is a drop in oil prices, here''s my guess.

Congress, right now, is working on a bill to close up the Enron loophole. The bill is designed to be able to track who the speculator/futures people are and shut them down. I think the bill originated in the Senate pass easily and is now in the HR.

I think...maybe..speculators see this coming an are bailing. Just my guess.

[noturbusns]

The idea that Bush makes another executive order and oil price goes down is moronic. If that was the case, why did Bush wait until the election to do this?

I guess McCain believes Americans will swallow anything.




These OIL MEN running the Republican Party want OIL TO BE AS HIGH AS POSSIBLE. That money is coming out of YOUR POCKETS "my friends".


Oil drilling equipment is completely committed for the NEXT 5 YEARS. They cannot drill any more than they are for FIVE more YEARS. The oil companies purposefully have not invested in drilling because they don''t want oil prices to go down. GET IT?


There are 68 MILLION acres of U.S. oil leases the oil companies are sitting on. They are not even drilling on those (despite proven reserves there). Why? Because THEY WANT OIL PRICES HIGH.

Oil companies spent more money BUYING BACK THEIR OWN STOCK to keep their stock prices high, than they SPENT ON OIL EXPLORATION.


THE SYSTEM IS RIGGED- THE OIL COMPANIES ARE FIXING PRICES AND SLOWING EXPLORATION TO KEEP PRICES HIGH.

4 MORE YEARS OF McBUSH WILL BRING MORE OIL COMPANY PROFITS.

McBUSH FRIEND AND ECONOMIC ADVISER PHIL GRAMM SAID AMERICANS ARE "WHINERS". He meant- "JUST PAY THE GAS PRICES AND SHUT UP. THE OIL COMPANIES NEED THE MONEY".

[thinkharder-]

I don''t know about you folks, but my gas prices here in NC have hardly budged an inch since these price drops in oil. How is it that oil can see a near ten percent drop in price for the barrel without a resulting comparable percentage drop at the pumps. Would it not make sense that gas prices should have dropped by something of the order of 40 cents or so? Drilling is nonsense. We have a system and populace addicted to oil. We need to move AWAY from this filthy source of energy. Drilling would be tantamount to a community addicted to crack deciding the best way to remedy the situation being to build new and better crack dens. It just doesn''t make any sense.

[element51]

Ariel133...You call Obama an "uneducated black man" and cite that as a reason that he is not qualified to be president. Are you insane? Obama graduated from Harvard Law School and was editor of the Law Review. He had no one to pull strings for him to be admitted to Harvard. He did it on his own. McCain graduated 895 out of 899 from the naval academy to which he would have never been admitted had his father and grandfather not been high ranking officers in the Navy. Without his families help he would have been lucky to have been admitted as an enlisted man. You come up with some of the most outrageous claims on the internet. Where do you come up with this stuff? Absolutely amazing!

[armydog2]

Hasher
Do you know who sponsored the bill in the Senate?

[hasher47]

Crude goes up one day, the price at the pump go up the next day.
Crude goes down one day and it takes a week or so to make it to the pump.
Why? DECAUSE THEY CAN!