McCain's Neverland
Posted by Michael Link on March 28, 2007 at 10:05 AM
After John McCain told radio host Bill Bennett that "there are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods, today," some thought he would be forced to "clarify" the embarrassing gaffe with a retraction. Then he appeared on CNN and dug himself in deeper, as ThinkProgress notes (with video):
But according to CNN reporter Michael Ware, who has been in Iraq for four years, McCain is “way off base.” He stated, “To suggest that there’s any neighborhood in this city where an American can walk freely is beyond ludicrous. I’d love Sen. McCain to tell me where that neighborhood is and he and I can go for a stroll.”
And this gaffe gets even worse. Right on the heels of the CNN segment, the Washington Post this morning talks to Gen. Barry McCaffrey (Hat tip to gregg):
An influential retired Army general released a dire assessment of the situation in Iraq, based on a recent round of meetings there with Gen. David H. Petraeus and 16 other senior U.S. commanders.
[...]
The government lacks dominance in every province, he added. One result is that "no Iraqi government official, coalition soldier, diplomat, reporter, foreign NGO [nongovernmental organization], nor contractor can walk the streets of Baghdad, nor Mosul, nor Kirkuk, nor Basra, nor Tikrit, nor Najaf, nor Ramadi, without heavily armed protection.
As the CNN analyst said, McCain's credibility is "being left out hanging to dry."
UPDATE: According to John McCain, once again on CNN this morning, security in Baghdad is just like the United States! Or something like that. Again, from ThinkProgress:
This morning, during an interview with McCain, CNN’s John Roberts rebutted McCain’s assertions, stating, “I checked with General Petraeus’s people overnight and they said he never goes out in anything less than an up-armored humvee.” He added that a new report by retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey “said no Iraqi government official, coalition soldier, diplomat reporter could walk the streets of Baghdad without heavily armed protection.”
Faced with overwhelming evidence that he was wrong, McCain denied he’d ever said it: “Well, I’m not saying they could go without protection. The President goes around America with protection. So, certainly I didn’t say that.”
Now Americablog's John Aravosis is demanding that McCain name that "safe" neighborhood in Baghdad. We'll keep you updated if the Senator responds to the growing attention his remarks are receiving.
Comments (13) «
Give Senator McCain a shopping list for some dinner hummus, and let him pick the stores to buy from - anywhere beyond 100 yards of the Green Zone. Then Send the two-faced, addle-brained, delusional Bush baby out on his own at about 5PM.
McCain is in lie land.He`s perhaps thinking that this kind of rhetoric is going to help him with the Bushies?He really has gone off the deep end. Then he basically says his fellow senators are really pathetic.I think his desparation to be in the white house has made him lose sight of what got him this far.Sad,he was really someone I rather admired.I don`t know who this person is?
I don't even understand to whom McCain is directing these delusional remarks.
Those that want this disasterous occupation to end know he's full of shit. Those that support it don't want McCain undermining their position.
There is nobody else.
He's really used up all the politcal capital and credibility he once had. He's made himself look like a fool. And if he even believes half of what he's saying these day, he is.
The blog chain failed to quote McCain claiming Gen Patreus rides around in an unarmed HMMWV. Please, someone find this quote. It's priceless. My family has served continuously in the military since 1939 and currently, including myself. I'm tired of this incompetent, non-leader President carelessly throwing his toy soldiers around in the sandbox. We and our families are human, not objects.
You said it, VetinMD.
Maybe somebody ought to put McCain in an unarmed HMMWV, with a soft top, so it'll match his brain. We could get Karl Rove to drive him around Baghdad. Just to let people know who he is, we could paint concentric circles on it. ;-D
McCain is a neo-conservative. That explains everything about the man. In the sixties he was an acting marxist. He still is. I don't know if you guys are familiar with Leon Trotsky and his "Permanent Revolution" theory,but you should know that Trotsky was one of the communistic revolutionaries of october of 1917. He strongly believed that the expansion of the revolution was only possible when you spread it thru military agression(acording to Trotsky its not agression, its liberation) and "mental" revolution of peoples minds. Trotsky was the creator of the Red Army, he tried to overthrow the Poland government in 1923, the German government in 1922, the French government1913-1915, etc, but he failed. Now those who were influenced by his "teachings" back in the sixties, are now calling the shots in the White House. They were all followers of Trotsky, they gladly embraced his communism, and now they are trying to "liberate" the whole world. Their ideas didn't change, their minds and intentions are the same. Only this time they call it "democracy"... Oh well, i guess history is always repeating itself.
Fellow democrats! Please choose the right and vote democratic in 2008! The future of our great Nation is up to us!
Marxist neo-con. Hmmmm! There's an interesting concept.
They are not only trying to "liberate" the Iraqis they are trying to "liberate" us.
I for one like our Constitution the way it is(was).
I don't want to be "liberated". Why is this "liberation" doing away with my freedoms under the Bill of Rights?
I know it's neo-con newspeak, isn't it?
"Liberation" against one's wishes is oppression.
Yeah I don't really think you can pin these crazies down anymore with any theory. They are creating a new theory, maybe a mixture of theories. Either way they all say something, and really mean something else. Maybe misuse of prescription medicines to help politicians through the day has created this mindless yapping that goes on with these guys. I really respected McCain, I just think the politics has shattered his brain. I don't blame him for it though, his POW days + 6 years of George W. Bush leadership would steal anyones mind. Hell I don't even know what country I am in anymore.
I really think we need someone who knows the horrors of war and what war can produce (nothing really good) to take the helm of this country and pull it out of the insanity these war mongering Republicans have been pushing for. Unfortunately too many of these politicians treat sending troops into battle and "fighting terrorism" like its just that easy to do. One signature to send troops to battle creates an infinity of destruction and chaos. So why would Iraq want "freedom" when they can't drink the water, eat the food, or walk in the street? Just like they used to point out about the Cold War, "How come the Soviets don't want freedom?" because "It is hard to think about freedom when all you have on your mind is stealing the neighbors cow to feed your family."
What I haven't figured out is how "liberating" Iraq consists of getting our kids blown up, Iraqi civilians killed, and military contractors stinking rich.
Maybe this "war" wasn't started for oil, maybe it was started to benefit Halliburton, KBR, and Blackwater Security.
Hmmmm! Something to think about.
INVESTIGATE!!! IMPEACH!!!! INDICT!!!!!
Might I recommend that if Senator Mc Cain changes his party that the Democratic Party could use him as Vice Presidential impeachment insurance for both parties?
Of course it was safe for McCain. I believe he had about 100 heavily armed soliers surrounding and protecting him and I'm sure there were probably a dozen or so Blackhawks somewhere nearby.
Actually, I think it was three Blackhawks and two Apaches. I still think my HMMWV idea was better.
Comeback JFK: Not all Democrats were for the war. Not all military was for the war, a lot of us knew better.
We weren't listened to then, and if doing a lot of bitching is going to get kick-started so the right things can happen, I'll sure the heck do it!
Since our remaining in Iraq is continuing to make things worse, staying is the dumbest thing to do.
What happens when we run out of soldiers?
Why should any more of these kids get killed, or maimed and neglected than has already happened.
We sure aren't keeping the Iraqi people from being murdered, by either the insurgents or by us.
Where has the money gone that was supposed to rebuild Iraq?
Why should we keep making the war-profiteers rich, and our grand-children poorer with the tax burden imposed by the rich on us, but not on them?
GET REAL!!!
two and a half years ago, wouldn't republicans have called this a flip-flop?
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