John McCain: Wrong on Iraq

In Ohio today, John McCain showed why the American people can't trust him to bring a new direction in Iraq. Speaking to reporters in Columbus, McCain continued his pattern of pandering to the right wing of his party and misleading the public about the facts on the ground by echoing the Bush Administration's talking points on the war. Instead of joining Democrats in offering the change the American people want, McCain lashed out, claiming that "both of them were wrong when they said the surge wouldn't work…Both of them were wrong when they said the Iraqi government couldn't function effectively politically." [John McCain News Conference, 2/20/08]

The truth is, John McCain refuses to admit that he is wrong on Iraq. He was wrong to echo the Bush Administration's misleading case for war in 2001, wrong to predict an "overwhelming victory in a very short period of time" in 2002, wrong to say we "will be welcomed as liberators" in 2003, wrong to say the end is "very much in sight" in 2003, wrong to let Donald Rumsfeld keep his job in 2004 and 2006, wrong to say he could safely walk down a Baghdad street in 2007, and wrong to challenge the patriotism of anyone who disagrees with him. [MSNBC, Hardball, 3/24/0; CNN Late Edition, 9/29/02; ABC News, Good Morning America, 4/9/03; See Video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=h-a5T0HsJpw; Wall Street Journal, 12/15/08]

Now, McCain is wrong to say that keeping our troops in Iraq for 100 or 10,000 years "would be fine" with him. [McCain Town hall in Derry, NH, 1/3/2008; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf7HYoh9YMM ]

"John McCain's angry tirades and misleading attacks can't change the fact that he refuses to acknowledge his own poor judgment in backing the Bush Administration's mishandling of the war," said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney. "Only a Democrat can be trusted to bring the change in Iraq the American people want."