McCain Myth Buster: John McCain and Iraq
March 20, 2008
John McCain often boasts on the campaign trail that "I know the situation in Iraq." Yet again and again, McCain has gotten it wrong on Iraq, just like the Bush Administration. [CNN Debate, 1/30/08]
Just this week, McCain made a series of major misstatements about Iraq that revealed how little he understands of the situation on the ground. At a press conference on Tuesday, McCain said that it's "common knowledge…that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran," even though Iran is not helping al-Qaeda terrorists. Then today, the so-called foreign policy expert issued a similar statement linking al-Qaeda and Iran, which his campaign advisers have falsely insisted is accurate. It's not surprising, then, that in 1991 when discussing Iraq on CNN's Larry King Live McCain said "I'm not sure that if we did go in on the ground we could tell a Shiite from a Sunni, even from a Kurd." [The Trail blog, WashingtonPost.com, 3/18/08; Wall Street Journal, 3/19/08; CNN's Larry King Live, 4/23/1991]
After five years of war, how can the American people trust another president who can get the facts so wrong?
McCain Gets Iraq Facts Wrong. "Sen. John McCain, traveling in the Middle East to promote his foreign policy expertise, misidentified in remarks Tuesday which broad category of Iraqi extremists are allegedly receiving support from Iran. He said several times that Iran, a predominately Shiite country, was supplying the mostly Sunni militant group, al-Qaeda. In fact, officials have said they believe Iran is helping Shiite extremists in Iraq….Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was '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…' The mistake threatened to undermine McCain's argument that his decades of foreign policy experience make him the natural choice to lead a country at war with terrorists." [The Trail blog, WashingtonPost.com, 3/18/08, http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/03/18/a_mccain_gaffe_in_jordan.html]
1991: McCain Says We Can't "Tell a Shiite From a Sunni." During an interview on CNN's Larry King Live, McCain said ""I'm not sure that if we did go in on the ground we could tell a Shiite from a Sunni, even from a Kurd." [CNN's Larry King Live, 4/23/1991]
After casting himself as a "Maverick" in 2000, the new John McCain is walking in lockstep with President Bush, pandering to the right wing of the Republican Party, and embracing the ideology he once denounced. On the campaign trail McCain has callously abandoned many of his previously held positions, even contradicted himself, in a blatant attempt to remake himself into a candidate Republicans can accept in 2008. So just who is the real John McCain? The Democratic National Committee will present a daily fact aimed at exposing the man behind the myth.
