Iraq
In the latest ABC News/Washington Post opinion poll, 82 percent of Americans say the country is on the wrong track as President Bush hit an all-time low in the poll. The poll findings are bad news for the McCain campaign, which is running on a simple platform of four more years of failed Bush policies.
On the fifth anniversary of President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech yesterday, John McCain told reporters in Cleveland that he "opposed it at the time," referring to the banner behind the President during the speech.
Just how far will John McCain go to defend Bush? Even further than Bush's spokesperson, apparently. This just in, from the Associated Press: "Republican John McCain says President Bush should not be held responsible for the much-criticized "mission accomplished" banner five years ago, but he should be blamed for bungling the early months of the Iraq war."
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain will stand by the statements he makes.
Smooth: At his health care policy event yesterday at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Florida, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was introduced by the institute's chairman, former Republican senator Connie Mack. But, as Hotline reports, Mack...
MoveOn.org launched an ad targeting John McCain's 100-years-in-Iraq line to coincide with the 5 year anniversary of Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech.
Even as John McCain and the Republican Party resort to baseless legal complaints and blatant distortions to avoid defending McCain's willingness to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years, new video
emerged today that shows John McCain once "rejecting the very policy he urges today." McCain's campaign is arguing that he has not changed is view, and that he has always advocated a long-term troop presence in Iraq similar to that in Germany and South Korea.
John McCain has said his comments on Iraq have been
distorted and his cronies at the RNC have complained about the use of his statements in a new DNC television ad. In fact, that has not been the case--McCain's own words prove the point.
In 2005, John McCain said he opposed a long-term American presence in the mold of the U.S. post-war commitments in Germany, Japan and Korea. Last year, he told Charlie Rose that such an arrangement could not work, even if there are no American casualties. Now, John McCain and the RNC are explaining away his "100 years" comment, and our national television ad, with this very argument.
Josh Marshall hits all the key points:
Republicans are incensed over our latest ad hitting John McCain for his commitment to 100 years in Iraq. And they should be -- it is devastating to John McCain's campaign. This past Sunday, Governor Dean appeared on Meet the Press and hit the nail on the head by picking apart McCain's defense.
John McCain traveled to Miami Children's Hospital to explain why he is promising four more years of the Bush health care agenda. While the number of Americans lacking health care insurance has climbed to 47 million on President Bush's watch, John McCain's health care plan would do nothing to reduce the ranks of the uninsured and nothing to ensure that cancer survivors and people with other pre-existing medical conditions can get health insurance.
During a wide-ranging discussion with host Tim Russert, Dean discussed John McCain's weaknesses as a candidate, continued to outline how out of touch McCain is with the American people, and discussed the state of the race.
On NBC's Meet the Press this morning, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean announced that the DNC will air its second television advertisement of the 2008 Presidential Election season. Entitled "100," the ad will begin airing on cable networks nationally next week.
Watch the ad the RNC and John McCain don't want you to see!
I mentioned this earlier, but I wanted to post again with the video. McCain's latest display of his lack of foreign policy understanding came today when he wouldn't divert troops from Iraq to Afghanistan to keep his promise to chase bin Laden to the gates of hell unless Gen. Petraeus said it was necessary.
Here's the latest example of McCain's failure to understand American foreign policy. He was just asked if he'd divert troops from Iraq to Afghanistan to keep his promise to chase bin Laden "to the gates of hell." No, McCain said, unless Gen. Petraeus said it was necessary.
Adam Blickstein, blogging at Democracy Arsenal for the National Security Network, commented on the President's speech about defense spending this morning. Bush just stated in his speech that spending on defense as a percentage of the U.S. economy was around...
General David Petreaus testified before Congress that he was recommending President Bush "pause" the July reductions of American armed forces in Iraq for 45 days. But Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki "disagrees" with the recommendation from Gen. Petreaus, citing the Iraqi Security Forces' capabilities.
John McCain says he "understands national security and the threats facing our nation." Yet at the same time, he has said he would keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years, despite the fact that key military and political experts believe our engagement in Iraq has not made America safer and has diverted critical resources from the real war on terror in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
President Bush will keep 140,000 American forces inside Iraq through the November presidential election, reports the Washington Post. He is also set to announce a reduction in combat tours from 15 months to twelve. Late last year, John McCain opposed such a reduction when it was proposed by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Virginia).
If I were to make a list of places that have some sort of connection to American presence in Iraq -- places that were remotely similar -- somehow I don't think the US being in Alabama, and the South in general, would be anywhere on that list. It's hard to even begin where to start.
Despite the fact that John McCain has made the same mistake FIVE times in five months, his campaign continues to claim that John McCain misspoke when he confused Sunni and Shiite extremists in Iraq.
Republicans are struggling to find candidates at the Congressional level this cycle and, in particular, coming up empty-handed in New York. From the New York Times this morning: Heading into this election cycle, Republican leaders in Washington identified dozens of...
With General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker testifying before Congress today and tomorrow, John McCain and his campaign continue to put politics ahead of a responsible way forward in Iraq.
With General Petreaus testifying before Congress, Senator McCain once again got basic facts wrong about the situation on the ground in Iraq. During his questioning, he referred to al Qaeda as an "an obscure sect of the Shi'ites." This has become a rather frequent problem for the GOP nominee.
John McCain has said we should listen to the generals on the ground in Iraq--including General Petreaus--who he calls "one of the greatest generals in American history." But in truth, McCain has refused to say if he agrees with General Petreaus' comment that "no one" believes "there has been sufficient progress by any means in the area of national reconciliation" and recently declared, "I don't care what anybody says. I've seen the facts on the ground."
Washington, DC - In advance of tomorrow's Congressional testimony by General David Petraeus, John McCain chose to launch more irresponsible political attacks instead of offering a real plan for the future in Iraq. Even though a majority of Americans want our troops to begin withdrawing and 89 percent of Americans think the cost of the war has contributed to the economic problems in our country, McCain today continued to follow the Bush Administration's pattern of cherry-picking the facts to justify a flawed, stay the course strategy. [New York Times, 4/4/08]
You can't really call them gaffes, when it's what he really understands to be the situation in Iraq:
On the campaign trail John McCain says he would cut spending in Washington because Americans are angry with the way politicians are spending their money.
In an appearance on a right-wing radio program, Republican presidential nominee John McCain professed his staunch support for President George W. Bush on Iraq, stating "no one has supported President Bush on Iraq more than I have." John McCain offers four more years of failed Bush policies.
Gen. Richard A. Cody, the Army's vice chief of staff, says that heavy deployments are inflicting "incredible stress" on soldiers and their families, and that they pose a "significant risk" to the nation's all-volunteer army. Gen. David Petreaus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, will testify next week.
His failure to understand the basics of what's happening on the ground in Iraq keeps landing him into trouble. And ironically, every time he visits, it seems to get worse.
The Associated Press reports that military leaders told Bush yesterday they're concerned about the strain that the Iraq war is having on the troops.
"John McCain's empty rhetoric today can't change the fact that he has steadfastly stood with President Bush from day one and is now talking about keeping our troops in Iraq for 100 years. His new appreciation for diplomacy has no credibility after he mimicked President Bush's misleading case for a unilateral war of choice when it mattered most. Why should the American people now trust John McCain to offer anything more than four more years of President Bush's reckless economic policies and failed foreign policy?"
Just how do you define success in Iraq? It's one of the points that McCain's no-policy policy address today was expected to address, and it's now different than the definition he gave a couple months ago. It seems what's meant by "success" keeps changing, perhaps to allow us to stay there for another 100 years?
This time, on Iraq. I'm wondering which John McCain is going to show up today. Will it be the one who was against replacing Rumsfeld, in favor of staying the course, and supporting Bush's strategy? Or will it be the one who recently claims, well, exactly the opposite?
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain has a plan for Iraq.
I really love that they keep posting the video of McCain calling for us to be in Iraq for 100 years ("Make it 100!"). I'll help them spread the word:
The briefing [by Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker] took place on the day when the 4,000th American military death of the war was reported and just after the invasion’s fifth anniversary.
As the number of American soldiers killed in the Iraq War crossed the 4,000 mark this past weekend, VetVoice's Brandon Friedman noted another sobering statistic: AFP has noted that 97 percent of U.S. deaths in Iraq have occurred after George...
The Democratic National Committee announced today that Senator John McCain will appear in a series of debates to be broadcast on www.mccaindebates.com. The one candidate in this debate who could beat John McCain, is John McCain himself.
We've got a great new website, with the first debate of the general election. You can watch the first of those debates happening right now.
Somehow I missed this the other day, so here it is. Recognizing five years of a war in Iraq, Pelosi warns against Bush's plan for a $3 trillion dollar war in Iraq.
In an effort to burnish his foreign policy credentials, John McCain made a taxpayer-funded campaign swing through Europe and the Middle East this week. But the trip was not the success the McCain campaign had hoped for.
At the Baker Institute for Public Policy in February, McCain made the same mistake he's made three different times in the last three days when he said: "But Al Qaeda is there, they are functioning, they are supported in many times, in many ways by the Iranians."
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain understands the situation in Iraq.
Our research director just dug this one up, particularly relevant given McCain's trouble understanding the basics in Iraq. This is from Larry King Live, 4/23/1991, when he was arguing deposing Saddam:
This is his third position in three days.
A recent CNN/Opinion Research poll finds that more than seven in ten Americans believe spending on the Iraq War is, at least partly, responsible for the current economic situation. Also, the poll finds that less than one in three Americans support the war, with opposition at 66 percent.
"On this solemn anniversary, Americans around the country are asking themselves: how much longer will President Bush and John McCain keep our troops in Iraq? How many more brave Americans must die? And how many more trillions of dollars will we borrow and spend before our troops come home?"
It was five years ago today that we invaded Iraq, and there's a lot more to go if John McCain has his way. So it's worth taking a second to reflect on what has happened in that time.
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain understands the facts on the ground in Iraq.
Well, not really.
It seems McCain's failure to understand the basics of what's happening on the ground in Iraq isn't a one-time deal. Not only did he keep making the statement repeatedly today, but he was also making the false claim last night.
This wasn't some little piece of trivia, either, and it undermines his argument that he somehow has his an expertise on matters of foreign policy.
Most Iraqis say the escalation of the war isn't working, a new poll for this week's fifth anniversary of the war shows:
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain has been right on Iraq all along.
John McCain has tried to rewrite history, pretending he didn't march in lockstep with President Bush every step of the way on Iraq, from echoing the Bush Administration's false and misleading case for war to parroting their rosy rhetoric. As our latest video shows, McCain has been Bush's most loyal foot soldier from day one.
Maybe instead of four more years of Bush, with McCain we'd be getting four more years of Dick Cheney.
"The fact that John McCain and Dick Cheney are both in Iraq today is a fitting reminder that McCain marched in lockstep with President Bush as he misled us into war, supported his failed policies and parroted the President's rosy rhetoric as Iraq descended into chaos," said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney.
While McCain is saying his tax-payer funded trip isn't part of the presidential campaign...
On the same day John McCain began his taxpayer-funded campaign swing through Europe and the Middle East, a new report revealed John McCain's double talk on foreign policy. According to reports, despite portraying himself as "an unyielding hawk" to win over skeptical conservative leaders, McCain "has privately assured prominent supporters in the traditional foreign policy camp that 'his more exuberant statements don't necessarily reflect his real views.'" [Los Angeles Times, 3/16/08]
It's been almost a year now since Senator McCain took that famous leisurely stroll through a Baghdad market -- just him, 100 American soldiers, three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships.
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain Is A Fiscal Conservative Whose War in Iraq Wouldn't Break the Bank
Now McCain is not only saying he fears al Qaeda wants him to lose, but also that they might attack Americans just to prevent him from getting elected.
I wrote about this yesterday, but now ABC News has posted a copy of the Pentagon report that the Bush administration reportedly tried to keep secret, throwing up as many barriers to access as possible.
The Bush administration is
reportedly trying to make sure a Pentagon report finding "no direct connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda" never sees the light of day.
This weekend McCain showed why he's second to none when it comes to painting a rosier picture of the war in Iraq than anybody else. Discussing the violence in Baghdad, McCain retorted that "there's problems in America with safe neighborhoods as we well know."
He promised us 100 years in Iraq, so let the countdown begin with this easily-embeddable widget!
Earlier today McCain said that to win the presidential race he must convince Americans that staying the course is working. If he can't do that, he said, "then I lose. I lose."
Mission accomplished!
Today seems to be McCain-100-Years Day on this blog, so I might as well add one more post on the topic.
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]
So say 9 out of 10 current and retired military officers, according to a new poll. But as John McCain might say, those people obviously don't, you know, understand the military.
Mike Link wrote earlier about John McCain's attempts at backtracking on comments about staying in Iraq until the next ice age. This morning, our friends at the DSCC released a video with McCain and a slew of Republican senators --...
Here's the thing about John McCain's remark that he wants us to stay in Iraq for the next 100 years: he didn't just say it, he kept saying it over and over when asked about it.
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.
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain Is Not Going to Use the Same Kind of Divisive Rhetoric and Fear Tactics Bush Republicans Have Used in the Past.
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.
Today on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, John McCain ducked questions about whether he has sacrificed his principles to pander to the right wing of his party and showed once again that in an attempt to get elected, he is offering nothing more than a third Bush term on everything from the war in Iraq to the failed economy, not the change Americans are looking for.
The Washington Post's Peter Baker calls out John McCain's revisionist history on his criticisms of then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Baker calls it a "script rewrite" in his headline. Now that the writers are returning to work from the three month strike, maybe John McCain can get better fiction writing?
A new video released today by the Democratic National Committee shows John McCain's real record on Iraq. In the run up to the war, John McCain parroted the Bush Administration's misleading rhetoric. Just like President Bush, McCain said the war would be easy and that we'd be greeted as liberators. Only in the throws of the presidential campaign did he try to have it both ways by complaining that the American people "were led to believe this could be some kind of day at the beach." John McCain never admits that, just like President Bush, he said victory would be easy.
Tell that to the vast majority of Americans who worry specifically about that. The full context, which includes the same bogus explanation as his 100 years comment -- thereby missing the point -- comes over at Think Progress.
It's all part of the manufactured storyline McCain's campaign has tried to create by claiming to be a critic -- no, THE critic -- while being the number one supporter of the Bush Iraq policy.
Following eighteen months of research on post-war Iraq, the RAND Corporation produced a detailed report in 2005 that was critical of "nearly every organization that had a role in planning the war." The Army, however, buried the study -- RAND...
On Fox News Sunday this morning, President Bush expressed his confidence that John McCain will offer a third Bush term, and made it clear he'd be "glad to help [McCain] if he's the nominee" assuring Chris Wallace that McCain is "absolutely" a conservative. [Fox News Sunday, 2/10/08]
In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, Bush offered an implicit endorsement of McCain's bona fides as a true conservative in the face of deep skepticism on the right. Although he did not mention McCain by name, the president said whoever ends up being the Republican nominee will represent conservative values.
As he closes in on his party's nomination, John McCain is bringing the Double Talk Express to places it's never been before: like today's CPAC conference. Desperate to lock up the right wing of his party, McCain is heading to the annual Conservative Political Action Committee he skipped last year to give a speech sandwiched between Vice President Dick Cheney today and President Bush tomorrow.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Michael Mullen, said today that "The pace of ongoing operations has prevented our forces from fully training for the full spectrum of operations and impacts our ability to be ready to counter future threats."
During appearances on Fox News Sunday and CBS's Face the Nation today, John McCain made it clear: a vote for him is a vote for a third Bush term. Echoing his earlier statement that we could be in Iraq for 100 years, he said again that he would continue Bush's never ending civil war in Iraq. "We have to take care of the world's security," McCain said.
After losing the 2000 campaign, John McCain sought to position himself as the Bush establishment candidate for the 2008 race. That's why despite whatever he said at last night's debate and regardless of his rhetoric on the campaign trail, the facts show that John McCain has been the Bush candidate on Iraq from day one. In fact McCain not only helped the President sell the war, when he had the chance to call for Rumsfeld's resignation he refused. McCain's double talk is reflective of a do-anything-to-win strategy that has raised serious doubts about his credibility on Iraq and other issues.
On Monday, during the State of the Union, Bush declared: "In the coming months, four additional brigades and two Marine battalions will follow suit." That action would just about bring troop levels to where they were before the escalation.
MSNBC commentator Joe Scarborough, a former Republican Congressman from Florida, paraphrased Senator John McCain's presidential platform to "less jobs, more wars."
Shortly after signing the defense authorization, President Bush issued signing statements on four provisions, including measures on oversight of private contractors and permanent bases in Iraq.
"After eight years of failed Republican leadership, Americans are ready for change, not the third Bush term we'd get with any of the Republican presidential candidates," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "President Bush's final State of the Union must be just that. America literally cannot afford another State of the Union address by a Republican who may have a new name, but most certainly will support the same policies that have kept us in a never ending war in Iraq and gave us an economy that's not working for all Americans."
An interesting report over at the Center of American Progress, which shows that "the Iraqi government has only met three of the 18 benchmarks laid out last year."
A new report by the Congressional Budget Office finds that the cost of escalating the war in Iraq has escalated itself to an estimated $440 billion, or about $11 billion a month.
"The surge has sucked all of the flexibility out of the system. And we need to find a way of getting back into balance." - Army Chief of Staff George Casey
The Government Accountability Office questions the numbers used by the Bush administration in their report that graded whether or not Iraq had met certain "benchmarks."
Mitt Romney takes Michigan in the Republican Presidential primary, offering four more years of the Bush presidency.
