John McCain, speaking from Jordan today, made the same mistake that countless other Republicans and neoconservatives before him have: lumping all Muslim extremists together into one giant, evil, homogeneous entity.
From the Washington Post:
President Bush also did not know the difference between Shiites and Sunnis before invading Iraq. It's not a coincidence that McCain made the same mistake while saber rattling (with no evidence) at Iran. It was not just a slip of the tongue, McCain made the same statement on Hugh Hewitt's radio show last night. What other fundamental facts about the Middle East isn't McCain aware of? Make no mistake, mind-boggling ignorance like that which McCain has just displayed will lead to more wars if he is elected president.
Think Progress recently compiled some other shockingly wrong statements that maverick McCain has made:
UPDATE: Apparently McCain has made this mistake three times in the last month. But the media narrative of experienced, decisive leader McCain can't be overturned by mere proof of total foreign policy ignorance on fairly fundamental issues like Al-Qaeda terrorism and Iran. Nothing could disprove Bush's foreign policy "toughness" in 2004 either and we all know how well that turned out.
From the Washington Post:
Speaking to reporters in Amman, the Jordanian capital, McCain said he and two Senate colleagues traveling with him continue to be concerned about Iranian operatives “taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back.”
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.” A few moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate’s ear. McCain then said: “I’m sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda.”
President Bush also did not know the difference between Shiites and Sunnis before invading Iraq. It's not a coincidence that McCain made the same mistake while saber rattling (with no evidence) at Iran. It was not just a slip of the tongue, McCain made the same statement on Hugh Hewitt's radio show last night. What other fundamental facts about the Middle East isn't McCain aware of? Make no mistake, mind-boggling ignorance like that which McCain has just displayed will lead to more wars if he is elected president.
Think Progress recently compiled some other shockingly wrong statements that maverick McCain has made:
“And I believe that the success will be fairly easy.” [CNN, Larry King Live, 9/24/02]
“I believe that we can win an overwhelming victory in a very short period of time.” [CNN Late Edition, 9/29/02]
“Do you believe that the people of Iraq or at least a large number of them will treat us as liberators?” “Absolutely. Absolutely,” replied McCain. [MSNBC, Hardball, 3/12/03]
“There’s no doubt in my mind that once these people are gone that we will be welcomed as liberators.” [MSNBC, Hardball, 3/24/03]
UPDATE: Apparently McCain has made this mistake three times in the last month. But the media narrative of experienced, decisive leader McCain can't be overturned by mere proof of total foreign policy ignorance on fairly fundamental issues like Al-Qaeda terrorism and Iran. Nothing could disprove Bush's foreign policy "toughness" in 2004 either and we all know how well that turned out.
1 Comments:
McCain gaffes a lot. In the recent Florida primary campaign he said he "has never supported veterans" until the mistake was realized by himself and an aide and he corrected it (similar to your quote here Ryan).
I don't think this one is a big deal either, since I've seen him on TV before distinguishing between Shiite militias and insurgent groups, Sunni militias and insurgent groups, and Al Qaeda affiliates in Iraq.
Certainly his quotes from earlier in the war are unjustifiably optimistic, however.
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