McCain Mocks Obama's Iraq Comments

AP reports:

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain mocked Democrat Barack Obama on Wednesday for saying he would take action as president "if al-Qaida is forming a base in Iraq."

"When you examine that statement, it's pretty remarkable," McCain told a crowd in Tyler, Texas.

"I have some news. Al-Qaida is in Iraq. It's called `al-Qaida in Iraq,'" McCain said, drawing laughter at Obama's expense.

Obama responded quickly, hitting back hard:

Mr. Obama, in Columbus, responded soon after. "I have some news for John McCain," Mr. Obama said at a large rally at Ohio State University. "There was no such thing as Al Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq."

Mr. Obama mocked his potential Republican rival as he answered Mr. McCain's charge that he lacks sufficient foreign-policy experience for the presidency.

"I've been paying attention, John McCain," Mr. Obama said, speaking to a crowd of 7,000 in the St. John Arena on the Ohio State campus. "So John McCain may like to say he wants to follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of Hell, but so far, all he's done is follow George Bush into a misguided war in Iraq."

What goes unmentioned is that McCain distorted Obama's original statement by taking it out of context. During the Democratic debate on Tuesday, moderator Tim Russert laid out a hypothetical situation: what if al Qaeda "resurges" as a powerful force in Iraq after U.S. troops withdrew? The Obama statement that McCain is mocking -- "if al-Qaida is forming a base in Iraq" -- came in the context of that hypothetical.

Here's the full exchange:

MR. RUSSERT: I want to ask both of you this question, then. If we -- if this scenario plays out and the Americans get out in total and al Qaeda resurges and Iraq goes to hell, do you hold the right, in your mind as American president, to re-invade, to go back into Iraq to stabilize it? ...

SEN. OBAMA: ... Now, I always reserve the right for the president -- as commander in chief, I will always reserve the right to make sure that we are looking out for American interests. And if al Qaeda is forming a base in Iraq, then we will have to act in a way that secures the American homeland and our interests abroad. So that is true, I think, not just in Iraq, but that's true in other places. That's part of my argument with respect to Pakistan.

I think we should always cooperate with our allies and sovereign nations in making sure that we are rooting out terrorist organizations, but if they are planning attacks on Americans, like what happened in 9/11, it is my job -- it will be my job as president to make sure that we are hunting them down.

Video of the back and forth is here:

Comments

[clumberfeet]

"I have some news. Al-Qaida is in Iraq. It's called `al-Qaida in Iraq,'" McCain said.

They are under your bed and will nibble off your toes if you get out of bed at night.

[toosinbeymen]

Senator Obama is giving as good as he gets. So far so good. I have confidence that he'll continue to deflect gop bs as easily as he does now. Gobama!

[TAC]

"Senator Obama is giving as good as he gets."

He's giving better. And will. McCain is deranged...

[Boboday555]

Senator McCain is behaving like a child again?
Yup, he sure knows his base!

[moda31]

he's trying to appear young.

[TAC]

"Look, a genuine meltdown."

Are there any pools going on when McCain has his? My friends, GO CHENEY YOURSELVES!

[frustratedinohio]

Oh you obamaniacs, it is just beginning.

I am amazed how you have all overlooked Obama's comment which shows his inexperience. McCain will have fun with this guy. Like a cat with a mouse.

[enoughalready13]

Or a bear chewing up a deer ... ripping off limb by limb

[jogger]

Oh you McHypocrits, it IS just beginning.

Johnny's attached at the hip with the dumbest, most arrogant president we've elected.

Incompetence thy name is GOP.

More like elephant and mouse, and we know how that goes.

[chronic]

Go take your meds. If you aren't on meds, you should be!

[bdl0715]

What comment is that? Maybe its the one where Obama said he would go into Pakistan to get al Qaeda if he had intelligence they were there. Everyone including W made fun of that but they, guess what? W's CIA did the exact same thing. President Obama will finally put some intelligence into the Oval Office.

[Dewtrell]

Umm... we're not afraid - bring it on! It is clear Obama can handle McCain and Clinton.

[mgloraine]

Don't forget that the voters of this country were cheated of our true results in both 2000 and 2004 by operatives of the Bush Crime Family and the crony corporations which sponsored the fraud in exchange for the profiteering bonanza of Iraq. McCain is not trying to win votes from ordinary voters, he's trying to reassure the crony corps that the looting of the US Treasury will continue unimpeded if they will only fix the 2008 election for him. And they will probably do so.
Petraeus is a "general" in about the same way that Colonel Sanders was a "colonel". Every time I hear one of the chicken-hawks demanding that people show respect for Petraeus' opinion, I want to vomit. He abdicated the opportunity to present an opinion in favor of being handed a script full of lies by Karl Rove and Dick Cheney. He's just another stinking crook casually sending our youth out to die in order to finance BushCo's crime-spree and his share of the kickbacks and bribes.
What kind of "victory" does McCain think can be had in Iraq? Only one: the death of every last Iraqi.

[WilliamWallace]

Easy shots, John.

[joselopez]

Al Qaeda terrorists are located in more than 40 countries, but if you listen to the Republicans, they are all in Iraq!!

Obama and the Dems need to continue making the point that Al Qaeda and the Taliban are stronger now then anytime since 9/11 thanks to Bush's ill-advised war in Iraq.

Our troops being bogged down in Iraq, will eventually lead to Al Qaeda getting even stronger in these other countries where they are planning for another attack. I can forsee another attack in a few years, based on our taking our eye off the target, and I could see the Dems taking the blame, if they do not make my point in a strong fashion.

[Baggaratz]

Um, 9/11 happened on Bush's (and Giuliani's) watch. Why doesn't the right acknowledge that?

[Ramirez]

Dude: They acknowledge that it in every speech.

[amanda85]

"Dude: They acknowledge that it in every speech."

Really fascist? I thought they were trying to pin it on Clinton all the time...

[cuchulain]

McCain thinks that Al Queda will take over in Iraq if we leave?

Hmmm. Interesting. So, a couple of thousand poorly equipped troops, without support from most of the populace--in fact, hated by most of the populace--are going to take over a country of 25 million? Two thousand rag-tag troops are going to be able to defeat the Iraqi Army, which we supposedly have trained up for five years?

We have GOT to stop exaggerating the firepower and military capabilities of our adversaries. Crafting smart, effective strategies to combat our enemies DEMANDS we have a clear, rational, objective idea regarding what they can do and how they can do it.

McCain obviously doesn't have a clue.

[thegreatgiginthesky]

The exaggerating of firepower is what the Bush administration was trying to do with Iran. If you look at both Iran and the US objectively and with a sound mind you will find that Iran's best forces would not be able to match up with that the US has. We have superior weapons, Airforce, Navy and Army. Not to mention the firepower to turn the entire nation of Iran into a goat pasture. But saying such things will not allow you to play with the romantic idea of heroism.

[helonias]

Wrongo, with their oil profits they have purchased lots of super sonic state of the art Russian anti ship missiles that would cause quite a problem for our carriers in the gulf. And even more exocets,the one we didn't see coming and that almost sank the Stark.

[cuchulain]

Could trace that exaggeration back a long ways. But, most recently, it also includes Iraq. Hussein was a defeated little dictator, with no air force, no allies, no military to speak of, an economy in tatters, and we had No Fly Zones in place and inspectors on the ground. America was and still is the lone military super power in the world. We spend more on Defense all told than the rest of the world combined. Our expenditures, as of 2003, were probably roughly 400 to 1, when compared with Iraq.

They were never a threat. There was never any logical reason to invade. If America had a leader who actually made intelligent, rational, logical decisions, based upon facts, we never would have felt the need to invade. Hussein was a minnow to our school of sharks.

Al Queda in Iraq is a minnow to the Iraqi shark right now. Rough estimates, again, are that there might be some 2,000 Al Queda troops there. The Iraqi army has at least 300,000. Al Queda is not a threat to them. Not to mention, their chief enemy is us, not the Iraqi people . . . even though they've slaughtered them as well. Which, of course, has increased the hatred against Al Queda among Iraqis.

Bottom line: If we leave, we remove easy targets for Al Queda. Those easy targets being Americans. If we leave, they simply don't have the firepower needed to take over Iraq. It would be all but impossible.

[MIHOP]

Good name. Even better post.

[stonepier]

McCain should stop saying "my friend" all the time. Is he TRYING to sound like a patronizing old white guy?

[MIHOP]

I don't if he's trying to sound like one, but he IS one.

[tomcat27834]

"and my friends".....if McCain were half as smart as he thinks HE is, he would make a great President. Not quite as cocky as GWBush but, of the same simple-minded mentality.

[kburlz]

Is Mccain seriously saying that al-queida will take over Iraq if we leave? What are they like 1% of the population?

[Ramirez]

He's saying they'll be able to establish a base of operations there, and probably do so openly. Similar to their status in pre-Bush Afghanistan.

[thegreatgiginthesky]

Ok, they establish a base of operation in Iraq and do what? The country has no WMD's. The people there will kill them for a buck. So please tell me again why AQ would want a base in Iraq, because it makes absolutely no sense to stay in a country that has nothing to offer them.

[robodweeb]

Similar to, no exactly like the base of operations they have currently in their McCain approved sanctuary in Pakistan.

But he did say...

"And my friends, if we left, they (al-Qaida) wouldn't be establishing a base," McCain said Wednesday. "They'd be taking a country"

[transendentilist]

He was inferring that al Qaida would take over a country if we leave. He doesn't mention the supposed 300,000 Iraqi troops that are ready to fight, or the fact that at most, al Qaida makes up less than 7% of all Iraqis. And the Sunnis are chasing them out whenever possible. McCain, like his hero bush, is incapable of being honest. They don't want their enormous cash cow to die.

[MIHOP]

Even with all the refugees, the Iraq population is about 25 million. There are a couple thousand Al Qaeda.

We're talking about one-hundredth of one percent.

In Bushy-McChicanery speak, though, all the insurgents engaged in sectarian struggle get to be counted as Al Qaeda. So naturally, when we pull out, if the Civil War ensues, the right wing will claim that Al Qaeda has filled the vacuum and taken over the country. And then they'll buy books from Coulter, O'Reilly, Beck, etc. and send drugs to Limbuagh.

[nomobull]

ssshhh you are not supposed to be smart enough to know that. thank God we are waking up.

[musselmanm]

WAIT! How can McCain say that? We all know because he told us that Al Queda in Iraq is on the run. I am sure that Barack most likely thought John McCain of all people would give us the straight talk.
Barack the Vote 08'

[bdl0715]

Everytime McCain says there are al Qaeda in Iraq, Obama should remind him they weren't there until you and W started a war there.

[stonepier]

Obama has already responded to McCain:

"But I have some news for John McCain," Obama added. "There was no such thing as al-Qaida in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq. ... They took their eye off the people who were responsible for 9/11 and that would be al-Qaida in Afghanistan, that is stronger now than at any time since 2001."

I like that ability to react quickly and well.

[Ramirez]

Yes. Democrats excel at looking backward.

[thegreatgiginthesky]

Yes, unlike Republicans we choose to learn from the mistakes of the past, instead of blindly rushing into the future.

[robodweeb]

But, but Clinton...

But, but Ted Kennedy...

But, but Gary Studds...

But, but Robert KKK Byrd...

Republicans excel at looking WAY backward.

[MIHOP]

"Democrats excel at looking backward."

Didn't have to look backward to know that Saddam was not tied to 9/11 and Al Qaeda wasn't in Iraq. Just turn off Fox, look around
and keep breathing.

[Arbos]

Fact remains that after the surge we'll have about 30,000 more troops in Iraq that we had before the surge. It doesn't take a freaking rocket scientist to figure out how that works.

And the search is ALOT MORE then just boots on the ground.

[AnninCA]

Obama's comments about Iraq were some of his weakest and very definitely open to criticism.

[Trollstakeyourmeds]

Hey, Ann...wondered where you were all day. I think we've hardly even begun to see his "weakest", because he has been so well protected by the press. Should be interesting to sit back and watch.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

That's not what Pat Buchanan said after last night's debate. He said Obama was strongest on foreign policy and national security. I guess you will take any opportunity to slam Obama, because you aren't a Democrat, you're a poseur.

[Arbos]

No, surprisingly Ann is right someplaces...

Not here of course....on TaylorMarsh.com and HillaryClinton.com she is absolutely right.

[MIHOP]

"That's not what Pat Buchanan said after last night's debate. He said Obama was strongest on foreign policy and national security."

And it's hard to disagree with him (on this point at least!) if you understood the analogy about driving the bus into the ditch. No matter how smart you are, you can't overcome catastrophic bad judgment. You don't always get second and third chances to fix your bad decisions. That's how we lost the Congress in '94.

[MIHOP]

If you say so, I suppose someone will agree. Probably not enough people to win the campaign for HRC or the election for McCain, though.

[independentrepublicrat]

Hillary's votes to go to war in Iraq and to start stoking the fires for war in Iran are two of the dumbest and weakest in history...very definitely open to criticism.

[thegreatgiginthesky]

Obama bases his views on reality and logic. McCain is all about emotion and fear. McCain's way of dealing with the issue is how we got into this mess in the first place.