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

[VcKrc]

Not sure if its been brought up already but...what I think is wierd about McCain's speech is that he now feels its necessary to put 12, or so, kids behind him. It;s just wierd, the place is not packed and its not a rally atmosphere, but there they are, it looks kind of awkward to be honest. They obviuosly got pulled out of school for this, and they are in private school uniforms...that looks natural.

[Stirner]

"There was no such thing as Al Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq." Remember when Ron Paul first said the same thing? The ridicule and laughter from Rudy Guiliani, along with the admirers of "America's Mayor"? Now Obama says the same thing and is applauded! Times have changed.

[nohat]

i tell you, if McCain gets over-the top nasty (as opposed to just plain nasty) or if Hillary makes good her threat to seat those F and M delegates or if any more photos of Obama are put about, there will be riots.

I am American but I've been living in the UK for eight years. And even though I have contact with American friends, it wasn't until I began to read the Huffpost and the many entries there are, that I began to understand the depth of feeling there is in this '08 election.

It's pure polarization, is what it is. Interesting, even riveting, but a little worrisome.

I hope Howard Dean understands what's going on.

[VcKrc]

It's really not that bad. These blogs just attract more hardcore political junkies. I work in a corporate atmosphere and the average American isnt as into it as the bloggers. JUst look at the voter numbers, yest, lots more are voting but its still only a fraction of those eligible in our country.

[AnninCA]

I would suggest that if you think Obama will get to run roughshod over McCain as he did with Hillary, you're in for a rude surprise.

Nobody is going to complain when McCain takes him on. Nobody will be listening when Obama tries to imply it's about his race.

Obama didn't make a heck of a lot of sense on Iraq. Hillary had more to say, but was cut off. (What else is new?)

But that crap won't happen with McCain.

[SEQUOIABISON]

Obama made the most profound statement of the debate when he said Hillary helped drive the bus into a ditch.

If you only want to keep looking subjectively at Hillary as a woman who deserves to be our president instead of objectively as a woman who endorsed the policies of Bush-Cheney then you are simply being gender biased.

[teamster4obama]

Anyone notice all of McCain's backdrops are of young republicans? I wonder how many of these kids seriously consider military service?

[hansk]

All 10 YOUNG REPUBLICANS FOR MCCAIN were flown in for this occasion,paid for by the GOP.
A typical Obama rally draws thousands of young people that want to be there. My only fear:
will they come out and vote when it matters

[nohat]

They always do that, put young people behind them on the stage or in a photo op,they do it here in the UK when they are running for some office or other. Looks better. They aren't going to line the state with balding, toothless, old-age pensioners in wheelchairs and blankets, are they.

[mrJJ]

This Republican initiated war in Iraq is estimated to eventually cost the US taxpayer between $5 TRILLION & $7 Trillion Dollars... According to Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz & Harvard University Professor Linda Bilmes..

Remember when the Republicans said "its going to be self financed and ultimately cost the US taxpayer $2 Billion Dollars"....

This Friday more details will be released...

[gregjones]

www.BLACKS4BARACK.org launches:

The HILLARY "STEP DOWN WITH GRACE" CAMPAIGN

Contact the DNC to let Howard Dean know that we feel that Hillary should step down in a respectful manner since she is obvously not going to win the nomination. This would be the right gesture for her political future as well as the right gesture for the Democratic Party. Just visit: 'STEP DOWN WITH GRACE' Campaign at http://www.Blacks4Barack.org....then respectfully request the DNC to ask her to step-down. Then it will be time to concentrate on the Re-Birth Of America....BARACK OBAMA !

[nohat]

I emailed Howard Dean 3 weeks ago and begged him, in the name of fairness and decency and everything else that is good, to not let Hillary seat those Florida and Michigan delegates. Can you imagine if she was ahead and Obama was behind and her name had not been on the ballot but only his, that she would ever let anyone seat those delegates? She must think that we are as thick as planks. I hope Howard Dean isn't afraid of the Clintons, like so many others are. I don't think he is.

[BeyondKen]

Hatless dude, it isn't up to Mr. Dean or Mrs. Clinton to 'seat' delegates. The convention itself decides whom to seat or not.

[Independent_voter]

John McCain has worked in Washington for over 30 years starting in 1977 as the Navy's liaison to the U.S. Senate. It is absurd to expect this evil little man to lead America in any different direction than the Bush inspired train wreck.

In the very near future, the supporters of Hillary Clinton are going to have to choose between McCain and Senator Obama. It is always disappointing to have the person that you support loses, but a vote for McCain is a vote to continue down the Bush road to hell.

I hope that Democrats can come together and enthusiastically support Senator Obama and keep McCain away from the nuclear football.

[mcfried]

I think they will. The truth is the fact that we fight amongst ourselves is a good thing. It shows that we think independently and there is real debate before we come to consensus. We are not all blind fools running off and following everything our party tells us because of some misguided sense of patriotism. The debate while occasionally ugly is the very point of a democracy. We want our politicians to work for us and this fight is only about how much change we want not whether or not we want change.
An Obama supporter.

[BrianZ]

"In the very near future, the supporters of Hillary Clinton are going to have to choose between McCain and Senator Obama."

And after the comments Obama supporters here make against any and everyone who disagrees with them ... my vote will absolutely not be for Obama. Ya'll burnt that bridge about 2 months ago.

[VcKrc]

That showin' em! Let a bunch of rude bloggers, many of which may be here just to stir the pot anyway, sway your vote. Our country will go broke, there will be no jobs, healthcare, families will be homeless, and thousands more of our young men will die in Iraq...but you'd have made your point to a bunch of bloggers!
On behalf of idiot bloggers that call themselves Obama supporters I apolologize, but...it goes both ways. There are plenty of Obama haters blogging on here and it's gotten worse since he's been ahead so I've been feeling like you do, but...this is our best chance to take the White House and I amy have to drag myself to vote for Hillary, but I will do it if I absolutly have too.

[BeyondKen]

While I agree that too many Obama supporters here prefer slander & ad-hominem to facts, that ain't B. Hussein's fault. As a Hillary supporter I will be thrilled to support President Obama this fall.

PS, Hussein's a cool name. The late King Hussein of Jordan is the unsung hero of the middle-east peace process.

[mcfried]

Sorry to hear that Brian, I guess you are one of those people who agreed with her voting record. In that case I understand your vote for McCain. At least it's for a legitimate reason - the real issues.

[AnninCA]

Or Nader. I think I'm going for Nader but I'll enjoy watching Obama actually have to answer a few qustions.

[chgochefgirl]

A vote for Nader is a vote for McCain. Enjoy.

[tomcat27834]

"Bomb-bomb,bomb-bomb Iran" coming from McCain.......

and we are to take this man seriously as a presential contender.

McCain as a commander-in-chief makes me fear for the kids.

[SEQUOIABISON]

I am not exactly sure what happened to McCain during his 5 years as a prisoner at the Hanoi Hilton but he definitely seems psychologically unbalanced.

I realize he was pretty much an advocate for war before he got shot down over Vietnam but his singing of the Beach Boys song Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran is very telling.

He appears to be a dangerous warmonger who has no interest in diplomacy except maybe Bully Diplomacy where countries do exactly what America demands or face the wrath of our Shock and Awe.

Either McCain is a senile old man who does not know right from wrong or he is the most vicious, conniving, ruthless barbarian America has ever produced, since G. W. Bush.

This is just what America needs, another 8 years of going backwards into the Stone Age, a treacherous bigoted promoter of war occupying the white house, a foreign policy that terrorizes the world and domestic policies that favor a small portion of our population.

Obama please help return America back to a voice of Reason and Hope.

[Independent_voter]

I agree that McCain is mentally unstable. He has a nasty temper, a lust for vengence and a twisted sense of humor.

I can not imagine the horror of being a VC POW, but it doesn't make you qualified to be POTUS.

[sugarmoes]

his five years sucking at gee duhbyuh's teat did more damage to him.

[nohat]

I, too, have wondered whether his horrific experience in Hanoi has warped him a little, It is understandable. But for me, the signs that it might have are evident not in his stupid little songs but in his bitter, sometimes venomous sarcasm, which is delivered in the softest voice and with the sweetest smile on his face---which, for me, makes it all the more chilling.
Torture like that can make people dangerously bitter, even cruel; and I wonder if, if this has happened to him, whether we want that kind of thing in the White House. If he is psychologically warped, then, however understandable, it is really dangerous.

[nohat]

Okay, everybody, let's all sing John McCain's newest little song, to the tune of Peggy Sue.
Ready?

"Lobby you,
lobby you,
oh how my vote yearns for you,
oh-oh lobbeeeee,
let's lobby you-oo-oo, ooo, ooo,
oh I need you so
and I'll do my best for you-oo-oo!"

Dum-dum-dum!!!

[pertello]

Since 1993, McCain has had at least three bouts with melanoma. McCain"s aides say that he has been cancer-free for more than five years . However melanoma is a deadly cancer. Much attention should be paid to this fact.
Also, as you all have read, McCain wasn't actually born in the US. So he may not even be eligible to run for the presidency. When the choice comes down to a young healthy natural born American and an elderly cancer victim of dubious birth, who will you choose?

[nohat]

'Dubious birth' seems a bit strong. It's not as if he was born on Mars.

[nohat]

Newsflash: Obama camp obtains video of John McCain parading around his living room dressed up like George Bush. In the photo, McCain is playing a mop handle like a guitar and singing "Bombbombbomb, bombombIran!" The sound is bad and the video is grainy, but the lyrics are still audible and you can still tell it's George all right.

[nohat]

Now that I think on, McCain's little song, "Bombbombbomb, bombbombIran," was kind of childish, especislly given his age. Funny, yes; but I hope he isn't one of those people whose emotional development froze at the age of about thirteen. All we need in the White House, if he gets in, is a president who goes "Heh, heh-heh" (that kind of laugh) and then bursts into little ditty-type takeoffs on this or that hit tune. George was bad enough.

[rollingdivision]

Specifically, in February 1999 Clarke wrote the Deputy National Security Advisor that one reliable source reported Iraqi officials had met with Bin Ladin and may have offered him asylum.[7] Therefore, Clarke advised against surveillance flights to track Bin Laden in Afghanistan: Anticipating an attack, "old wily Usama will likely boogie to Baghdad"[8], where he would be impossible to find.

"Of course we knew that Osama would "boogie to Bagdad"! Back in 1999, CNN reported that Saddam granted Osama bin Laden asylum.

He's right: "Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has offered asylum to bin Laden, who openly supports Iraq against the Western powers."

How much does this matters now? Not much other than as a reminder that the revisionist nobody-could-imagine-Saddam-and-Al-Qaeda-in-alliance claim isn't exactly supported by the history.

[Independent_voter]

You failed to cite your references [7], [8].

[BlackWidowPilot]

Right. Cite your source.

Also, have you forgotten the over 900+ *documented lies* espoused by the Bushevik administration regarding Saddam, WMDs, al Qaeda and Saddam, al Qaeda in Iraq... ad infinite nauseum?

If the "Gang of Pedophiles" can't even keep their collective pants on around America's children, why should We The People believe them now, after seven and a half years of endless lies, runaway corruption, and cronyism that would make Boss Tweed bluss with envy?

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[chicagoartist]

"Abu Mohammed," a former colonel of Saddam Hussein"s Fedayeen fighters, told reporters long ago that Iraq was training terrorists, including al-Qaeda.

Gwynne Roberts, Sunday Times, July 14, 2002

· Iraqi soldiers, captured during the early phases of the war on Iraq in 2003, revealed that al-Qaeda terrorists were present inside Iraq fighting alongside Iraqi troops Gethin Chamberlain, The Scotsman, 10-28-03

· Hamsiraji Sali, Commander of the al-Qaeda affiliate Abu Sayyaf, admitted receiving $20,000 dollars a year from Iraq. Marc Lerner, Washington Times, 3-4-03

· Salah Suleiman, revealed that he was a former Iraqi Intelligence officer, captured on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border shuttling between Iraq and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Janes Foreign Report, 9-19-01

· Jamal al-Qurairy, a former General in Iraq"s Mukhabarat, who defected years ago, said "that [is] ours" immediately after seeing 9/11 attacks.

David Rose, Vanity Fair, Feb. 2003, and David Rose, The Observer, 3-16-03

· Abbas al-Janabai, a personal assistant to Uday Hussein for 15 years, has repeatedly stated that there was a connection between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden that included training terrorists at various camps in Iraq.

CNN, 7-23-2003

Gwynne Roberts, Sunday Times, July 14,2002

Richard Miniter, TechCentralStation, 9-25-03

· Two Moroccan associates of Osama bin Laden, arrested in Rabat in Nov 98, confirmed that Col Khairallah al-Tikriti, the brother of Iraq"s top Intelligence official (Mukhabarat), was the case officer in charge of operations with al-Qaeda in Kashmir and Manila

Jacquard, Roland, In the Name of Osama Bin Laden, Duke University Press, 2002, pg.112

· Wali Khan Amin Shah, an al-Qaeda operative in custody, told the FBI that Abu

Hajer al-Iraq had good contacts with Iraq Intelligence Services (reported to Senate Intelligence Committee)

Stephen Hayes, Thomas Joscelyn, Weekly Standard, 7-18-05

· Farouk Hijazi, former #3 in Saddam Hussein"s Mukhabarat, although he denies the well documented reports of his later meetings with bin Laden, Hijazi admits that he met with Osama bin Laden to discuss antiship mines and terror training camps in Iraq during the mid-90"s.

9-11 Commission, Staff Statement 15

· Abdul Rahman al-Shamari, who served in Saddam Hussein"s Mukhabarat from 1997-2002, says that he worked to link Saddam Hussein regime with Ansar al Islam and al-Qaeda.

Preston Mendenhall, MSNBC, "War Diary"

Jonathan Schanzer, Weekly Standard, 3-1-04

· Mohamed Gharib, Ansar al Islam"s Media chief, later admitted that the group took assistance from Saddam Hussein"s regime.

Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor, 10-16-03

· Mohamed Mansour Shahab, aka Muhammad Jawad, is a smuggler who claims to have been hired by Iraq to bring weapons to al-Qaeda in Afghanistan

Jeffrey Goldberg, New Yorker, 3-25-02

Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor, 4-03-02

Richard Miniter, TechCentralStation, 9-25-03

· Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi is a senior al-Qaeda operative. Although he has changed his story, he initially told his captors that his mission was to travel to Iraq to acquire poisons and gases from Iraqi Intelligence after impressing them with al-Qaeda"s attack on the USS Cole

Stephen Hayes, Weekly Standard, 11-24-03

· An "enemy combatant" being held at Guantanamo Bay, who was also a former Iraqi Army officer, admits that he served as a liaison between Osama bin Laden and Iraqi Intelligence. He was arrested in Pakistan before completing joint IIS/al-Qaeda mission to blow up U.S. and British embassies

Associated Press, 3-30-05

Stephen Hayes, Thomas Joscelyn. Weekly Standard. 7-18-05

· Abu Hajer al-Iraqi (aka Mahmdouh Mahmud Salim) told prosecutors that he was bin Laden"s best friend and in charge of trying and procure WMD materials from Saddam Hussein"s Iraq.

Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 6-17-04

Stephen Hayes, Weekly Standard, 11-24-03

· A "Former Senior (Iraqi) Intelligence Officer" has told U.S. officials that a flurry of activity between Saddam Hussein"s regime and al-Qaeda took place in early and late 1998, the meeting point was Baghdad"s Intelligence station in Pakistan

Stephen Hayes, Weekly Standard, 11-24-03

· Wafiq al-Sammarrai, former head of Iraq"s Military Intelligence before defecting in 1994, stated that Saddam Hussein has agents "inside" al-Qaeda

Laurie Mylroie, "Study of Revenge"

· Khidir Hamza, Saddam Hussein"s former top WMD official, says that Saddam had connections to al-Qaeda

CNN, 10-15-01

PBS Frontline "Gunning For Saddam"

· Abu Zeinab al-Qurairy , a former high-ranking officer in Iraq"s Mukhabarat, told PBS Frontline and the New York Times that the September 11 attackers were trained in Salman Pak, as were other members of al-Qaeda

PBS Frontline "Gunning For Saddam"

· Sabah Khodada, a former Captain in Iraq"s Army, told PBS Frontline and the New York Times that the terrorist training camp at Salman Pak included the training of al-Qaeda members airplane hijacking

PBS Frontline "Gunning For Saddam"

· An "Iraqi Defector," who spent 16 years working for Iraq"s Mukhabarat, told the Iraqi National Congress that Saddam Hussein"s illegal oil revenues helped fund al-Qaeda (story later corroborated by Claudia Rosett )

Radio Free Europe 9-29-2002

· Khalil Ibrahim Abdallah, a captured senior Iraqi official, said that IIS agents had met with bin Laden until the middle of 1999

Stephen Hayes, Weekly Standard, 11-24-03

· Qassem Hussein Mohamed, who served in Iraq"s Mukhabarat for 20 years, told reporters that Saddam Hussein has been secretly aiding, arming and funding Ansar al Islam and al-Qaeda for several years

Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor, 4-2-02

Jeffrey Goldberg, New Yorker, 3-25-02

· Dr. Mohammed al-Masri, a known al-Qaeda spokesman, told the Sunday Times that Saddam Hussein contacted the "Arab Afghans" (al-Qaeda) in 2001. Al-Masri also said that Saddam even went so far as to fund the movement of some al-Qaeda members into Iraq and then later supplied them with arms caches and money, later to be used in insurgent attacks. Abdel Bari Atwan, Sunday Times, 2-26-06 via Thomas Joscelyn, "Saddam, the Insurgency, and the Terrorists, 3-28-06

· Hudayfa Azzam, the son of bin Laden"s former mentor, told reporters in 2004, "Saddam Hussein's regime welcomed them with open arms and young al-Qaeda members entered Iraq in large numbers, setting up an organization to confront the occupation." AFP, 8-30-04 Thomas Joscelyn, "What Else Did Hudayfa Azzam Have To Say About Al-Qaeda In Iraq?" 4-3-06

· Hudayfa Azzam, the son of bin Laden"s mentor Abdullah Azzam, has said Iraq"s government worked closely with al-Qaeda before the war and welcomed a number of members in after they left Afghanistan and armed and funded them Thomas Joscelyn citing AFP, 8-30-04

· Dr. Mohammed al-Masri, a known al-Qaeda spokesman, told the Sunday Times that Saddam Hussein contacted the "Arab Afghans" (al-Qaeda) in 2001. Abdel Bari Atwan, Sunday Times, 2-26-06 via Thomas Joscelyn, "Saddam, the Insurgency, and the Terrorists," 3-28-06

· Haqi Ismail, a Mosul native with relatives at the top of Iraq"s Mukhabarat and spent time in al-Qaeda/al Ansar camps in Afghanistan and Northern Iraq before being caught by Kurdish security, indicated that he was working for Saddam Hussein"s Intelligence Service (Mukhabarat)

Jeffrey Goldberg, New Yorker, 3-25-02

· Moammar Ahmad Yussef, a captured deputy of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, told officials that Iraq provided money, weapons, fake passports, safe haven and training to al-Qaeda members

Dan Darling, Winds of Change, 11-21-03

· A "top Saddam Hussein official," who was also a senior Intelligence official, says that Iraq made a secret pact with Ayman al-Zawahiri"s Egyptian Islamic Jihad and later al-Qaeda. Secret meetings between the two sides began in 1992.

Stephen Hayes, Weekly Standard, 11-24-03

· Abu Zubaydah, a high ranking al-Qaeda operative in U.S. custody, has said that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had good contacts with Iraqi Intelligence Services

Thomas Joscelyn, Weekly Standard, December 2, 2005

· Abu Iman al-Baghdadi, a 20-year veteran of Iraqi intelligence, told BBC news that Saddam Hussein is funding and arming Ansar al-Islam to fend off anti-Saddam Kurds

Jim Muir, BBC, July 24, 2002