McCain Repeats Iran-Al Qaeda Gaffe Yet Again

Sen. John McCain has done it again.

For the third time in two days, the Arizona Republican has pushed the definitively false statement that the terrorist group Al-Qaeda was getting assistance from Iran, even though he was publicly ridiculed for the same false assertion on Tuesday.

This time, in a statement from his campaign honoring the fifth year anniversary of the war, McCain wrote:

"Today in Iraq, America and our allies stand on the precipice of winning a major victory against radical Islamic extremism. The security gains over the past year have been dramatic and undeniable. Al Qaeda and Shia extremists -- with support from external powers such as Iran -- are on the run but not defeated."

On Tuesday, the senator, appearing in Israel, made a nearly identical assertion that al-Qaeda was leaving Iraq to retool and regroup in Iran.

It was, he said, "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."

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who was accompanying McCain on the trip, was forced to lean over and whisper in McCain's ear that it was Shiite extremists, not Sunni al-Qaeda, that was going to predominantly Shiite Iran.

The repeated gaffes, which now appear to becoming something of a pattern, have already become fodder for McCain's Democratic opponents.

"Either John McCain is purposely playing politics with the facts on the ground or he doesn't understand the threat facing Iraq and our brave troops," said DNC Communications Director Karen Finney. "Either way, after five years of the Bush Administration's incompetence and deception on Iraq, the American people don't want four more years of a president who will cherry-pick the facts."

And speaking today, Sen. Barack Obama, used the misstatements as evidence that McCain's claims of foreign policy experience do not give him a superior understanding or judgment of the terrorist threat or Iraq policy.

"Just yesterday, we heard Sen. McCain confuse Sunni and Shiite, Iran and Al Qaeda," said Obama. "Maybe that is why he voted to go to war with a country that had no Al Qaeda ties. Maybe that is why he completely fails to understand that the war in Iraq has done more to embolden America's enemies than any strategic choice that we have made in decades."

Comments

[Grannysue]

Guess this means around September we can count on hearing BE AFWAID, BE VEWEE AFWAID!

[spindr]

As Bugs Bunny used to say... "What a maroon!"

[Kurukulla]

For a moment he thought he was at Pismo Beach.

[myshadow]

Collate these 'gaffes' and run a 30 second ad called 'Experience".
"Grasp Of Problem" "Understan­ding".....
run them repeatedly....

[Kurukulla]

My 96 year old grandfather does the same thing all the time. Senility.

[Shannon2008]

It irks me that they keep changing the accepted English spelling of an arabic term. It's as if they're trying to alter reality. It's "Shiite" and not "Shia". Hopefully, Mr. "Mac Cane" will be given another opportunity to dispel the notion that Mr. "Abmadenijad" is less of a village idiot than he is.

[Boboday555]

McCain ain't the only Republican spreading these GOP talking points/lies.
Dick WAR DEFERMENTS Cheney is troweling out them out also.
In Dicky Boy's rose-colored world Iraq did have WMDs and it also had ties to al Qaeda.
Sure not one scrap of evidence exists to support his lies but who cares?
Dickless WAR DEFERMENTS Cheney is really running this once Democratic country and nobody's going to tell him what the truth is.

Remember AMERICA?
Now that was a great country!

[Boboday555]

All Senator McCain has to do is get his lies out there.
Sure he has to stops his "Straight Tall Express" every 15 minutes and, throw it into reverse, for his constant string of screw ups but the damage his lies do has already been done, so he doesn't care if it makes him look like a doddering old fool...which it does.
Nope, McCain could care less because his lies have already programmed his out of touch clueless base.
It is these neo-con's only real goal; dupe as many stupid conservatives out there as they can between now and November.

All you have to do is look at the War Deferments Vice President, the guy who's really running the country, and his laughable AWOL boy-toy to see that lies do really work on the idiot conservative base!
McCain is just continuing their lies.
Thankfully it won't work this time because you can fool some of the fools some of the time but you can't fool all of the fools all of the time...especially when those conservative fools have lost their home, their healthcare and their job to GOP greed.

[Boboday555]

McCain, a republican, lied?
Impossible!

[JoeBlough]

His brain is getting old. At his age, he should be sitting on a poarch somewhere complaining about the Government will all of the other over the hill retirees.

[puddytat]

Why is this even being referred to as a "gaffe". It isn't. It's a lie. One of many that have been told by this administration and those shilling for it. He didn't make a gaffe, a mistake, or mispeak. He lied. Let's at least have some honesty here.

[syllepsis]

These aren't gaffes.
They are symptoms of dementia.
They are of medical, not political, significance.

[elakelaiset]

You can do a _lot_ worse than the White House as your "old folks' home" ... just ask Ronald "Mommy, I want a sandwich" Reagan.

[Kurukulla]

I completely agree with you.

[myshadow]

yes, it called 'masking'

[RumiSouth]

The GOP would have us replace sociopathology with senility.

[win2kpro]

You're exactly correct. McSame is in a state of denial that there is anything wrong with him.

[americandiaspora]

oh how reganesk!
he may even be as mean spirited

[TXfemmom]

I have to agree. I picked up on Reagan late in the first term, and after I brought it up to a neurosurgeon friend, who first said no way...but after watching his speeches, etc., and closely watching his speech patterns and mannerisms and facial expressions, he had to admit I was right about Reagan having Alzheimer's. With McCain, it would be worse, because he is crazy enough to do a Cheney on us.

[Balto]

He's just a stupid old man whose brains were addled by too many years in a cage.

[nellie]

Since the message is being repeated over and over, it seems it is not a gaffe but a deliberate attempt to frame the issue. We've seen this before.

[kcal2000]

My dad just turned 73. He gets around very well and looks younger than his age, however now he has to write things down, because he forgets a lot. FOX News tried to make this incident a slip of the tongue, but I think it's much more than that.

[Liberal2]

President Reagan redux? DAMN, are we screwed or what?

[imusintheevening]

A senile person with some dementia is easier to control. "John, John, here sign this now, it's ok John........."