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

[escobar]

McCain is a damn liar. He knows what he is saying.
He knows that if he keeps lying those who want to identify with him will believe him, he only has to repete the himself and accuse those who disagree as unpatriotic stupid cowards.
The facts do not matter.
Those who profit by this war are firmly behind the Republicans.
This time, the economic reality of our military misadventures will ruin enough American lives so that they will want peace. Those who distain the unemployed and homeless will soon be joining them looking for their benifits.

[dadw5boys]

Don't blame Mc Cain he got to close to Bush and Cheny and they will suck the life force out of you.

[rberlind]

Sam, I disagree with your claim that the new McCain statement implies that Iran is supporting Al Qaeda. My argument is based purely on grammar -- I'm not a McCain supporter. The sentence "Al Qaeda and Shia extremists -- with support from external powers such as Iran -- are on the run but not defeated" only implies that one or both of Al Qaeda and the Shia extremists are getting support from various external powers such as Iran. It does not say that both are getting support from Iran. The sentence is consistent with Al Qaeda getting support from Syria while the Shia extremists get support from Iran. It is also consistent with Al Qaeda getting no foreign support while the Shia extremists get support from Iran. So, I think your claim that McCain made the false Al Qaeda/Iran connection 3 days in a row is inaccurate. Would you have made the same claim if the sentence had been used the phrase "with support from external powers such as Syria and Iran"? That variation would have suggested that Syria was supporting Al Qaeda while Iran was supporting the Shia extremists.
I do agree that the statement could have been worded better. The funny thing is that a strict interpretation of the grammar would suggest that Iran and other external powers are helping Al Qaeda and/or the Shia extremists run away from our American troops rather than helping them fight them.

[white mende man]

I hear if you say a lie enough times people will start to believe it... well it worked for GW didn't it?

[Toerag]

Yeah - it's kind of working with Hillary and her 'experience' argument too.

[HunterSThompson]

On second thought, maybe McBush is not as senile as we thought.

In 2005, "W" said: "Catapult the propaganda ...."

When the president was in western New York State in 2005, to make a speech about Social Security, he seemed to think making me believe him would only take repetitive exercise, kind of like, shall we say, athletics?

"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in," Bush said, "to kind of catapult the propaganda­."

"Catapult the propaganda ...." ??

McBush will continue to repeat this piece of propaganda all the way to the White House.

Here we go again. Bomb, Bomb Iran.

HST

[bigdaddyvike]

I think McInsane knows exactly what he's saying and doing. Lieberman, Ashcroft, Darth in Middle East- watch for the Gulf of Tonkin gambit on one of our ships ("Iranian" torpedo made in Cleveland?) Or just an all-out "pre-emptive" strike. How much $$ do you think we'll spend if we engage Iran? They are far from the pussies that were in Iraq. 10 trillion dollars? The 'cons are taking out the middle class with this shit. Gimme a break. These guys are crazy. But what a great way to generate more war profiteering when a couple of million Iranians cross into Iraq. Who's going to fight them? 140,000 of us?

[OttoMann]

That's probably why McCain was such a relentless supporter of the Vietnam War -- he thought we were fighting the Japanese.

[mounthoodliberal]

well, at least Lieberman is there to wipe the drool from Grampa's chin...

[white mende man]

Can someone put this senile old goat in a home before he hurts himself?

[Moxo]

No wonder Rush Limbaugh despises him.

[Gatormouth]

Please stop referring to McCain's repeated attempts to link Al Qaeda and Iran as "Gaffes". These acts are deliberate attempts at using the "big lie" to assist Cheney in convincing enough of the American public to justify an attack. Remember "bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran? And hey, is this an argument for judgement over experience, or what??

[olderdem]

That life time of experience has fried McBush's brain. Senile on day one.

[ErikW65]

I wonder whether McCain is senile or just being jingoistic.

[batgirlevi]

Just what we need. A senile war monger. Shame on you rethugs. You have no standards at all.

[Klip]

It's obvious that the old clown has the Ronnie disease!