Army Times Catches Another McCain Gaffe On Petraeus

The Army Times highlight's John McCain's latest national security gaffe:

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain of Arizona may not have been paying the closest of attention last week during hearings on the Bush administration's Iraq policy.

Speaking Monday at the annual meeting of the Associated Press, McCain was asked whether he, if elected, would shift combat troops from Iraq to Afghanistan to intensify the search for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

"I would not do that unless Gen. [David] Petraeus said that he felt that the situation called for that," McCain said, referring to the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Petraeus, however, made clear last week that he has nothing to do with the decision. Testifying last week before four congressional committees, including the Senate Armed Services Committee on which McCain is the ranking Republican, Petraeus said the decision about whether troops could be shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan was not his responsibility because his portfolio is limited to the multi-national force in Iraq.

Decisions about Afghanistan would be made by others, he said.

"I've been sort of focused on another task," Petraeus said when pressed about whether more troops should be diverted to Afghanistan rather than Iraq.

Here's video of McCain's original remarks:

Comments

[rosal]

Little old, confused, erratic, short fused man, is beyond help. But, the MSM will never point all his uniformed comments. How can they hurt their patron saint? They much rather will play Obama's thrutful comments 24/7, so all the ignorant people gets excited.
I hope the number one issue for future President Obama will be education.

[lainey]

What makes McCain a foreign policy expert.? I greatly respect his service to his our country, as is true for all those who have served and continue to do so, yet given all the mistakes he has made, what makes him understand reports better than Obama? We are at a different time in history and I think that what makes a great leader is one who has a better understanding of the world in which we live, in terms of culture and attitude, rather than force. The world has spent a lifetime killing, it is time we all started thinking--with our brains and not our emotions. We need sound judgment. We need someone who is brave enough to reach out to those with whom we disagree.

[imusintheevening]

Our armed forces are supposed to take their direction from the "Commander and Chief", who in turn is supposed to get authorization from Congress. Any candidate that does not understand this is not worth consideration.

[ProfEvil]

I guess what Senator McCain has failed to understand by asking that question is what most of the politicians in the Senate have failed to understand.
Policy decisions are not for the Generals, they are the responsibility of the civilian administrators.
Elected officials set out the policy, and if there is a military component of - the Generals will called on to act on that part.
McCain needs to understand this fundamental truth.

[shaggles]

He gets this directly from the Bush camp. Whenever anyone asks you anything about military matters defer to Gen Petraeus. He was probably napping during this one. Like Reagan used to do.

[seenitall]

can we please see this guy's medical records some time soon...?? It can't all be attributed to him being a Bushite.

[caywen]

Unelectable.

[fightorleave2]

great point, caywen. Yet, the media perpetuate the myth that McShame is a military expert.

Not only is this like his fifth gaffe in the past 2 weeks about his supposed area of expertise - i.e. the war in iraq and the military, in general - but it also shows how incredibly biased are the corporate media. They will never tell the American people that John McShame is an idiot.

[Donise]

Oh.My.God. And, this man is running for President. Unbelievable.

Nope, Senator McCain, that would be the Theater Commander making that recommendation along with the Joint Chiefs and the SecDef.

This man is I'm sure a good man, but he's either sadly lacking in the intellect department OR his age is Definitely a critical issue, either way...

[MikeMidCity]

McOld
McLame
McInsain
McStupid
McLoser
McCrazy
McCain

[ProfessorDuh]

And McBush.

[HippieChick]

And McWar.

[iluvsam]

McJerk-off

[fourex]

John McCain as Bush Lite, should never let facts get into his decision making.

[ProfessorDuh]

I wonder how much of McCain's warmongering is psychologically linked to the fact that he is physically helpless, thanks to the horrible experience of being tortured? When you can't lift your arms, maybe bombing cities gives you a compensatory sense of power.

[Grannysue]

CLUELESS

[lennix]

were is the cable news people when mCcain keep makeing these big mistakes i guess cnn,fox msnbc see no evil speak no evil this is the way we got the other nut in the white house for eight years and the news people are doing it again the ribs he cooks for them must have stupid salt on them

[dogboy]

So much for following OBL to the "gates of hell".

[2liveNdie]

It's hard to get the facts wrong when there's no teleprompter or notes to read from!!! McIdiot!!!