Richard Clarke: "Quick Draw John" McCain Wanted War Before Bush Did

The campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain both held conference calls Wednesday afternoon to hammer each other on national security.

McCain's message came a bit muddled. His campaign's call -- which took as its focus the a new report that one of Obama's advisers spoke with Syria's foreign minister last month -- started out with a factual error and ended by cutting off a critical-sounding question from a journalist.

First, McCain surrogate Rudolph Giuliani mistakenly suggested that former Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer had met with Syrian President Bashar Assad, when in fact he had met with Syria's foreign minister. When McCain foreign policy adviser Randy Scheuneman jumped on the call, he had to "clarify."

Later, when Ron Kampeas from Jewish Telegraphic Agency asked how the McCain could square its critique of Obama's adviser with senior foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann's own lobbying work on behalf of foreign governments, he was suddenly disconnected from the call in mid-sentence. Kampeas told the Politico he thought he was "cut off."

As for the call's substance, it was mostly a re-hash of the "judgment" criticisms previously lobbed Obama's way -- plus some unadulterated speculation. "Maybe this is a playing out of his [call for] negotiating with dictators without preconditions," Giuliani offered.

On the Obama call, foreign policy adviser Susan Rice emphasized that Kurtzer had undertaken his Syrian visit as a private citizen, and that he wasn't even a paid campaign adviser in the first place. "The McCain campaign continues to level dishonest attacks on Barack Obama's integrity and patriotism," Rice said, adding that Americans were tired of "Karl Rove's say anything, do anything politics." Rice also accused McCain of trying to "mislead the American people in order to obscure his own record of failed policy judgments."

Joining Rice on the Obama call was former National Security Council counter-terrorism adviser Richard Clarke, who dubbed the presumptive Republican nominee "Quick Draw John." Clarke drew on his experience on the NSC to talk about McCain's own judgment after Sept. 11, 2001, saying that McCain was pushing for war with Iraq before the Bush administration had even made its own mind up on the matter. "Sen. McCain had already decided," Clarke said. "He and his neoconservative foreign policy types that he agreed with are one of the reasons that George W. Bush decided to go to Iraq."

When asked by a reporter whether it was inconsistent for Obama surrogates to accuse McCain of misleading the public while also saying that discussion of patriotism should be out of bounds, Clarke had a retort ready. "I'm sure he [McCain] loves his country. It's just that loving your country and lying to the American people are apparently not inconsistent in his view."

Comments

[stateMachine]

We are captives of this neocon war. And we apparently have Stockholm syndrome.

[k4obama]

Since the MSM did not do it's job with Bush in 00 and 04 they owe the American people in 08. They must air all of the dirty linen on McCain.and his history of nastiness, lies and self absorption. He is so scary.

Obama 08

[NTO08]

No need to...innue­ndo, snippiness and insult are covered by you clowns...w­hy does the MSM need to waste its time?

[mikey683]

RRK70 you missed the part where 75% of democrats voted for the war. Yes folks democrats. This wasn't a "Republican war". Yes 75% of democrats voted for the war and a larger percentage voted to fund it, (over and over I might add). Oh and Barak Obama was among them..

[stateMachine]

Yeah, he should have done the principled thing and, after having argued against the war before the war, voted against body armor and armored vehicles for the troops caught in your party's completely misguided war of choice. Yeah, totally.

Show some intellectual honesty. Grow up.

[wesinohio]

The Democrats were not given factual information about the supposed, and false, "threat" posed by Iraq. They trusted our government. Now, however, they see that they were lied to. As far as "funding the war", they are not going to cut off funding for the troops themselves, yet want a timeline for withdrawl from Iraq to end this senseless and unneccesary war. Bush and his gang, including McCain, continue to reject the timeline for ending this war.

Your response is just the same as simplistic and disengenuous propaganda.

[dontomas]

Why do I need to say this, everyone, I mean everyone knows what went down. Bush and cabinet sold us on the fear of WMD's, even our hero Colin Powell attested that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. After 9-11 we were ready to believe anything. Now what would the percentages be if Bush and Co. just said they wanted to invade Iraq because they need democracy or something.

[20090120]

You Dittohead.­..you conveniently forgot, in your talking points about the lies and deception of the 'W' administration leading up to the last 6 years, 3 trillon dollors, 4200 war deaths and 20,000 permanently injuried..­..you remember, Dittohead.­..the Weapons of 'Missing' Destructio­n....the Yellow Cake' farse...th­e false intelligence from the paid Irag Military source...a­nd on, and on, and on....all lies then through to even today about the missing 225 days of emails at the White House....s­illy little mikey683, mindlessly following the neocon philosophy and Imperial President 'Shrub' and his new hope to be surrogate McBush....­mikey683..­."Heck of a job there, Mikey'....­.lol

[shelobo]

The FUNDING votes were very important to the SAFETY and well being of OUR troops !! Now just how dumb is that ,send OUR troops to war and then STOP funding their needs and the military machinery they needed ? Clinton and Obama voted against the $124 BILLION funding because there was no withdrawal date included in the bill .May as well have gave OUR troops blanks if funding their needs was a bad idea !Republians and Democrats voted for the war ,BUT Obama who as a junior senator wasn't even in the senate yet ,opposed the war .That's GOOD JUDGEMENT ,150 plus congress members voted against the war ,regardless of what party they were with ,thats good judgement when they voted against the war.If McCain isn't a Bush clone ,why is it EVERY TIME he opens his mouth ALL we hear IS Oil !

[kay]

If McCain's support and selling of the lies that led to this war are rewarded with the Presidency, he'll do it again.

[rkfdred]

I think that suggesting an age limit for our president is appropriate. Every president has aged considerably during their time in office because the stress and responsibility is huge. Once you hit 70, like it or not, the body and mind begins to slow down. Everyone ages differently but no one is as sharp at 70 then they were even 10 years earlier. Why would Americans even consider entrusting the most powerful office in our country to someone who is 72 years of age - forget about any of his views. It makes no sense. Of all the millions of people in this country, I find it hard to believe that 72 year old John McCain is the best republicans can do. I have witnessed many of McCain's "senior" moments. Also, the older people are, the more they tend to live in the past, as witnessed by many of McCain's stories. We need someone with energy and vibrance and an open mind to look ahead, not into the past. Yes, our past does give us some experience but that experience should only be a point of reference not the same path to go down.

[happycat]

I think that a basic I.Q. test would also be approriate.

[FogBelter]

Pay attention people ... Richard Clarke just demonstrated how it is done.

[applespider]

Exactly what I thought.

"I'm sure he [McCain] loves his country. It's just that loving your country and lying to the American people are apparently not inconsistent in his view."

Brilliantly stated.

[hexham]

yeah, and "Quick Draw John". Awesome.

[EarthToZoey]

John "DEFCON1" McCain called for war before anyone else?? Shocker.

[athenasword]

Part of the problem is that Americans are a little bit schizophrenic about war and bombs... on one hand we say we are sick of the war in Ira q, we say we want peace, security and stability. On the other hand people seem to like John McCane's tough hot-head style. I think that Americans see the John Wayne Cowboy Bomb'em approach as cool. We like swagger. For some sick reason we seem to see antagonism, belligerence and willingness to drop bombs as admirable qualities in a leader.

A candidate who champions peace gets labeled as weak. With this kind of logic, I don't know how we win against G.I. John.

[RRK70]

There's a "perfect storm" where bellicosity, a struggling economy, greed, and a naive/uneducated public can create momentum leading to war. It's happened in the past, and it may happen again.

[athenasword]

This helps explain why the Repubs don't fund education. Keep'em stupid so they'll a) fight b) keep voting for us

[tdpubs]

We need to keep hammering the fact that McCain is a liar and a hot head. This is not a smear, it the facts.

[kay]

What a pleasure it was to read Clarke's statement.

A clear unequivocal truth.

If Americans don't yet know that Senator McCain was an early and enthusiastic salesman for the war in Iraq they really, really need that information.

It's absolutely critical to making an informed choice.

[mistlesuede]

I feel so much better knowing that Richard Clarke is advising the Obama campaign. Cyber security lost all it's momentum when he left the White House and it definitely needs to become a major issue. Mr. Clarke is an exceptionally gifted, intelligent and honest man. I would trust him with my life. The American people need him. I know he said he would not take a position back in government, but I hope he changes his mind since he is being an advisor at this time.

[pastgone]

I don't get something. Why do Obama and all of this surrogates continue to concede that John McCain loves this country? John McCain loves John McCain. STOP CONCEDING THAT JOHN MCCAIN LOVES AMERICA. Take the freaking attack here! The Republicans are embroiled in scandal after scandal in which it is clear that they love their cronies and their circle of insiders and couldn't care less about America. John McCain is plainly a ringleader of these Republicans, and he always has been--a corrupt money-driven self-absorbed politico, nothing more and nothing less. Why doesn't anyone mention the Keating Five? You can bet we'd be knee-deep in that scandal if Obama had been involved. Stop rolling over on these issues! FIGHT!

[kay]

That's wrong-headed. McCain can and did support a war Obama opposed.

That's a difference on policy and a difference of opinion.

If Obama accuses McCain of treason, like McCain is accusing Obama, we're just like them.

I don't want to be just like them.

John McCain's lies on Iraq are another matter, and go less to patriotism than to character.

[vinny]

All true; but Obama has got to address criticism rather than dodging it. For instance, he's got to address/explain his opposition to the Surge and how it constituted good judgement, or else he'll see it blow-up in his face during the general election.

[genia]

I know..I know...I agree with you....Eve­ry time, they bow their head and declare how much John McCain loves his country ...a noble patriot...­a hero..ugh.­.enough!

Isn't a hero someone who saves lives?
John McCain is a spoiled brat....al­ways has been..stil­l thinks he's cute. He's been getting away with this cutsie act his entire life.

[zak007]

I would believe that Slick Johnnie loves America. Why wouldn't he? He has had every privilege that money can buy. He's married to a woman who can continue to give him all of the privileges. This is why his version of America is just grand. And why he is in no way connected to reality and the regular person; which pretty much resembles the rest of the Repugs going back as far as at least Nixon. Their reality is all rosy, white, male and privileged. Why wouldn't any of them love this country? It gave them the opportunity to step on anyone they had to in order to get where they are. They don't have to worry about health care, or gas prices or feeding their children. They have everything handed to them. Everything Bush has was handed to him by daddy. McBush is the same.

I wonder when they say that they are in touch with the "average" American, who they think is average? I guess McBush articulated that a few days ago. The "average" American makes just under five million dollars, right? And what is really pathetic is the poor white [trash] in this country who voted for Bush and will vote for McBush because they are actually stupid enough to believe that the Repugs do everything in the "average" American's best interest.

[schicklett3]

It's right on tape - McCain called for going into Iraq right after 911.
He loves war and the American people need to wake up!
And I guarantee you he will reinstate the draft. Wait and see.

[grata2ude]

Not only is he infatuated with war but he admitted today that bringing back the draft is something he would support. Dads and Moms will be foolish to let this man take their children off to war like they did during his war. He hasn't gotten over that Vietnam wasn't won. He is hell bent to win at any cost still. He is dangerous and the sheep just vote because he's a republican and Hilary isn't the nominee.

[Shea4O]

I agree - he will reinstate the war, but after stating that in a townhall to a woman who brought up several issues and she stated that we may need to start the draft - he says - I agree with everything you just said (or something close to that). He will be out tomorrow stating that he will not reinstate the draft and if he's ellected..­.expect the draft, he cannot wait to go to war with Russia. If he does that, you wlll see the next generation call or impeachment. He is one scarey sociopath.­.

[mikey683]

I remember right after the first gulf war pretty much every one was wondering "why didn't we finish the job". This was a pretty popular opinion at the time. Since 75% of democrats ultimately voted to go to war, please tell us why this is supposed to be so alarming?

[unity08]

Because we were lied to about the reasons for going to war in the first place, remember?

[soapington]

And McCain was one of the liars, not one of the saps who believed the lies.

[peloton]

Because 75% of democrats believed the Bush administration was telling us the truth is why they voted to go to war. Had the 75% of democrats known then what we now know was a bunch of lies and propaganda there would have been no support for the war. Lies and deception is the only way republicans can get their way.

[going2ireland]

I do believe that when mikey mentioned the "first gulf war" he was referring the gulf war Daddy Bush went for.

[luvienne]

Wake up America. Question Mccain's complicity in Georgia. There is more to this story than is being told. Look -Listen -Question Do we have to learn the hard way?

[grata2ude]

I want to know why the MSM is not covering any of these stories on McCain? As soon as there is something negative about Obama its all over the networks. Yet McCain is never covered. They do their best to cover it up.

[Querent]

You know the answer to this, don'tcha? It's because the media are corporate owned. The Republican party is just another wholly owned subsidiary.

[athenasword]

It's true, stats show this. The "journalists" I think are completely taken with the made-for-Hollywood story of the tortured P O W. He's managed to capture their sympathy and imagination. His lies sell.

[mistlesuede]

Because they want to make sure that their ratings don't nosedive. It HAS to be a horse race to be able to talk about it continuously through hours and hours of airtime.
When Senator Obama was very far out in front, they talked endlessly against him to bring his numbers down. Now they have to keep the race close, and if they tell the people the real truth about McSame, the RACE will be over and they won't have a damn thing to talk about endlessly. It's how they make advertising dollars. Companies won't advertise on shows without high ratings, thus the horse race.
The MSM is owned by corporations who just want $$$$$$. They do not serve the public.

[RRK70]

I agree. I don't think it is always a conscious and deliberate decision, but it would be naive to think that ratings and profit do not play a huge part in coverage.