John McCain's "Stroll" Through the Shorja Market (One Year Later)

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On April 1, 2007, John McCain went on a "walking tour" of the Shorja market in Baghdad. At a subsequent press conference held in the Green Zone he had this to say: "Things are better and there are encouraging signs. I have been here many years -- many times over the years. Never have I been able to drive from the airport, never have I been able to go out into the city as I was today. The American people are not getting the full picture of what's happening." McCain's traveling buddy, Indiana Representative Mike Pence, said it was just "like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime."

The media's love affair with the "maverick" McCain was evident in the coverage the Iraq photo-op received. Two months earlier the Shorja market had been the site of bombings that killed 137 people but McCain appeared to be walking freely and interacting with warm crowds of adoring Iraqis. It was later revealed that accompanying McCain was over 100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead. American forces had sealed off the area and set up snipers in the taller buildings. Blackwater mercenaries were everywhere. McCain and his colleagues were all wearing body armor during their entire "stroll."

Given that four thousand American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died in the fighting since the U.S. invasion, the McCain photo-op in the Shorja market was a cruel April Fool's Day joke. The fact that McCain would join in this farce speaks volumes about his character. His premature declaration of "all clear" in Shorja a year ago also tells us something about his judgment.

The other day during another photo-op in Iraq McCain accused Iran of training "Al Qaeda terrorists." His new traveling buddy, Joe Lieberman, had to whisper in his ear that Al Qaeda is Sunni and that Shia Iran would never arm them, which led McCain quickly to change his story to say Iran was training "extremists." This was only two weeks before fighting between Shia factions engulfed Basra and southern Iraq and the pro-U.S. Iraqi government of Nouri al-Maliki enlisted Iran's help to negotiate a ceasefire.

How any politician in America, especially the Republican Party's presumptive nominee for president who trumpets his know-how in all things relating to "national security" and the "War on Terror," can confuse Shia Iran with Sunni Al Qaeda five years into this thing defies the imagination. But his shopping spree in Baghdad a year ago and his recent remarks about Iran are not the only times McCain revealed publicly that when it comes to Iraq he doesn't know what he's talking about.

I just hope no American or allied soldiers were killed or wounded while providing security for John McCain's photo-ops in Baghdad. A former student of mine who is a sergeant and emails me periodically informed me that he and his men hate it when politicians come to "tour" Iraq because they have to drop whatever they're doing and put themselves in greater danger just so some gas-bag can return home and crow about how they "were there and saw it for themselves." He also says they never see the real Iraq in any case.

On March 23, 2003, McCain said: "This conflict is . . . going to be relatively short." On September 10, 2003 he said: "I would argue that the next three to six months will be critical." Over two years later, on December 4, 2005, he said: "We will probably see significant progress in the next six months to a year." On February 4, 2007 he said: "We can know fairly well in a few months." And on September 12, 2007, McCain said: "The next six months are going to be critical."

Given his abysmal track record on Iraq how is it that anybody still takes John McCain seriously when he throws around his military expertise as his key selling point for why he would make a great president? McCain is "tested." The only problem is: He flunked the test.

Comments

[ljsfolly]

It would be nice to see an actual politician in full battle gear at least! The stuff weighs a ton and most have not backbone to hold it up so the photo op with them suited up would be a gem! No doubt old man Mac might have hernias if he tried it. He only had to wear flight suits all those years ago. To think he has dementia in his family and his memory is crap and he might need the help George had with the little box on his waist to tell him what to say. A debate between Mac and Barack now that is also something to sell tickets for. I am sorry for any soldier who has to put their life in danger in Iraq as they shouldn't even be there. For the shows people put on visiting Iraq they should have to pay blackwater the fees out of their own pockets for the photo ops. They might stop going. I have seen little out of those congressmen/women visiting on fact finding trips when they don't get it anyway and just rely on the latest blowhard gen for the "facts" anyway.

[djthedj]

Crashing his plane and getting captured makes him an expert....duh!

[JoeyP]

I don't think McCain will get any "help" from Pelosi and Reid if he worms his way into the White House.

[grendl]

Nice post.

And right on point. If only the firework show that is the democratic race would subside in order for this nation to realize this monumental lapses in judgment on the part of the GOP's new Goliath.

Or perhaps Custer is a better reference. General George Armstrong Custer is the best analogy regarding this country's arrogance, storming into unknown territories and getting the living shit kicked out of us, all in the name of courage and perseverance.

Well, it may be courageous to put your hand in a blender too, but its stupid. Iraq is a bloody mess, just like Viet Nam was, because there was no defined point to our involvement. No Hitler to fell, no Japanese fleet to decimate. There's no one to wave the white flag of surrender. Its like declaring a war on crime, this war on terror, one criminal giving himself up doesn't mean you've won that war. It will never end, crime or the tactics of terrorism. And John McCain is too busy reliving our failure in Nam in his head, and trying to fit a square peg into a round hole in employing militaristic solutions to philosophical problems to even contemplate the futility of such actions.

[hopeless277]

The Corporate Media does not care about facts, they care about image and perception. John McCain says(lies) what they like to hear. Feel good stories about how John McCain brought peace to the middle east. They are writing a script and they gave McCain a copy. He is just reading his lines. When Hillary sinks Obama and McCain wins in November, our cowardly Democrats in congress will lavish him with praise and shower him with blank checks. And John McCain will finish the job GWB started. He will destroy this country and all for which it stands......with the help of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.