McCain Conflates Shiite Iran And Sunni Al Qaeda, Needs To Be Corrected By Lieberman
McCain Conflates Shiite Iran And Sunni Al Qaeda, Needs To Be Corrected By Lieberman
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has spent a majority of his presidential campaign trying to convince voters that he is the most qualified to tackle foreign policy issues:
I would believe that my knowledge and experience and background clearly indicates that if the phone rang in the White House and I was the one to answer it, I would be the one to best address a national security crisis. [3/3/08]
I have the most experience of any presidential candidate when it comes to foreign policy and advancing our national and economic security priorities around the globe. [1/29/08]
On matters of war and peace, I offer Americans my experience, my personal familiarity with the tragedy of war, [and] deep involvement in all of the national security issues of the last two decades… [11/18/07]
Of course, McCain’s supposed prescient understanding of foreign policy has been proven faulty over and over. Today, as the Washington Post’s Cameron Barr and Michael Shear report, McCain further undermined his claim to be the best qualified on matters of foreign policy, when he repeated a mistaken claim that Iran was training al Qaeda fighters:
Speaking to reporters in Amman, the Jordanian capital, McCain said he and two Senate colleagues traveling with him continue to be concerned about Iranian operatives “taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back.”
Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was “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.” A few moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate’s ear. McCain then said: “I’m sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda.”
He made the same assertion on right-wing Hugh Hewitt’s radio show last night. Listen here:
The “common knowledge” McCain cites is simply false. Far from working together, Iran and al Qaeda represent opposing sides in the Iraq civil war. Al Qaeda is a Sunni Muslim extremist group, while Iran is ruled by Shiites, where they make up 90 percent of the population.
McCain, the so-called foreign policy expert, is confusing reports that Iran was aiding Shiite insurgents in Iraq — one of the groups that virulently opposes al Qaeda. Even some aspects of those reports have been disputed.
Considering he had to correct McCain himself, does Lieberman still insist that McCain is “almost always right on the big issues in foreign policy”?
(HT: Matthew Yglesias)
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In January 2003, when Bush was warned that an invasion could set off a civil war between Sunni and Shia, he said “I thought they were all Muslims!”.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:02 pm.
All brown Muslim people look the same to Neoconservatives?
.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:03 pmProof positive that McWar don’t know Shiite about Sunni’s.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:04 pmOops, almost tripped over his own bullshit talking point.
(must stay focused on “boogeyman”…)
March 18th, 2008 at 1:05 pmNot only do all Muslims look alike to the neocons, but they all have names that sound alike (Zarqawi and Zawahiri), and all terrorists are Al Qaeda.
It sounds like McCain has as much of a grip on what’s what in the Middle East as the current WH clowns do.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:05 pmEver notice how the people we are fighting are always al Qaeda? Even when they are not!
March 18th, 2008 at 1:08 pmThis man already is well on pace to sail past bush for stupid comments made. It seems every other day he has to back-track, please, please, please - if there is a God - please let us not have this moron become POTUS, I sincerely don’t think I could take 4 more years of another bumbling fool who has to be corrected everytime he opens his mouth.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:09 pmHow ignorant and ill-informed must one be to need Liarman to correct you?
March 18th, 2008 at 1:09 pmHow is it that I know the issues better than a lifetime Senator?
March 18th, 2008 at 1:10 pmI feel so sorry for the Jordanian people who had to listen to that drivel.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:11 pmSunnis/Shiites/Muslims/Arabs/Blacks/Latinos/Asians…..makes no difference to the GOP.
They will all be conquered and/or dominated.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:11 pmSo, it is “common knowledge” that Iran is training AlQaeda militants?
I am guessing he meant to say “among the conservative crowd”. The rest of us live on a planet that is round, revolves around the sun, and is over 10,000 years old.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:11 pmThe only thing he knows about foreign policy is “WAR”!!!!!!!!
March 18th, 2008 at 1:12 pmHe wants to continue a “WAR” that is based on lies and contradictions to the point that he is confusing his message to the world and himself.I hope for the sake of this country he keeps doing the same thing and he won`t have a chance in NOV.
he represents the repugnican party well.
“On matters of war and peace, I offer Americans war!”
March 18th, 2008 at 1:13 pmWould someone, please sell McWrongAlways a clue. Just a little one, nothing fancy.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:13 pmgee, wasn’t Osama bin Laden Iranian???
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Next Republican Talking Point
March 18th, 2008 at 1:14 pmAw, how sweet of Joe to set him straight. The LIEberman lovefest with neo-cons is so romantic.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:17 pmPoor old feller - all he wants to do is have a chance to start a war before he’s really, really too old. Why does everyone want to rain on his crazy old parade?
March 18th, 2008 at 1:18 pmMcCain has long been an advocate for bombing Iran. Now he knows that his reason for supporting this (Iran supports Al Qaeda) is completely false. I don’t expect him to change his mind, though — he just likes bombing for the sake of bombing.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:18 pmJohn “The Maverick” McCain being corrected by Joe “The Independent” Lieberman?
It’s the blind leading the blind.
Or like Laurel and Hardy -except not as funny. At least not intentionally.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:21 pmAt least McSame was smart enough to get an erstwhile Democrat to fact-check for him. I wouldn’t count on Holy Joe in that capacity for much longer, though — the longer he spends as a de facto Repug, the further from fact-based reality he gets. It’s a scientifically demonstrated causal relationship.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:21 pmJohhny needs to get off the straight talk bus, start listenin’, and get some learnin’. As Bush might say “Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?”.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:23 pmI’d rather get bombed than be bombed, but McCrazy’s PTSD keeps making him think he’s still a POW.
Hey, John! Iraqis are the POW’s now! Go bomb someone else.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:25 pmHe’s just old and confused…
March 18th, 2008 at 1:26 pmJust like the cold war when everyone who didn’t agree with the U.S. was either a communist or a communist sympathizer. This poor crazy guy spent half a decade being tortured because a bunch of stupid politicians were sure the NVA was in bed with the Russians (minimal help) and/or the Chinese (ancient enemy of the vietnamese). You would think he would have learned from others’ mistakes. Guess not. Republicans need an enemy. This century it apparently will be all Muslims, all of whom must be alQaeda operatives.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:27 pmWhat the hell does McCain actually do as a Senator? He rarely shows up to vote in the Senate,even before running for President. And he is ignorant as F_ck about the culture of the region he is advocating war against.
Simple things like Shiite and Sunni have been at each others throats for centuries. Iran ( shiite ) was at war with Afghanistan, the Taliban and Al Qaeda ( Sunni ) before and when we invaded Afghanistan.
No wonder these freaks have gotten us in such a mess.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:27 pmSsssh, Joe. You’ll make the old coot mad.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:28 pmFrom poon’s link:
supplies the Special Groups with weapons and funding of 750,000 to three million U.S. dollars a month
U.S. Dollars from our “gift” of lost billions.
Everything you use as an argument, just keeps conflating every problem we face in Iraq with Shrub’s completely fcuked management of said.
Good job!
March 18th, 2008 at 1:29 pmSpeaking to reporters in Amman, the Jordanian capital, McCain said he and two Senate colleagues traveling with him continue to be concerned about Iranian operatives “taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back.”
Oh, this isn’t wrong. You see, any insurgent in Iraq is “al Qaeda” (or at the very least “al Qaeda in Iraq”, seeing as they’re in Iraq). Matter of fact, that goes for civilians in Iraq, or even children, not to mention any bullet-ridden corpses….
Why, you ask? Because we’re fighting al Qaeda, didntcha know? Pay attention.
Cheers,
March 18th, 2008 at 1:29 pmIt has been said that a McCain presidency would be a rerun of the Bush presidency — this adds another level of validity to that claim.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:32 pmMcCain is not qualified to be president. He doesn’t have the experience that he claims he has, but more importantly, he isn’t making an effort to educate himself today.
When a person stops learning, stops trying to gain insight, stops listening to people who have different opinions, believes he is at the top and can’t get any better, then it is time for him to retire. Step aside. Move out. Go away.
good_golly Says:
March 18th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Iran ‘is training the next al-Qa’eda leaders’
Sorry, goony, not very convinced by the two-year-old daily telegraph link. No specifics at all, just “the Iranians” and “al qaida” working together. Sounds an awful lot like Dick Cheney’s insistence five years ago that Saddam and al qaeda were working together. The article has a link to another DT piece that’s supposed to demonstrate this working relationship, but the linked article says nothing about al Qaeada — just an Iranian missile test.
And, in case you didn’t realize it, your follow-up post more-or-less contradicts the thrust of the DT link.
Thanks for playing.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:33 pmMcCain knows that it doesn’t matter what he says.
Since the beginning of this war, and even the Busch Presidency, they have contradicted themselves, lied, distorted, spun themselves into pretzels and even been flat out wrong about everything……and yet.
_AIO_
March 18th, 2008 at 1:33 pmMcgigi is posting crap again, surpirse surprise. Coughlin is a notorious shill for conservative brits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Con_Coughlin
Check out his wikipedia entry.
“Coughlin has been criticized for writing highly controversial unsubstantiated articles that provide justification for British foreign policy, which have subsequently been proven false[4]. He has a history of accepting phoney stories from MI6 and then publishing articles in the name of fabricated sources. He was accused of publishing Black Propaganda[5] during the infamous libel proceedings brought against Daily Telegraph for the allegations he made about Libya’s Saif Qaddafi (Colonel Gaddafi’s son”
And there’s compliants about reporting he’s done about Iran. this guy is the British love child of Judith Miller and bill kristol.
and Gigi, I’ve asked you to stop your husband from calling me, his necrophilia fantasies are really gross.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:33 pmAl Qaeda = the base, or more precisley, the GOP base.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:33 pmBobwurst Says:
March 18th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Mcgigi is posting crap again,
When does Golly_goofy post anything other than crap?
March 18th, 2008 at 1:42 pmNow goony’s linking to the Heritage Foundation.
Can you say “grasping at straws”?
Is that where goony gets all the stuffing for her strawmen?
March 18th, 2008 at 1:42 pmOh god!
Now mcgigi is citing the heritage foundation. why not cite newsmax and talon why you’re at it you goosestepping moron. Why don’t you ask your former boss at the FTC to explain what a credible source is? And your husband is a pervert.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:43 pmNow goofy is merely being a spambot.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:43 pmFlag it out.
good_golly Says:
March 18th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
The Iran-al Qaeda Axis
Hahahahaha
So the same Iran that Usama bin Laden considers an “apostate country” of “Shia dogs” is somehow allied with al-Qa’ida?
Seriously. You need a new gimmick. This one’s getting old.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:45 pmGigi missed the newsmax story where Al-Queda and the molemen are plotting to invade the US of A with tunnels.
http://www.newsmax.com/
March 18th, 2008 at 1:46 pm“We know that Iran has set up a network of terrorist training camps on Iranian soil, which employ al Qaeda experts to train Iraqi insurgents in the latest explosives techniques.”
P{lease pay attention, goony:
An “al Qaeda expert” is not an AQ member, but an expert on the group’s tactics, training and goals. Such a person might be an excellent trainer of “iraqi insurgents” in the arts of explosives techniques.
Sheesh.
Why don’t you dig up a few more right-wing stink-tank “commentaries” to throw at us?
March 18th, 2008 at 1:47 pmWe can expect that Lieberman knows all the gory little details of the Middle East. He will always be whispering into Pork Chop’s ear, telling him what to say, and controlling the damage if he trips up.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:49 pmJoe Wormtongue.
Seriously, Giig, we know that the “Iran-al Qaeda Axis” is accepted truth in right-wing land. You don’t have to produce any more freerepubic or heritage links to prove that point.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:50 pmHey good_golly - I found a few more reputable links you can use to make your argument:
http://www.timecube.com/
March 18th, 2008 at 1:51 pmhttp://www.cubicao.tk/
http://www.somethingawful.com/fakesa/learning_triangle/
http://theflatearthsociety.org
http://www.holloworbs.com/
Is it just me, or do all of Gigi’s stories sound eerily familiar? Like maybe we’ve heard them before, only with a slight change, maybe a “q” at the end of a word instead of an “n”?
March 18th, 2008 at 1:52 pmI hope that someone got that on tape. That is a Democratic advertisement waiting to happen. It’s amazing how many of these McBush has handed to the Democrats. Now I just hope they use them.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:52 pmHey mcgigi,
here’s a link for you to explain:
http://www.voxfux.com/ features/ bush_child_sex_coverup/ franklin.htm
if you’re not sure about it, ask your husband.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:53 pmThis reminds me of the Rovian tactic of attacking your enemies perceived strength. If McCain’s best asset is the perception that he is strong on foreign policy and military matters, Democrats need to attack that. Clearly the perception is paper thin and ripe for tearing down.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:53 pmSay no more…
March 18th, 2008 at 1:54 pm*enemy’s
March 18th, 2008 at 1:54 pmNo more Bozos!
March 18th, 2008 at 1:54 pmLet’s cut gigi some slack today, last night her husband talked her into soaking in a bathtub filled with ice water for a half hour, and then made her lie on the bed and not move while they made love.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:55 pmKeith Says:
Ever notice how the people we are fighting are always al Qaeda? Even when they are not!
Even our government estimates that there are only 6-8,000 AQI in Iraq, at least that’s the number when they aren’t saying that they have driven them all out of Iraq.
And you are right. Whenever they talk about Iraq, they are talking about this piddling number of AQI who will, if you listen to the neoCONs, soon control all of Iraq.
The Democrats need to start hammering home on this point to show the American public that AQI is not the problem in Iraq.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:55 pmBobwurst Says:
March 18th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
“… and then made her lie on the bed and not move while they made love.”
___________
Gee, t’anks a lot, bobwurst. My breakfast just voted unanimously to redeploy from my stomach to the toilet.
Mebbe hubby just wanted ta pretend he was w/ his inflatable girlfriend, huh?
March 18th, 2008 at 2:06 pmHey McSenile
If you need a Zionist putz to whisper sweet nothings into your ear , it’s time to admit you don’t know squat …………
March 18th, 2008 at 2:08 pmBilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
March 18th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Whenever they talk about Iraq, they are talking about this piddling number of AQI who will, if you listen to the neoCONs, soon control all of Iraq.
___________
Whoa… don’t stop there, Bilbo. Don’t they claim they will not only control ALL of the ME soon, but will be paddling ashore HERE, grippin’ knives between their teeth, ready ta start cuttin’ heads offin’ on Long Island?
Mebbe they’ll get here by magic carpet, huh?
March 18th, 2008 at 2:10 pmAhhh….thanks for that Mr. Foreign Policy Expert. Who’s your mentor GW Bush? That explains everything.
March 18th, 2008 at 2:11 pmIf we were voting for a Prisoner-in-Chief, then McCain fits the bill. For Commander-in-Chief, though, not so much.
March 18th, 2008 at 2:18 pmI keep reading the comments of good_golly concerning the assistance given AQ by Iran. Think about this for a minute. Prior to the US invasion of Iraq, Iran actually supported our efforts in Afghanistan. There was no AQ presence in Iraq except in the Kurdish area protected from Saddam under the umbrella of US air power (no fly zone.) If good_golly is right, then there is but one inescapable conclusion that Republican incompetence and ineptitude has once again endangered our country. Think how much anger against the US was required to bring together The Sunni AQ and Iranian Shiites. Good_golly, if you are correct, then the incompetent fools you praise have been able to unite to factions that have hated each other for centuries as a common foe against the United States. Great job idiots.
March 18th, 2008 at 2:26 pmMcCain Conflates Shiite Iran And Sunni Al Qaeda, Needs To Be Corrected By Lieberman
So, one of ‘em is a warmonger and the other an idiot warmonger? Nice ticket.
March 18th, 2008 at 2:28 pmWell, McSame is a rightie and righties are always wrongie, so to speak.
As GooGoo brains always posts total Reichwing crap, what a lame tool.
Bush/Cheney/NeoCons
March 18th, 2008 at 2:31 pmHague Trials ‘09
Perhaps goon_golly’s comments are meant to make us aware that a lot has been said in the media about the supposed Iranian support of AlQaeda.
What goon-golly is incapable to get through his thick skull is that there is no credible evidence that that is the case. Reports that Iran is supporting Shiia militias in Iraq are far more credible, but solid evidence is also lacking.
Although I guess the concept of solid evidence is alien for the “preemptive strike” crowd.
March 18th, 2008 at 2:34 pmThe Associated Press always does everything in its power to make Republicans look better than they really are.
AP should stand for “Allied Propaganda”, where the “allies” are the gop and fox.
March 18th, 2008 at 2:37 pmWhen does Golly_goofy post anything other than crap?
It has a list of right wing web sites where it can go to prove any point it wants. No matter than none of it’s “proof” comes from a reliable source. It seems to rely on the premise of “if it is on a right wing website, it must be true”.
March 18th, 2008 at 2:48 pmGiGi is under the mistaken impression that anyone here is going to believe anything it posts. Since everything he posts links to a right wing website, what makes it think that we are going to believe it? Personally, I never click on it’s links and rarely read what it posts. It is a gnat you just have to ignore.
March 18th, 2008 at 2:53 pmMcCains “foreign policy expertise” is just a myth that keeps on fooling people.
If you wanna call yourself a foreign policy expert and discuss the Middle East you better learn more words than “radical Islam”, “sunni extremists” “Al-Qaida operatives”, “weapons” “explosives”, “terrorists”, “kill Americans”.
BTW McCain why do you think Americans are killed in Iraq?
Answer: Because Americans occupy their country you old fool! Because Americans are killing their fathers and mothers and children. The sollution is get the hell out of their country and no Americans will die in Iraq.
March 18th, 2008 at 2:55 pm“It is a gnat you just have to ignore.”
It’s not really worth the bother, they don’t even leave a respectable smear when you squish them.
March 18th, 2008 at 2:58 pmNevar Says:
March 18th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
“It is a gnat you just have to ignore.”
It’s not really worth the bother, they don’t even leave a respectable smear when you squish them.
They should be drowned in urine …………
March 18th, 2008 at 3:09 pmMr. McCain just can’t keep his bullshit lies and hyperbole straight or accurate. He needs all the help and propping up he can get from his more lucid and factually aware supporters and enablers just like Mr. Bush does. He truly wants to bomb, bomb, bomb Iran, which is why he’ll never ascend to the presidency. He is out of touch with the majority of Americans. And after 7+ years of Bush’s lies and distortions about the Iraq war, the last thing Americans want is another pointlessly deadly, destructive and wasteful war that the American people cannot possibly benefit from.
March 18th, 2008 at 3:17 pmDid anyone notice the significance of McCain accepting Lieberman’s correction without argument? This means McCain acknowledged Lieberman having more expertise in this area, or he acknowledged that he didn’t have a clue and was just putting together words that sounded good, or both. A man who had done some research in this area and knew of what he spoke would have stood his ground.
What’s amusing to me is that even though McCain is basically clueless and admits it, his fans are bending over backwards to prove his original point to be correct — no matter how many links to wingnut blogs they have to post.
March 18th, 2008 at 3:20 pmMc Cain conflates the facts, LIEberman fellates McCain, this is news how? Same B.S. going on with LIEberman for months; whenever there’s a waahhhpublicans around, get on your back, spread ‘em and perform like the whore you are, Joe
March 18th, 2008 at 3:46 pmgg, maybe you can call joe lieberman to help you out with this one.
you’re not doing a very good of it by yourself.
March 18th, 2008 at 3:48 pmJust in time for the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion, presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain made an unannounced visit to Iraq. Unfortunately for him, this week’s anniversary highlights that at almost every turn, John McCain has been disastrously wrong about Iraq.
For a catalog of McCain’s erroneous statements, see:
March 18th, 2008 at 4:00 pm“Forever Wrong: Five Years of John McCain on Iraq.”
It was unforgiveable that we went into Iraq without knowing, at least, that there were Shia, Sunni and Kurds in Iraq and which branch Saddam Hussein represented (and therefore hated Al Q).
But after 5 years, you’d think they could have learned about it by now.
Perhaps they should issue playing cards to our military showing the difference ?
March 18th, 2008 at 4:23 pmWhat. A. Tool.
March 18th, 2008 at 4:24 pmI think the name “Ronald Gump” best describes McCAIN.
kind of lost like Reagan…..and slow like Gump….
I use the name whenever referring to him.
Salmon Dave
March 18th, 2008 at 4:33 pmMendocino, CA
Good golly actually believes these Right Wing Neo-Con stories? Here is another POV of al-CIAda.
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/fakealqaeda.html
March 18th, 2008 at 7:14 pmGoon_golly, quickly -better go check the other McCain thread, and after you do, send your links to McCain and his campaign manager: They are denying ever making any claims on Iran-AlQaeda ties, lest the American people become concerned “about their candidates’ judgment and readiness to lead as commander in chief.”
Even the AP is giving McCain a little helping hand by editing out the reference to AlQaeda. See, goon_golly? You are still the biggest fool.
March 19th, 2008 at 2:38 am