Klein: In January, McCain insisted Basra was ‘not a problem.’
By on Apr 2nd, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Klein: In January, McCain insisted Basra was ‘not a problem.’
Last week, Moqtada al-Sadr waged a full-out assault on Iraqi national forces in Basra, a move that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said “surprised” him. Today, Time’s Joe Klein writes that McCain assured him of Basra’s stability just two months ago:
Furthermore, McCain’s frequent “You don’t know anything” tirades about national security might be more effective if he had a better sense of the war in question. When I asked him about Basra in January, he assured me that it was “not a problem.”
As Klein puts it, “McCain’s carelessness and oversimplification, and wrong analysis, when it comes to the situation in Iraq puts him in a surprisingly vulnerable position.”
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So the right sides ‘expert’ is no expert. Hmmm, who could have anticipated the delusion of McSame?
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:42 pmMcCain is a delusional moron who thinks AlQueeda and the Iranian government are allies, everytime he claims obama has no experience i laugh, because what good is experience if everything it taught you was wrong? an experienced fool is still a fool..
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:45 pmMcCain is what is called a “Know-it All” and we all know that they tend to know very little.
I am not looking forward to another 9 months of testy lectures from John McCain.
-GSD
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:46 pmWhen you can’t get a tongue-bath from Joe Klein, you know you’re a republican in serious trouble!
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:47 pmHe was already the Bob Dole of 2008. Add to that the economy, Iraq, mccains agreeable stance on everything bush, his obvious ignorace about the facts on the ground and you have a candidate in name only.
If mccain wins this election…..welll
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:47 pmMcCain is just another Bushie, creating his own reality.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:51 pmJohnny McStupid = Talks as if he’s Patton when he’s more like Colonel Klink……….
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:51 pmRight on, barfly; what’s up with Joke Line? Is he sensing the turning tide approaching and wants to be on the inbound flush?
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:59 pmMcBush III.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:00 pmEveryday it makes me wonder how someone like McCain can get away with being to ignorant… We all can’t do what he does, because we would all be fired or in jail for being the kind of person he is.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:02 pmThe very first line of the article:
‘Sen. John McCain expressed surprise that Iraqi leader Nouri al-Maliki instigated a battle in the southern Iraqi city of Basra in recent days without, according to McCain, notifying the U.S. first.’
Does McCain really think we’re that stupid?!?!
‘All Things Considered, March 28, 2008 · In southern Iraq, CBS producer Phil Ittner tells Robert Siegel the Iraqi forces are in charge of operations — with U.S. and British forces providing logistical and some air support. So far, progress has been slow, Ittner says.’
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89195082
…with U.S. and British forces providing logistical support – as in PLANNING.
‘BAGHDAD, March 27 — U.S. forces in armored vehicles battled Mahdi Army fighters Thursday in Sadr City, the vast Shiite stronghold in eastern Baghdad, as an offensive to quell party-backed militias entered its third day. Iraqi army and police units appeared to be largely holding to the outskirts of the area as American troops took the lead in the fighting.
Four U.S. Stryker armored vehicles were seen in Sadr City by a Washington Post correspondent, one of them engaging Mahdi Army militiamen with heavy fire. The din of American weapons, along with the Mahdi Army’s AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades, was heard through much of the day. U.S. helicopters and drones buzzed overhead.
snip
Several Mahdi Army commanders said they had been fighting U.S. forces for the past three days in Sadr City, engaging Humvees as well as the Strykers. By their account, an Iraqi special forces unit had entered Sadr City from another direction, backed by Americans, but otherwise the fighting had not been with Iraqis. “If there were no Americans, there would be no fighting,” said Abu Mustafa al-Thahabi, 38, a senior Mahdi Army member.’
http://abumuqawama.blogspot.com/2008/03/battle-for-basra-us-forces-take-lead.html
Just what we need! Another liar in the White House!
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:02 pmEvery day Mr. McCain sounds as knowledgable as Mr. Bush. Impressive! Can’t wait for the next 4 years.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:18 pmAnd the Maliki government fired thousands of soldiers and replaced them with Badr Corps fighters (the paramilitary of ISCI)…
As the Iraqi troops get militiatized, we’ll stand
A. Up
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:37 pmB. Down
C. Sideways
D. All, some, or none of the above
Sometimes, I get the feeling that the neo-cons threw out McCain with the expectation that there’s no way he’s going to win anyway, but at least they can have someone out there keeping their talking points in the public ear.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:37 pm.
McClueless McSpeaks … AGAIN!
.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:40 pmHow can this be? I thought McNumbNuts was the most experienced and knowledgeable candidate in the race. Next thing you know, someone will claim that Hillary didn’t duck sniper-fire when she visited Bosnia. Sheesh!
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:42 pmI’m with barfly. If even Joke Line notices McBush’s bonafides are bogus, they must really stink.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:47 pmIt’s good to see some of Time’s journalists comparing, in print and plain language, the rhetoric and reality and stating the dichotomies in McCain’s various positions.
However I note that Klein concludes that the significance of McCain’s “carelessness and oversimplification, and wrong analysis” is that it “puts him in a surprisingly vulnerable position.”
In other words Klein sees the disconnect between McCain’s current rhetoric and past pronouncements, and the recent history and present reality of the “Iraq situation” as purely a domestic campaign problem that will need to be ‘fixed’ by his staff.
Klein still refuses to state the f-ing obvious: a candidate with such blatant ignorance of “the Iraq situation” should NOT be considered a viable presidential candidate.
Such critical examinatation of McCain as Klein offers here, though noteworthy is only so because of the low bar set in 2000 over which he barely has the intellectual strength to climb. Furthermore as prominent as TIME is in the ’serious magazine’ market, its presence is minimal compared to TV news outlets from which so many receive their information.
Frankly Klein’s relatively critical and reasoned blog post is nothing to get excited about. It misses the major point and hardly anyone who should see it, actually will.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:50 pmIf even clueless Joe Klein can figure this out what is holding back the rest of the fawning media? Did they enjoy the barbeque that much?!?
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:54 pm“Liberal media” my fat ass.
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:12 pmI know I shouldn’t be, but I am still very much surprised at how lame the MSM is in disecting all of the stuff that is coming out of these guys mouths here lately.
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:28 pmI think we can all acknowledge (and perhaps Klein is waking up) that experience without judgement is worthless. Case in point: Cheney and Rumsfeld.
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:31 pm“Barsa is not a problem and the War will last only weeks… and it will cost very little… Oh, I’m soory, that was in 2003! Did I take my alzeirmers medication today? Where is Perino?”…”I saw some beautifull ruggs somewhere, but can’t remember where…”
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:37 pmWow! Joe Klein makes actually sense twice in two weeks. Is this a trend? Could reality be penetrating his thick skull? It remains to be seen.
Like my archenemy, Andrew Sullivan, Klein may simply be adjusting his posture to appear more relevant. God knows he’s been an embarrassment thus far during his Time tenure.
-AF
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:42 pmAndrew Sullivan Is A Fraud
Whaddaya expect from a life-long playboy who owed his career to his dad’s and grandad’s high offices? He suffered terribly in cap[tivity and honorably, and for that he is a hero, but his intellect, leadership, and responsibility are questionable as his close connections with lobbyists amply demonstrate.
April 2nd, 2008 at 3:19 pmI cannot wait until the Democratic nominee is decided so we can put all our efforts into going after mcCain. It’s already clear McCain’s supposedly biggest advantage (foreign policy) is actually a big weakness for him. He has allowed himself to be brainwashed by the neo-cons to the point where he doesn’t even understand the dynamic of the Middle Eastern conflicts.
Obama or Hillary will absolutely destroy McCain in debates. If McCain is having this many gaffe’s now, just imagine what he’ll do in a debate after traveling around the country in the Presidential campaign.
Ignore any poll you see where McCain is currently leading the Democrats. That is only because there are daily attacks on the Democratic candidates while McCain is out of the spotlight. The Dems have the clear money advantage. The Dems win on the issues like the Iraq War or the economy. McCain will be crushed by Obama or Hillary.
April 2nd, 2008 at 3:21 pmThe clowns like Klein are certainly coming out of the woodwork to pollute the airwaves to defend the Maverick.
April 2nd, 2008 at 4:03 pmgummitch Says:
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I’m with barfly. If even Joke Line notices McBush’s bonafides are bogus, they must really stink.
Says it all.
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:14 pmIt’s no great wonder that McCain doesn’t know what’s really going on in Iraq when the US News media is so derelict in its coverage. I only learned of the special Iraqi government envoy to meet with Sadr in Iran thanks to the McClatchey News Service. (Remember that they were the only US print news service that didn’t parrot the Bush’s WMD fantasy.) And I was referred to them by Juan Cole’s blog, Informed Comment. NBC Nighly News for 3.31.08 only mentioned a Sadr ceasefire leaving one with the same impression as McCain’s that Sadr was backing down. (This is reporting error by omission.) The Newshour with Jim Lehrer on PBS gave the same scant coverage as NBC. The only television coverage which mentioned the entourage to Iran from Baghdad that I saw was The Daily Show on Comedy Central where they showed clips of CNN covering the Iranian connection. Comedy Central providing better coverage than NBC or PBS would be truly laughable if this were not a war costing thousands of American and Iraqi dead, three trillion dollars, and no good option for termination.
April 5th, 2008 at 11:32 pm‘BAGHDAD, March 27 — U.S. forces in armored vehicles battled Mahdi Army fighters Thursday in Sadr City, the vast Shiite stronghold in eastern Baghdad, as an offensive to quell party-backed militias entered its third day. Iraqi army and police units appeared to be largely holding to the outskirts of the area as American troops took the lead in the fighting.
Four U.S. Stryker armored vehicles were seen in Sadr City by a Washington Post correspondent, one of them engaging Mahdi Army militiamen with heavy fire. The din of American weapons, along with the Mahdi Army’s AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades, was heard through much of the day. U.S. helicopters and drones buzzed overhead.
October 15th, 2008 at 8:04 amsnip
Several Mahdi Army commanders said they had been fighting U.S. forces for the past three days in Sadr City, engaging Humvees as well as the Strykers. By their account, an Iraqi special forces unit had entered Sadr City from another direction, backed by Americans, but otherwise acer aspire 3690 battery,acer aspire 5680 battery the fighting had not been with Iraqis. “If there were no Americans, there would be no fighting,” said Abu Mustafa al-Thahabi, 38, a senior Mahdi Army member.’