McCain Knows Best: Rejects Maliki’s Timetable But Says ‘I Know What Iraqis Want’
McCain Knows Best: Rejects Maliki’s Timetable But Says ‘I Know What Iraqis Want’
This weekend, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said he wanted U.S. troops out of Iraq as soon as possible, supporting the plan set forth by Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). “Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes,” he said.
But Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) couldn’t care less what the Iraqis want. When Maliki signaled support for a timetable earlier this month, McCain rejected it. This weekend, a senior McCain aide told Marc Ambinder, “voters care about [the] military, not about Iraqi leaders.” On NBC’s Today Show today, McCain was again dismissive of Maliki, suggesting that only he knows what the Iraqis really “want”:
Q: If the Iraqi government were to say, if you were president, ‘we want a timetable for troops being removed,’ would you agree to that?
McCAIN: I’ve been there too many times. I’ve met too many times with him. And I know what they want. They want it based on conditions. And of course they’d like to have us out. That’s what happens when you win wars.
Watch it:
McCain has a history of thinking he knows better than Iraqis. After Maliki initially requested a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal this month, McCain stated, “Actually, the Iraqis are not” asking for withdrawal. On a conference call this morning, top McCain adviser Randy Scheunemann also brushed off Maliki’s withdrawal call:
One inartful statement from Prime Minister Maliki certainly does not change Iraqi government policies.
McCain is picking up a tactic from President Bush: claiming that he can now speak for Iraqis and know what’s best for them. In October 2006, Bush claimed that Iraqis are willing to “tolerate” high levels of violence because they “so [want] to be free” (despite polls showing that 71 percent wanted U.S. troops to leave). Last November, Bush implied that Iraqis should be thankful for the U.S. invasion, stating, “If you lived in Iraq and had lived under a tyranny, you’d be saying: God, I love freedom, because that’s what’s happened.”
As McCain said in 2004 when asked if the U.S. should withdraw if asked by the Iraqi government, “I think it’s obvious that we would have to leave.”
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Yup. Old McNumbNuts knows what Iraqis want — about $5 per rug.
What a clown he is!
July 21st, 2008 at 12:10 pmThe ignorant arrogance (or is that arrogant ignorance) of this assklown never ceases to amaze me!
July 21st, 2008 at 12:10 pmShorter McCain: Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. I know what’s best…
July 21st, 2008 at 12:10 pmMcThuselah: ‘I Know What Iraqis Want’
“They want their border with Pakistan secured.”
July 21st, 2008 at 12:12 pmHe knows what they want…
July 21st, 2008 at 12:13 pmhe is just not going to give it to them.
McCain knows what Iraqs’s want just like he know, that Iraq borders Pakistan! just like he knows the difference between the Sunni’s and Sheits!! Just like he knows drilling for oil will reduce gas prices !!! 8
I feel so good he knows so much that I can finally sleep at night.
Thank god were going to have a president who KNOWS!!!
Obama 08
July 21st, 2008 at 12:15 pmI didn’t rape her. Sure she said no, but I know she really wanted it.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:16 pmHow demeaning.
Remember your Mother telling you ‘I know what’s good for you’?
McChimp has doublespeak down quite well, but struggles with English.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:17 pmHey, sounds like we have another deciderator on our hands!
July 21st, 2008 at 12:17 pmYes, they are like children, aren’t they McIIIrd?
July 21st, 2008 at 12:22 pmSpare the bullet and spoil the child, right?
As Jesse Jackson would say, McNumbNuts is talking down to the s*nd n***ers.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:22 pmJust nitpicking. You write “Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) could care less . . .”
Should be: “couldn’t care less.”
A lot of people make this mistake so don’t feel bad. Just one of those things that bugs me.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:22 pmSo the Iraqis are just a bunch of whiners, isn’t that it, McIIIrd?
July 21st, 2008 at 12:23 pmMcGrampa is making herr dubyah look sane and reasonable.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:25 pm“I’ve met too many times with him. And I know what they want”.
This is ludicrous.
I don’t get it. McCain says he knows what Iraqis want because he has met with Maliki “many times”. ??? How does talking to one person (who by the way says the opposite) mean he knows what all Iraqis are saying?
Unless McCain has Gallup on the ground in Iraq, I hardly can believe he knows what Iraqis want.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:26 pmHe is so out of touch and needing to twist everything to HIS way.
McCAIN: I’ve been there too many times. I’ve met too many times with him. And I know what they want. They want it based on conditions. And of course they’d like to have us out. That’s what happens when you win wars.
____________________________________________________________
This is disturbing on a couple of levels. First, McCain’s “I know what they want” tends to translate into “It doesn’t matter what they want, I say they want what I want, and that’s that.” — a rather imperialistic point of view, if you ask me.
And that last sentence — it sounds like the kind of pathetic spin we get from our trolls here. Sounds like it’s full of bravado, but it’s essentially meaningless.
(”proudly winning the war in Iraq since 2003″ –Bushco)
July 21st, 2008 at 12:27 pmMcbush, et al. are simply embarrassed and should be.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:27 pmThe ‘Ugly American’ syndrome is alive and well, courtesy of the GOP and the Nazi loving neo-cons.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:28 pmI’d bet McSenility is now regretting goading Obama into an international trip.
I was also thinking the other day of almost all the Black military vote that Obama will be getting; their percentage there is huge; this alone has to distress the Rethugs.
¶ AIO
July 21st, 2008 at 12:29 pmIf voters could just imagine McCain giving a State of Union speech there is no way he would receive one vote. Twisting facts to suit his position. Unable to inspire.
Oh, whoops. That’s happened before. Guess, there are voters out that may still not see an emperor with no clothes.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:31 pm.
I’ve heard Johnny McShops there too…
.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:32 pm“If you lived in Iraq and had lived under a tyranny, you’d be saying: God, I love freedom…”
Wouldn’t they be praising Allah?
July 21st, 2008 at 12:32 pmalphainfinityomega Says:
I’d bet McSenility is now regretting goading Obama into an international trip.
I was also thinking the other day of almost all the Black military vote that Obama will be getting; their percentage there is huge; this alone has to distress the Rethugs.
That is assuming that they don’t get ‘caged’ like many did in the 04 elections or tht their absentee ballots don’t get ‘lost’.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:33 pmMcCain: “I don’t care what the Iraqis say they want, I know what they really want because my friends in the oil industry have told me”
July 21st, 2008 at 12:33 pm.
Not only does the wanna be McDecider NOT pay attention to the American people, he’s McDecided to tell Iraq how to live their lives like a good McDictator.
.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:35 pmQuotes from McCain should be called “McNuggets”
July 21st, 2008 at 12:36 pmDamn Arrogance on behalf of both McCain and Bush, they do not want to acknowledge that the Iraqi people want us to leave from this Occupation of their country. Change in November, let us work toward that goal, end the arrogance, deceit, lies, greed and total incompetence………..
July 21st, 2008 at 12:37 pmWelcome back btruthful name, do republicans still hate facts?
¶ AIO
July 21st, 2008 at 12:37 pmI’m unclear on what McCain’s definition of winning the war is. Is it setting up a stable democracy? Is it killing all the bad guys? He keeps saying winning is everything, but I don’t even know what his bar is.
I don’t really get the point of setting up a democracy if we’re not going to listen to anything officials there say to begin with.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:37 pmBut, the Fratboy in Chief said we’re gonna have a troop “horizon”, just more bovine excrement from the GOP…
July 21st, 2008 at 12:40 pmmargerine Says:
I’m unclear on what McCain’s definition of winning the war is.
Well, since McCain has called for the occupation of Iraq to last up to 1 million years, I think his idea of victory has something to do with the evolution of homo sapiens into a new species.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:45 pmLOL! Try China.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:45 pmSince McCain knows so much about what the Iraqi people want (and he apparently has no idea what the American voters want), he should drop out of the presidential race here and go run over in Iraq.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:49 pm“I know what my people want”-John al-McAliki.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:52 pmNYA NYA NYA NYA NYA…I know what boys like, I know what guys want. NYA NYA NYA NYA NYA…
July 21st, 2008 at 12:55 pmScaryBrownHusseinChick (ThinkOutsideTheBush) Says:
…he should drop out of the presidential race here and go run over in Iraq.
How would his campaign pay for the hundreds of soldiers, Blackwater mercenaries, armored personnel carriers, Abrams tanks, Blackhawk helicopters, ect. needed to follow him around so he could safely shake hands with the Iraqi people?
July 21st, 2008 at 12:56 pmhe he, suckers!…NYA NYA NYA NYA NYA
July 21st, 2008 at 12:57 pmshoeless Says:
How would his campaign pay for the hundreds of soldiers, Blackwater mercenaries, armored personnel carriers, Abrams tanks, Blackhawk helicopters, ect. needed to follow him around so he could safely shake hands with the Iraqi people?
By selling missiles to Iraq’s enemies?
But on second thought, the Iraqi people have already been through enough. I wouldn’t want to wish McDaddy on them.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:03 pmThanks, btruthful…but are you the same btruthful?
July 21st, 2008 at 1:03 pmYou sound nicer. Hehehe.
And I know what they want
Apparently, not so much.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:06 pmMCDepends:
“When you, my friends in Iraq need an opinion, I will give you one, OK?”
July 21st, 2008 at 1:13 pmScaryBrownHusseinChick (ThinkOutsideTheBush) Says:
By selling missiles to Iraq’s enemies?
As far as I know, Iraq has only one enemy, and the United States already has enough missiles.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:14 pmGrampy McSame says - My friends back in the day I knew what people wanted even though they didn’t, I could read their minds, just like I’m doing now, I see the minds of Iraqi people, I see flowers lining the streets as I stroll thru a open market like in Indiana, thousands of Iraqi’s throwing themselves at my feet as I walk across their backs, I can see the love for me in their faces, and their lost limbs, why they would line up for me to walk on as I go from the Iraqi boarder to the Pakistan, just like I am greeted at my townhall meetings, they love me, they worship me, they are my stepping stones to power, I love power, but I don’t want to use power for the intranets, no, no, no email for me, email can screw you over, just ask Bush and Cheney, what? They destroyed their email so no one can investigate their crimes, well sign me up then, Cindy you tollop-C**T, can you type something for me?….I sat in a warm apple pie, mmmm, squishy.
Yeah, Grampy, read my mind….
July 21st, 2008 at 1:21 pmMcCain is picking up a tactic from President Bush: claiming that he can now speak for Iraqis…
Master speaking for yourself before you take on other people you moron.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
July 21st, 2008 at 1:51 pm21st Century candidates know how to use computers & e-mail.
15th Century candidates should stay out of Presidential races…
July 21st, 2008 at 1:52 pmJebus. Arrogant barstid, ain’t he??
July 21st, 2008 at 1:53 pmAfter we have invaded these countries, saying that we are there to institute democray, and their duly elected (and election endored by the USA) representatives ask us to leave:
When we then say that we know what is best, when will we see that we have become the dictator that we say that we hate ?
July 21st, 2008 at 2:15 pmIt’s “so?”, updated.
July 21st, 2008 at 2:21 pmMcCain knows best?? How about McCain knows nothing — starting with who borders on Iraq. What an ignorant boaster he is. And as he makes all these errors about Iraq, its borders, its varied groups of people, don’t forget– this is his strong point!
July 21st, 2008 at 4:28 pmSo, grampy mclame knows what the Iraqis want…well DUH, everyone knows that- they want to deal with Obama and not his lame ass as president.
July 21st, 2008 at 4:39 pmYep, he is not only an ugly American but an ignorant one too. He is an advocate of rotten colonialism…where the natives are inconsequential in the grand scheme of their master’s plans.
July 21st, 2008 at 6:28 pmLynChi:
With regard to:Just nitpicking. You write “Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) could care less . . .”
Should be: “couldn’t care less.”
A lot of people make this mistake so don’t feel bad. Just one of those things that bugs me
I know it sounds contradictory but,
“I could care less…” is the correct ‘idiomatic expression”
The implication of the shortened expression,
“I could care less…” is
I could care less, but then I wouldn’t care at all!
July 21st, 2008 at 6:58 pmThe phraseology following but most probably was something more coarse or vulgar such as “… I really wouldn’t give a s**t at all.
Have ya taken note that in the last 3 presidential elections the rePUBLICS, we Libruls got it rite the first time, have run the dumbest they got agin’ us? It must be because they won’t miss these stoops should they miss step. Close GITMO after Chimpy ‘n Chinny ‘n Rove ‘n Assgraft ‘n Gonzo et al are incarcerated there.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:30 pmHoly Cats! How out of context can we take this? He was just saying he understands Maliki’s position! This is Republican style smear garbage. We’re better than this!
July 21st, 2008 at 10:56 pmPoor old Grampy McCaine. It is difficult to know whether to feel sorry for him or not. I go back and forth between pity and disgust. We have already had two Presidents who were pretty dim. Reagan was suffering from dementia during his last two years. During Iran-Contra hearings, think of how often he did not remember? During that hearing literally dozens of times. And just a short time later he was diagnosed with alz. But there were rumors that his last year in office he was having terrible memory problems.
Then we had George W. I rest my case here with him. But with McCain I think it is the same problems. He is not very educated or bright. And I do believe his life as a prisoner has done some bad things to him. These lapses are very nearly a daily thing. If he cannot last mentally through a challenging race to the Whitehouse, what will he do when the pressure of that job gets to him? It is a killer job. And he is already old.
You give a nod to his service and what he went through in Vietnam. It took a great deal of mental toughness to get through that. But he is now too old. And his military service does not mean he is meant to be President. The Presidency is more than military. General Clarke was correct. It in no way diminishes his service to say it does not make him Presidental material. Everyday McCain proves this point.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:05 pmMcCain is a fine one to be critical of “inartful” statements as he is a poster boy for inartful statements, an old one at that. At least McCain is not backing the Whitehouse spin that is was bad language translation. Calling Maliki “inartful” should translate real well and please Maliki (not).
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:18 amMcCain Denounces Victory In Iraq
More
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:23 pmWhat else is new?
August 15th, 2008 at 7:34 pmThe GOP is famous for deceit!
Let’s see: Sedam Hussein caused 9-11.
Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.
Iraqi oil would pay for the war.
We will be greeted with open arms as liberators.
Tax breaks for the wealthy will help the economy.
McCain had an Alzheimer’s moment afew weeks ago when he forgot his military voting record, let me remind him: John McCain missed 10 of the past 14 votes on Iraq.
McCain had an Alzheimer’s moment a few weeks ago when he forgot his military voting record, let me remind him: John McCain in September 2007: voted against the Webb amendment calling for adequate troop rest between deployments.
John McCain in May 2006, voted against an amendment that would provide $20 million to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for health care facilities.
John McCain in April 2006, was one of only 13 Senators to vote against $430,000,000 for the Department of Veteran Affairs for Medical Services for outpatient care and treatment for veterans.
John McCain in March 2006, voted against increasing Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes.
John McCain in March 2004, once again voted for abusive tax loopholes over veterans when he voted against creating a reserve fund to allow for an increase in Veterans’ medical care by $1.8 billion by eliminating abusive tax loopholes. Jeez, McCain really loves those tax loopholes for corporations, since he voted for them over our veterans’ needs.
John McCain in October 2003, voted to table an amendment by Senator Dodd that called for an additional $322,000,000 for safety equipment for United States forces in Iraq and to reduce the amount provided for reconstruction in Iraq by $322,000,000.
John McCain in April 2003, urged other Senate members to table a vote (which never passed) to provide more than $1 billion for National Guard and Reserve equipment in Iraq related to a shortage of helmets, tents, bullet-proof inserts, and tactical vests.
August 15th, 2008 at 8:01 pm