Wallace Refuses To Believe McCain Ever Questioned Whether Surge Would Succeed
Wallace Refuses To Believe McCain Ever Questioned Whether Surge Would Succeed
This morning on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace challenged Obama campaign manager David Axelrod’s assertion that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) did not expect the surge to reduce violence in Iraq so significantly. Wallace asked, ‘Where did John McCain ever say the troop surge — “I’m going to support it but I don’t know that it’s going to really work?’”
WALLACE: How can you say that it reduced violence beyond what anybody expected? It reduced violence beyond what John McCain expected?
AXELROD: I believe it did. I think if you ask any of the military people involved and they answered honestly they would say, “We did not know.”
WALLACE: Where did John McCain ever say the troop surge — “I’m going to support it but I don’t know that it’s going to really work?”
Watch it:
In fact, on several occasions, McCain expressed his support for the surge while suggesting that he didn’t know if it was “going to really work.” McCain doubted the surge was large enough to significantly alter the status quo in Iraq. As the surge got underway, he argued:
– The surge is not large enough to make a difference. In January 2007, McCain said on NBC’s Meet the Press, “I am concerned about it, whether it is sufficient numbers or not. I would have liked to have seen more. … But do I believe that if it had been up to me would there have been more? Yes.”
– Maliki is not strong enough to bring about political reconciliation. In February 2007, McCain said on the floor of the U.S. Senate, “I am very nervous about this new strategy. I am very doubtful that we have enough troops. I don’t know if the Maliki government will be strong enough.”
Transcript:
AXELROD: Well first of all, you want to talk about a matter of being profoundly wrong in judgment, it was the judgment to go into Iraq in the first place instead of going after Osama Bin Laden who is resurgent today, but lets leave that aside for a second. What Sen. Obama has said is that he believes that the surge reduced violence beyond what he and anybody expected. What it hasn’t done is created the political reconciliation between the parties in Iraq that you need for a stable — it hasn’t forced — hold on Chris –
WALLACE: Let me just pick up on that — How can you say that it reduced violence beyond what anybody expected? It reduced violence beyond what John McCain expected?
AXELROD: I believe it did. I think if you ask any of the military people involved and they answered honestly they would say, “we did not know.” And they got — the troops did a magnificent job and Gen. Petraeus deserved credit, but there was serendipity involved as well in the Sunni awakening and the decisions of the Mahdi Army to lay down their arms.
WALLACE: Where did John McCain ever say the troop surge — “I’m going to support it but I don’t know that it’s going to really work?”
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This must be a Chris Wallace kind of day.
¶ AIO
September 7th, 2008 at 12:40 pmSo much for Wallace’s moment of journalistic lucidity this morning…
September 7th, 2008 at 12:42 pmI don’t think McCain can remember from one day to the next what his position was on the surge, abortion, energy, or any other issue.
John McCain – NOPE!
September 7th, 2008 at 12:44 pmchris is off the reservation.
why?
*
September 7th, 2008 at 12:46 pmThe Sarah Palin Selection: Why McCain’s Inexperienced Running Mate Falls Short of Meeting the Implicit Constitutional Qualifications For Vice Presidents
Consider this parallel: Does anyone believe that if John McCain were president and had selected Governor Sarah Palin under the Twenty-fifty Amendment to fill a vacancy in the vice presidency, Congress would have confirmed her? Not likely. In fact, it is even less likely that McCain would have even attempted to do so, for he would have embarrassed himself.
While the Constitution does not expressly set forth qualifications for the vice-presidency, it strongly implies them — and Palin falls short.
When Nixon selected Ford to be his Vice President, and Ford selected Rockefeller, the government was divided, with the Democrats controlling Congress. Yet a Democratic Congress approved both Ford and Rockefeller to be Vice President based on inter-branch comity. Surely no one would argue that Sarah Palin is in a league with Ford and Rockefeller when it comes to experience.
Nor does Palin possess anything close to the experience qualifications of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, or the President pro tempore of the Senate, Robert Byrd. Indeed, I feel confident that Palin could not get confirmed for any of the top presidential succession posts, namely the posts of Secretary of State, Treasury and Defense. Palin’s lack of qualifications have been widely noted. Newspapers from her state have raised questions of her qualifications.
Recently, I was in Alaska, just after Palin’s name was first floated as a possible McCain running mate. Although I am not a Democrat, I gave a keynote speech at the Democrats’ state convention. During my visit, a senior Democratic Party official said to me that he sure hoped McCain would select Palin, because based on his observation of her record Alaska, he opined that, : “She’s screwing up Alaska big time, and she could probably assure defeat for McCain.” His wish may be coming true.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20080905.html
September 7th, 2008 at 12:47 pmWallace reverts to form. Whew, for a moment there, I thought he’d remain lucid all day. Yah, right~
September 7th, 2008 at 12:50 pmThis is how the game is played – challenge a campaign aide that does not speak for VP nominee paulin and then give the main candidate on the ticket a free pass on his lies.
Clearly, he is just setting himself up to play a “journalist” while he mouths the mccain lies.
This is how the bush administration works – overwhelm us with scandals, treason, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Feed the press a variety of lies – they can “catapult” the important ones and use the others to pretend to be impartial “journalists”.
In the end, the vast majority of the public get sick of the whole thing and tune out. Especially the faux news base – they become ready to passively accept whatever tune the “mighty wurlitzer” demands.
September 7th, 2008 at 1:00 pmChris needs to be asking what America plans to do “post successful surge”? Cheney met with corporate leaders from BP and Goldman Sachs during his last world war tour.
BP has Anglo-Iranian Oil in its history. That’s the company that induced President Eisenhower to tamper in Iran. The CIA helped overthrow Iran’s democratically elected President in 1953.
Goldman Sachs has the lion’s share of oil futures trading. C’mon media, start asking questions!
September 7th, 2008 at 1:02 pmI wish people would stop talking about this being about ignorance, stupidity, inability to remember, or even worse, “competence.”
Whatever mclame’s personal defects may be, he is an effective tool. It does not matter if he remembers or forgets. The people behind the neocon/repug agenda are laughing all the way to the bank.
What matters is that bush and now mccain are doing the dirty work for a criminal cabal that knows they need to stand behind the curtain to loot the federal treasury.
Please folks, they win when we reduce this to a dialog about personal competence.
September 7th, 2008 at 1:04 pmThe imperial war-mongering USA needs to get out of Afghanistan, Georgia, Iraq and Pakistan.
September 7th, 2008 at 1:05 pmThe surge only succeeded in reinstating the iron-fisted rule over the Iraqi people Saddam Husein was demonized for.
September 7th, 2008 at 1:06 pmWhere did John McCain ever say the troop surge — “I’m going to support it but I don’t know that it’s going to really work?”
Even to the average Faux viewers this statement has to be… weird. Where are you going with this Wallace?
September 7th, 2008 at 1:09 pmEveryone conveniently forgets that it was bush & rummy who prosecuted this war without sufficient troops.
Democrats had been calling for increased troop levels way before mcbullfrog ever opened his mouth.
mccain is the ultimate plagerizer:
Takes credit for claiming more troops would help after the democrats flew it.
stole music that he doesn’t even vet the lyrics to from legitimate musicians, illegally.
Now he has his finger to the wind and has stolen Obama’s Change theme…..who will that fool?
September 7th, 2008 at 1:19 pmYEAH! Brett Favre just hit a 56+ yard TD pass – perfect strike, in the air for 45+ yards!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO BRETT – let’s show the packers up for the fools they are. THEY HAD TO HIRE ARI FLEISCHER TO LIE AND HELP COVER UP THEIR DISHONEST TACTICS
yeah…. I know, off-topic…
September 7th, 2008 at 1:20 pmThe surge only succeeded in reinstating the iron-fisted rule over the Iraqi people Saddam Husein was demonized for.
The surge also allowed the military-industrial complex to continue to loot even more of the federal treasury – much of it totally unaccounted for.
Isn’t that really what this is all about?
September 7th, 2008 at 1:23 pmThis campaign is less about facts than it is about issues!
John McCain, sitting with an interviewer, confronted with video evidence of something he’s said has boldly insisted he hadn’t said it.
Imagine a Jedi, a cross between OB 1 and Yoda (looks wise), with the skill set of Young Master Luke and Darth Vader – the force is too powerful for a mere interviewer of Chris Wallace’s stature to defend against.
Now, with the fourth estate under mind control, you get 8 years of Bush and seemingly another 8 with John Bush.
September 7th, 2008 at 1:25 pmoh – (comment #14, re: packers) in case anyone has forgotten, ari was the lying liar that catapulted the bush administration’s propaganda about WMD and outing Valerie Plame.
September 7th, 2008 at 1:31 pmAnother Joe Says:
——————————————————————————–
YEAH! Brett Favre just hit a 56+ yard TD pass – perfect strike, in the air for 45+ yards!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO BRETT – let’s show the packers up for the fools they are. THEY HAD TO HIRE ARI FLEISCHER TO LIE AND HELP COVER UP THEIR DISHONEST TACTICS
yeah…. I know, off-topic…
Man, what a thing of beauty! While it is incongruous beyond belief to see Favre not in in Green and Gold, the man never fails to entertain.
Jeez…I dunno if I can be a Jets fan. GO STEELERS!
September 7th, 2008 at 1:36 pmKeltoi – I agree and I liked the ol’ “iron curtain” gang and the great superbowl teams too.
The packers were 1 game from superbowl, lost to NFL champs in overtime, and they did not want the NFL’s all-time leading quarterback back.
They lied about him using a team phone to talk to vikings – an egotistical bunch of morons up there.
It is easy for me to root for the jets.
September 7th, 2008 at 1:51 pmMcCain is putting way too much stock in his support of “the surge”. The logic implies that if only at any point in the 5 years since March 2003 we had elevated the troop numbers by 30,000, the violence would have drastically reduced almost immediately as a result, and that anyone who had doubts about the prospects of the surge succeeding going in, after 5 years of incompetent decisions by the Bush admin that had resulted in chaos, death, mayhem, and squandered resources, was somehow foolish to do so.
September 7th, 2008 at 2:09 pmMcCain’s wallowing in the relative success of the surge and his premature talk of “victory” strikes me as child-like and indicative of a dangerous lack of character and judgement.
Was McCain AWOL on the war initially?
Listening to McCain, the only Iraq war is the part he calls the “SURGE”. There is no Operation Iraqi liberation (OIL). No Shock and AWE. Just a surge for McCain.
Yet vaguely I remember congressional hearings with Generals that were fired for responding to the question(s) put to them by Congress that, “they needed 400,000 to 500,000 troops to war with Iraq. Wasn’t this just before the war?
McCain didn’t seem interested in supporting the Generals assessment of what was required. President Bush fired the generals that requested those troop levels for initial invasion and then Occupation.
Bush & Cheney most definately did not support those troop numbers provided by the Generals. McCain?
Rummy wasn’t suppoting those numbers. As a casual accountant, Rummy was working magic cost saving numbers on his cost saving life risking calculator.
So this must have been one of the 90% of the times that McCain was with Bush and the Troops came in second. Not first as John speaks of now.
Where was Sen John McCain’s support of the (original surge) Generals personnel requirement assessment needed to initiate and follow through the war? Before it even began? Was Rumsfeld to strong for McCain to fight and place America first?
September 7th, 2008 at 2:13 pmRobt Says:
____________
While we’re at it, let’s toss out a few more salient points here…
What about the enormous number of Blackwater-type “security contractors” BotchCo flooded the country w/? They SOOOOOO like to brag about the success of the surge while ignoring the fact that they’ve also had an estimated 150,000 plus hired guns running amok just under the radar the whole time, answering to no one but themselves.
And what about the estimated $30MM/month BotchCo is paying the Sunni militias to NOT attack US troops?
The Anbar Awakening was NOT a result of the surge…
September 7th, 2008 at 2:27 pmMaybe this should be forwarded to Wallace so he can apologize next week. Also maybe Axelrod should drop the “Hitler look”
September 7th, 2008 at 3:01 pmOops, spoke to soon. My bad.
September 7th, 2008 at 3:12 pmI said in an earlier thread, and I’ll stick with it, that I don’t think the Jebus/Palin/McSpin campaign will be able to avoid pissing-off enough of the “librul media” that someone worshiped by the Reichwingers will turn on them. If they are going to attack “the media” they will either have to take on specific “journalists” or risk angering a giant ego who’s just making a pretense of “balance”.
Palin, in particular, seems fated to stomp on the wrong foot.
OT:
If anyone is running a legal, accredited, pool on when the VP candidate blows it, assuming she hasn’t already? I will put no more than $1.00 on 10/31.
I’m not terribly superstitious but, if a soul-eating demon is going to jump out of someone’s chest? Halloween is as good a day as any. Or, she might just say that every mother in America is; “sending their children to Hell when they send them out to beg for Satan on Satan’s Unholy Day!!!”
September 7th, 2008 at 3:30 pmI caught that as well (the fact is McCain wasn’t quite so certain it would work as they believe), and was SERIOUSLY disappointed Axelrod didn’t challenge him on it.
September 7th, 2008 at 3:33 pmIn August, 2007 the Surge was looking like a failure. Then out of the blue al Sadr announced a ceasefire and in September, 2007 we had a dramatic drop in the number of American’s killed. Did McCain anticipate that al Sadr would announce a ceasefire? Show me where that is the case.
I do think that the military commanders were right to support the Sunni Awakening Council’s but that started a good 3 months before the Surge was even announced. We were seeing good results in Anbar well before August 2007 and rotated some of those troops into Baghdad.
And, yes, the extra troops did make a difference on the ground over time but what about the other element that was central to the Surge strategy which was the political reconciliation process. That remains stalled to this day. Without that the chances of backsliding are high, just as they have been in Afghanistan. Then what?
September 7th, 2008 at 10:37 pm