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If we had an electorate that had a clue, this could be a big deal.
I'll be charitable and assume McCain simply mis-labeled them...and that he actually does know the difference between Shia and Sunni, al-Qaeda and Iran.
Perhaps it's the Bush Administration's penchant for labeling all insurgents in Iraq "Al-Qaeda" that crept into his speech patterns.
A McCain gaffe in Jordan
By Cameron W. Barr and Michael D. Shear
AMMAN, Jordan -- Sen. John McCain, traveling in the Middle East to promote his foreign policy expertise, misidentified in remarks Tuesday which broad category of Iraqi extremists are allegedly receiving support from Iran.
He said several times that Iran, a predominately Shiite country, was supplying the mostly Sunni militant group, al-Qaeda. In fact, officials have said they believe Iran is helping Shiite extremists in Iraq.
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."
The mistake threatened to undermine McCain's argument that his decades of foreign policy experience make him the natural choice to lead a country at war with terrorists. In recent days, McCain has repeatedly said his intimate knowledge of foreign policy make him the best equipped to answer a phone ringing in the White House late at night.
McCain was in Jordan leading a week-long Congressional delegation and has stressed that the trip was not political, despite the decision to hold a fundraiser in London later this week.
But advisers said a side-benefit from the trip would be the image of McCain standing next to world leaders and showing his expertise on issues of war and terrorism.
The U.S. has long asserted that elements of the Iranian security forces have been training and supplying weapons to Iraq's Shiite militias. Iran is an overwhelmingly Shiite country whose government has applauded the emergence of a Shiite-led government in Iraq but has denied supporting Shiite militias inside Iraq.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq is a predominantly Sunni militant group which is blamed for deadly mass killings of Shiites, along with attacks on U.S. forces. Some extremist Sunni consider Shiites to be heretics and therefore legitimate targets of attack.
The schism between Islam's Sunni and Shiite sects grew out of a dispute over the leadership of the faithful following the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 AD.
Shear reported from Jerusalem
If we had an electorate that had a clue, this could be a big deal.
McCain is stupid and confused, even borderline senile, and can't think on his feet.
Where will his deteriorating brain be in 5 years after the pressure cooker of the WH?
Then there is the issue of his anger and hot-headendess. The er's got a short fuse.
And don't even mention his "vision thang", of which he has as much as either Poppy or dubya.
Last edited by boutons_; 03-18-2008 at 04:15 PM.
And if Obama or Clinton had made this gaffe, the right wing media would never let us hear the end of it.
Oh yeah.
al qaeda infinitum...these folks obviously never heard the one about the boy that cried wolf.
what's the point in knowing the difference between terrorist if we're going to surrender to them.
Well in this case, the so called objective nonbiased Washington Post media is never letting us hear about it.
The enemy of my enemy and all that...
Sometimes, I don't think you people understand that it's Islamofascism against us before it's Shi'ite against Sunni.
Those were pre-Iraq war collusions, it's 2008 and Iran's place in the ME has changed. They're more interested in turning Iraq into a Shi'ite ally nation, hence they're training and arming Shi'ite militia, not al-Qaeda.
Try to keep up.
Well, at least you admit that, at one time, Iran cooperated with al Qaeda. That's more than some on this board.
As far as is known, by us anyway, Iran hasn't recently been training al Qaeda terrorists, but if that's true, it is only because they haven't needed it, not because of some supposed inability of Sunni and Shia terrorists to cooperate in attacking the United States and its interests. The media who solemnly assure us Shia/Sunni collaboration is impossible, notwithstanding that it is a do ented fact, are the direct descendants of those who thought that fascists and communists were irreconcilable foes, only to be stunned by the Nazi-Soviet Pact. In fact, one group of thugs is very much like another, and thugs have never hesitated to find allies where they can, when it suits their interests.
Now if only I could get you to admit that al-Qaeda isn't the sum of all the problems in Iraq...
...aw, who am I kidding?
Sounds about right, I'd only add that Iran's previous co-operation with al-Qaeda was more about momentary convenience than some "thug-sympatico" shared among terrorists. They certainly don't need al-Qaeda right now.
Muqtada al Sadr isn't al Qaeda. But, alas, he is an Iranian proxy.
If they've done it once, they're certainly capable of doing it again.
How do you know that? And, maybe their cooperation isn't based on need but expediency.
then why is your govt. paying him?
Soon to be joined by the rest of the Shia dominated Iraqi Central Government.
red carpet no less
"it's Islamofascism against us before it's Shi'ite against Sunni."
It's from yoni, it's total bull from Repug/neo- s talking points.
The Iraqi Sunnis want to regain Saddam-like control over the oil and over the Shiites they had before dubya invaded and destablized and destroyed Iraq.
The Saudis and other Sunni countries have said they will intervene in Iraq if the Sunnis get screwed.
The Shiites are trying to exploit the opportunity to control oil that presented by dubya's removals of Sunnis from power.
The Iraqi Shiites may accept help from Shiite Iran until the Shiities get Iraq under their cotntrl, but they don't want Iran to run Iraq.
A transnational Islamofascist caliphate is a bull boogey man created by the neo- s to justify their pre-emptive imperialistic militarimsm. A unified caliphate is in direct conflict with the strong nationalism of the supposed particpating countries. The Muslims fight among themselves more than they fight against non-Muslim forces.
Like WMD, the Saddam-AQ link has total bull , as the recent US Army report confirmed.
If AQ was such a threat, dubya dropped the ball by starving his Afghan effort to feed the Iraq war. AQ and Taleban are still thriving in Afghanstan and FATAs.
No WMD, no AQ link, Iraq is all about the oil.
coming soon: Ayatollah Muqtada al Sadr. It'll be the Nightline 80's all over again.
You got me. I wasn't at that meeting.
If McCain is running on his supreme intelligence regarding the Middle East then I have to say he won't be getting my vote. the Middle East, we got our own ing problems here.
you've been absent, intellectually. Al-sadr will never take the back row. we're paying all factions to make nice. at some point we obviously requested that he stop giving US troops orders. did you forget that?
we are a 3 trillion dollar cork in the bottle.
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