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McCain Misspeaks on Iran, Al Qaeda

speardog1

By speardog1
in The Tailgate

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speardog1

speardog1

Posted
Posted

McCain Mistakenly Says Iran Allowing Al Qaeda Fighters Into Country, Later Corrects Error

AMMAN, Jordan — Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting, mistakenly said Tuesday that Iran was allowing Al Qaeda fighters into the country to be trained and returned to Iraq.

McCain, expressing concern about Iran’s rising sway in the Mideast, said, “Al Qaeda is going back into Iran and is receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran.” He made the comments Tuesday at a news conference in Jordan; he made similar comments earlier to radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/03/19/mccain-mistakenly-says-iran-allowing-al-qaeda-fighters-into-country-later-corrects-error/

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/mccain-misspeaks-on-iran-al-qaeda/

Misspeaks on Iran, Al Qaeda

By Michael Cooper

JERUSALEM — Senator John McCain’s trip overseas was supposed to highlight his foreign policy acumen, and his supporters hoped that it would showcase him as a statesman, allowing him to meet with world leaders as the Democrats squabble.

But all did not go according to plan on Tuesday in Amman, Jordan, when Mr. McCain, fresh from a visit to Iraq, misidentified some of the key players in the Iraq war.

Mr. McCain said several times during his visit to Jordan – during a news conference and a radio interview — that he was concerned that Iran was training members of Al Qaeda in Iraq. The United States believes that Iran, a Shiite country, has been training and financing Shiite extremists in Iraq, but not Al Qaeda, which is a Sunni insurgent group.

“We continue to be concerned about Iranian taking Al Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back,’’ Mr. McCain said at the news conference. Asked about that statement, Mr. McCain said: “Well, it’s 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.”

It was not until he got a whispered correction from Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, who was traveling with Mr. McCain on the trip, which is a Congressional delegation, that Mr. McCain corrected himself.

“I’m sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not Al Qaeda,” he said.

Mr. McCain has based his campaign in large part on his assertion that he is the best prepared candidate to deal with Iraq, and the Democrats wasted little time in jumping on his misstatement to question his knowledge and judgment.

“After eight years of the Bush Administration’s incompetence in Iraq, McCain’s comments don’t give the American people a reason to believe that he can be trusted to offer a clear way forward,” Karen Finney, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement. “Not only is Senator McCain wrong on Iraq once again, but he showed he either doesn’t understand the challenges facing Iraq and the region or is willing to ignore the facts on the ground.”

Mr. McCain made similar comments about Iran training Al Qaeda on Monday in an interview with the Hugh Hewitt Show, a radio program he called into from Amman. “As you know, there are Al Qaeda operatives that are taken back into Iran, given training as leaders, and they’re moving back into Iraq,’’ he said, according to a transcript posted on the show’s Web site.

Mr. McCain traveled to Iraq as part of a fact-finding mission with a Congressional delegation, went from there to Jordan, and then here to Israel, where Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum, and met with President Shimon Peres of Israel.

Noting that Mr. McCain, and Arizona Republican, had been hopping all over the Middle East, Mr. Peres told him: “I really admire your courage and stamina.’’

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twa

twa

Posted
Posted

While he did misspeak,Iran HAS and does work with Al Queda

Don't believe me?...ask Clinton ;)

The Clinton administration recognized the relationship between al Qaeda, Iran, and Iran’s terrorist proxy, Hezbollah. Here is, in part, what the Clinton administration charged in its indictment of al Qaeda following the August 1998 embassy bombings: "USAMA BIN LADEN, the defendant, and al Qaeda also forged alliances with the National Islamic Front in the Sudan and with representatives of the government of Iran, and its associated terrorist group Hizballah, for the purpose of working together against their perceived common enemies in the West, particularly the United States."

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/03/mccain_was_right_iran_works_wi.asp

Or the 9/11 commission

• The 9-11 Commission found extensive evidence of collaboration between Iran and al Qaeda. For example, the Commission concluded (p. 61): "The relationship between al Qaeda and Iran demonstrated that Sunni-Shia divisions did not necessarily pose an insurmountable barrier to cooperation in terrorist operations."

Or you could simply keep up with the news in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Ax

Ax

Posted
Posted
While he did misspeak,Iran HAS and does work with Al Queda

Don't believe me?...ask Clinton ;)

The Clinton administration recognized the relationship between al Qaeda, Iran, and Iran’s terrorist proxy, Hezbollah. Here is, in part, what the Clinton administration charged in its indictment of al Qaeda following the August 1998 embassy bombings: "USAMA BIN LADEN, the defendant, and al Qaeda also forged alliances with the National Islamic Front in the Sudan and with representatives of the government of Iran, and its associated terrorist group Hizballah, for the purpose of working together against their perceived common enemies in the West, particularly the United States."

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/03/mccain_was_right_iran_works_wi.asp

Or the 9/11 commission

• The 9-11 Commission found extensive evidence of collaboration between Iran and al Qaeda. For example, the Commission concluded (p. 61): "The relationship between al Qaeda and Iran demonstrated that Sunni-Shia divisions did not necessarily pose an insurmountable barrier to cooperation in terrorist operations."

Or you could simply keep up with the news in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Quoted for those who apparently missed it the first time.

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SkinsGuy

SkinsGuy

Posted
Posted

Just b/c one is sunni (Al Queda) and one is shia (Iran) doesn't mean they won't work together in some way. They may not like each other, but 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend', and all that. :)

There are some analysts who believe the AQ leadership is hiding in the mountains of Iran, not Pakistan/Afghanistan.

We know there are AQ elements in Iraq. It would be NO surprise if they are getting funding/training from Iran or that Iran is letting AQ do their dirty work for them.

This just sounds like more liberal nonsense still (after 5 years) trying to deny an AQ presence in Iraq (and thus still trying to claim there was no reason for the war). :doh:

And the always even-handed NY Times obliging them. :laugh: :doh:

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Veretax

Veretax

Posted
Posted

So tell me, whats the difference between Al Qaeda and the islamic extremists that we are fighting in Iraq? Tick Tock.... Answer, it doesn't matter. Al Qaeda is still operating in Iraq btw, though the last report I read made it sound like they were not having as much luck finding folks to do their bidding.

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Burgold

Burgold

Posted
Posted

It's worse than a slip of the tongue, especially if he repeated the mistake several times until forcibly corrected. If McCain's major credential is as a war President and a tough on terrorism President, then he needs to be on top of who all the players are and who all the groups are and who is backing whom. They're all the same to me makes for really bad diplomacy or policy.

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Mad Mike

Mad Mike

Posted
Posted
He had a slip of the tongue, no big deal nothing like Cheney who still thinks he can LIE ABOUT A LINK BETWEEN SADDAM AND BIN LADEN and the ignorant 25% of the American population believes him.

The latest Pentagon report:

When attacking Western interests, the competitive terror cartel came into play, particularly in the late 1990s. Captured documents reveal that the regime was willing to co-opt or support organizations it knew to be part of al Qaeda-as long as that organization's near-term goals supported Saddam's long term vision.

"We have learned of a group calling themselves The Army ofMuhammad... has threatened Kuwaiti authorities and plans to attack American and Western interests ...We need detailed information about this group, their activities, their objectives, and their most distinguished leaders. We need to know [to] whom they belong to and with whom they are connected. Give this subject your utmost attention.

Information available to us is that the group is under the wings of bin Laden. They receive their directions from Yemen. Their objectives are the same as bIll Laden..."

Captured Iraqi archives reveal that Saddam was training Arab fighters (non-Iraqi) in Iraqi training camps more than a decade prior to OPERATION DESERT STORM (1991). A Saddam memorandum directed the IIS to submit a list of foreign nationals who were trained in Iraq and carried out operations during the 1991 war against the United States. 33 In response, the IIS sent a list of one-hundred names of foreign national fighters, categorized by country.
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twa

twa

Posted
Posted
They're all the same to me makes for really bad diplomacy or policy.

I agree he needs to be plain in the distinctions...but ;)

Is there truly much difference between a AQ extremist and a Hezz one?

They seem to be working well together with the Palestinian ones in Gaza.

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Burgold

Burgold

Posted
Posted
I agree he needs to be plain in the distinctions...but ;)

Is there truly much difference between a AQ extremist and a Hezz one?

They seem to be working well together with the Palestinian ones in Gaza.

In results, no. In practical terms... yes. In military terms most definately.

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Mad Mike

Mad Mike

Posted
Posted
It's worse than a slip of the tongue, especially if he repeated the mistake several times until forcibly corrected. If McCain's major credential is as a war President and a tough on terrorism President, then he needs to be on top of who all the players are and who all the groups are and who is backing whom. They're all the same to me makes for really bad diplomacy or policy.

You're right. The only thing worse than McCain would be.... Obama. No worries there though. I'm sure Obama knows all of the words to Kumbaya. :laugh:

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Burgold

Burgold

Posted
Posted
You're right. The only thing worse than McCain would be.... Obama. No worries there though. I'm sure Obama knows all of the words to Kumbaya. :laugh:

Kumbaya... that sounds furren. Why would he be singing Kumbaya? Is Obama a furrener? Is he one of those sheep people? You know one of those Is-lambs or Moose-Lambs? ;)

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Mad Mike

Mad Mike

Posted
Posted
For those of you complaining about the New York times article, I added a little treat for you. A fox news article! what? Maybe it did happen then.....

Wait. I thought fox news was so biased they would never report anything bad about McCain. Those ****s! :laugh:

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Henry

Henry

Posted
Posted
I can see it now, this story will be all over the NY Times front page...the Obama pastor story should be buried

Something a candidate says should take precedent over something a candidate's friend says.

I'm voting for McCain because I think he's an exceptionally competent and knowledgeable leader. Foreign policy is the centerpiece of his platform. He really can't be getting the basics wrong in that arena.

One slip-up is no big deal, but it's something to keep an eye on. If this becomes a pattern with him ... that's something you can't ignore.

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