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MCCAIN'S SCREWY CHRONOLOGY.
The other day, McCain told Katie Couric:
Colonel McFarland was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening. I mean, that's just a matter of history.The only problem is that it's not true. McFarland had left Iraq by the time the first of the surge's troops arrived. His contact with the Sunni sheiks was independent of, and in fact predated, the change in American military strategy. As a matter of history, McCain is wrong. Worse, he's wrong in a way that suggests a confused understanding of the relationship between the Anbar Awakening and the surge. The two, at best, reinforced each other. But there is no sense in which the surge was causal for the Sunni rebellion against al Qaeda. McCain, who is running a campaign based off his superior understanding of Iraq's internal dynamics which supposedly gives him a superior sense of the appropriate strategy, has convinced himself otherwise. That's a huge deal.
COMMENTS (6)
Wow, that is a huge deal -- got any links for documentation?
Posted by: Brian | July 23, 2008 11:30 AM
Should have clicked through -- Matt has 'em. Sorry.
Posted by: Brian | July 23, 2008 11:34 AM
And of course all the Corporate media types on cable news this morning are falling all over themselves to assure us that this is a "minor" mistake that anyone could make, and they know what "McCain really meant"...
You can be assured that if Obama had made this stupid error, they would be all over him like boils on Limbaugh's ass!
Posted by: Anonymous | July 23, 2008 12:02 PM
At least he knows what countries border Iraq. And what Balkin countries exist. And the dif between Shia and Sunni.
He wants eternal war. Therefore, he has cred!
Posted by: John McCain: More of the Same | July 23, 2008 12:42 PM
And wasn't it kind of CBS to protect him?
That sound you hear is Edward R. Murrow rolling over in his grave.
Posted by: Apphouse50 | July 23, 2008 12:47 PM
Obama has made plenty of gaffes for which the press has given him a pass. If this could be distilled down to a blurb-friendly sound bite, the press would be all over McCain for this, and giving him plenty harsher treatment than Obama would get for the identical misstep. The problem is, this is a complicated gaffe to illustrate and explain, and most of the mainstream media has a short attention span. If it requires more than two sentences to make the point, it's too much trouble. On to the next "news" story.
CBS isn't protecting McCain, they're watching the clock to see how much time they have left before they can get to the bar and start drinking, or go have a nice, long lunch hour.
Posted by: Kevin S. Willis | July 23, 2008 6:10 PM