And, so, the McCain campaign stumbles on. I mean, shouldn't they check this stuff out before trotting out false talking points? This post sums up nicely all the foreign policy gaffes John McCain has made so far. Now we've got a new one: troop levels in Iraq. Today, John McCain asserted the following:
In comments to reporters on Thursday, McCain asserted that "I can tell you that it is succeeding. I can look you in the eye and tell you it's succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels. Basra, Mosul and now Sadr city are quiet and it's long and it's hard and it's tough and there will be setbacks."
D'oh! Wrong again, John.
The Washington Post blog is forced to fact check McCain:
In fact, as the Obama campaign was quick to point out, the troop level in Iraq is at about 155,000 right now, well above the 130,000 that would mark a return to pre-surge levels. The goal, according to a transcript of a news briefing with Joint Staff director for operations Lt. Gen. Carter Ham at the end of February, is to reduce troop levels to 140,000 -- still above the pre-surge levels.
I can't believe Obama now has to deal with another candidate with questionable math abilities! In order to press the case, the Obama campaign trotted out surrogate John Kerry -- who has an uncanny ability to ruffle his old friend's feathers and even illicit a bit of an angry response when Kerry's name comes up -- to smack McCain down in an Obama campaign conference call:
Kerry: McCain "out of step with history and facts"
Criticized by McCain for not going to Iraq, Obama's camp holds a conference call this morning listing McCain misstatements on Iraq, and focusing on the McCain's claim in a McCain fundraising email yesterday that troop levels are down to those before the surge.
...
John Kerry listed past McCain mistakes on Iraq, including confusing Sunni and Shiite.
"John McCain is out of step with history and facts," he said, saying McCain's mistakes raise "serious questions about his comprehension of this challenge."
Ouch. USA Today has the audio, characterizing the exchange as "skewering an old friend".
But wait -- it gets funnier. John McCain's campaign responded in what is now their typical arrogant, condescending, mean spirited tone, while still not addressing the fact that he misstated that we are down to pre-surge troop levels:
"Clearly John Kerry and Barack Obama have very little understanding of troop levels, but considering Barack Obama hasn't been to Iraq in 873 days and has never had a one on one meeting with Gen. Petraeus, it isn't a surprise to anyone that he demonstrates weak leadership.
"What informed people understand, John McCain included, is that American troops are not even close to surge levels. Three of the five Army 'surge' brigades have been withdrawn and additional Marines that were initially deployed for the 'surge' have come home as well –- the remaining two brigades will be home in July.
"Talk about a political stunt, it's sending out campaign surrogates to parse words about a topic Barack Obama has no experience with, and has shown zero interest in learning about."
Translation of what John McCain is really thinking: I attended the Dog and Pony Show in Iraq more than you did, and General Petraeus is my bestest friend unlike you, Barack. So na na na na. (Damn that John Kerry to HELL! Can't he go away with his pesky facts?!?)
The Obama campaign came back with the obvious:
The Obama campaign -- spokesman Tommy Vietor specifically -- is saying that Bounds' statement doesn't address whether McCain was wrong or not yesterday.
Now, another conference call with McCain has just finished and they're acting like it was a grammatical error, which still does not take into account that even when they draw down more troops (if they do it), it still only gets us to 140,000, still above pre-surge troop levels!! The audio is found on the same USA Today link of a very whiny sounding Randy Scheunemann, McCain's national security advisor, who get this one: says Obama is gaffe prone, too, and talked about a "nonexistent uncle that helped the Red Army liberated Auschwitz". Oh, these people are bloody hell toast. Indefensible! And ... still dead wrong about Iraq being back to pre-surge troop levels, we must remember.
Update with video (thank you Manahmanah):