From the NYTimes, McCains statements and Obama's response:
His foreign trip was having reverberations back in the United States, where Senator Barack Obama seized on misstatements Mr. McCain made Tuesday in Amman, Jordan, when he said several times that Iran was training terrorists for Al Qaeda in Iraq. (Mr. McCain then corrected himself to say that Iran was training extremists, not Qaeda members.)
Mr. Obama, Democrat of Illinois, said: “We heard Senator McCain confuse Sunni and Shiite, Iran and Al Qaeda. Maybe that is why he voted to go to war with a country that had no Al Qaeda ties.”
Ok, this is fine, but a mistake like this from a Democratic candidtate would be followed by a brutal blow. Here's how to respond:
What's wrong with Obama's response is that it looks back too much to how we got into this whole mess instead of how we are going to get out of it, and who is going to get us out of it.
Some possible responses:
- Senator McCain, while visiting Iraq to get in-depth details on what was going on in Iraq, today exhibited that even by visiting Iraq, he did not have a handle on what was going on. He decried Iran's support for Sunni militias, Al Queda, when actually they support Shia militias. I think that it is important to elect a President that really knows what is going on in Iraq.
- Senator McCain, on a visit to access the Iraq situation, today stated that Iran was training Al Queda in Iraq. Luckily, he had a Democrat, Senator Joseph Libermann to whisper in his ear and correct him. Liberman informed McCain that Iraq was supporting Shia militias, enemies of Al Queda, not Al Queda. Now, I'm glad that Senator McCain has a Democratic Senator to set him straight--if I was there, even though I'm a Democrat, I would have laid out the land for him also. But I think it's important to elect someone who's not flying by the seat of his pants in regard to the situation in Iraq.
- Today, Senator McCain showed that he's flying by the seat of his pants in regard to what's going on in Iraq. It took a Democratic Senator, Senator Liebermann, to inform him that Iran is not supporting Al Queda, as he stated, but their opposition, the Shia. The fact that McCain could not grasp this simple fact when on a photo-op tour in Iraq, says that Senator McCain is more interested in pretty pictures of himself in Iraq rather than actually understanding and dealing with the problem.
- (Not included in Survey) Statesman put-down: On the fifth anniversary of our war against Iraq, Senator McCain has marked the occasion by reminding us that he still does not know what is going on. In a revealing statement by someone running for President, Senator McCain stated that Iran is arming Al Queda, although it is a known fact that Iran is a sworn enemy to the Sunni Al Queda. Fortunately, Senator McCain was corrected by the Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman, who informed him of the actual fighting alliances in Iraq's civil war. It is time that this country's sacrifice in Iraq is taken more seriously by politicians, and if they want to be lead this country, they should know what's going on in Iraq rather than having to have a Democratic Senator whisper it into their ear.