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.
But then again, it’s not actually about experience or knowledge, as you know, it’s about the image of having any…
And so it goes…
UPDATE: Think Progress has more, including audio of McCain making the same misstatement on right-wing Hugh Hewitt’s radio show earlier. So it wasn’t an accidental “gaffe”. It was a fundamental misunderstanding — by the man regarded by the mainstream corporate media as having the most foreign policy expertise among all of the major American Presidential candidates — of a key issue at the very heart of one ongoing war in Iraq, and at the very heart of a possible second one in Iran.
WOW and folks actually think Mcinsane is credible? With this gaff which is on tape, he is totally screwed. Mr. Foreign Policy has not a clue It will be hard to spin this one considering this is not the first time he’s made that same incorrect statement. In trying to gin up the Al Qeada fear mongering he has in one fateful trip destroyed his chances. HOW SWEET IT IS!!!! Pound this idiot down into the fecal matter in letters to the editor and blog posts.
Best thing I’ve heard in days (other than Obamas speech).
With all the states with secret software “counting” their votes in secret already painted red Clueless John will surely replace King George THEE Clueless as our next Dictator. He will be the one answering that 3AM call no matter what nonsense comes out of the mouth of the “straight talk express”. That you can very safely bet your last dime on! Our “liberal media” will not have it any other way. 😉
I have a new theme song for the McLieCain party:
Now we know why McCain wants Hey Joe with him … so he can lie a little bit better.
Don’t they know the people are on to them?
And that we are also on to the MSM, polls show, because they rate less than used car salesmen.
I think this may be more a matter of McCain not being swift enough to keep the official government lies straight about “al Qaeda” and who is supposed to be doing what to whom. However, McCain seems not to know his rear end from a hole in the ground either.
Maybe McCain indeed is overestimated when it comes to his international experience. Didn’t he also talked about President Putin of Germany? One can doubt if we want a man to be president of the United States, when he can’t even remember the difference between the female German chancellor Merkel and the male president of Russia.
However, I do support McCain in taking a more progressive stance on certain issues, uncommon to most members of the Republican party. An example is his rejection of the use of Waterboarding as an interrogation technique. I found multiple issues on which I can agree with McCain on a website called electoralcompass.com. It helps you to futher analyse the positions of all the candidates, including the ones that already dropped out, e.g. Romney and Edwards. I think it is a very interesting tool, especially for the undecided voters. Surprisingly enough, I was closest to Obama. But I think you should all check it out, since maybe it can help you in determining your actual political position. Here’s the link: http://www.electoralcompass.com
“Quincy MaGoo 08” . . . . . Vision for a new century . . .
Hmmm… Now hoely joe is makin’ glue with Mr MaGoo . . .