McCain: Whoops
Posted: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 9:10 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Security
File this story in the "if Clinton or Obama had done this it would have been front-page news" file. The Washington Post reports, "John McCain, in the midst of a trip to the Middle East that he hoped would help burnish his foreign policy expertise, incorrectly asserted Tuesday that Iran is training and supplying al-Qaeda in Iraq, confusing the Sunni insurgent group with the Shiite extremists who U.S. officials believe are supported by their religious brethren in the neighboring country. The mistake, which he quickly corrected after a brief whisper from a colleague, was an unwelcome stumble as McCain."
“Democrats pointed out that McCain made the same assertion in a radio interview with talk show host Hugh Hewitt on Monday night, saying that ‘there are al-Qaeda operatives that are taken back into Iran, given training as leaders, and they're moving back into Iraq.’ In a statement, Democratic Party spokeswoman Karen Finney seized on the mistakes. ‘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,’ she said. ‘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.’”
“A spokesman for McCain's campaign accused the Democrats of launching unwarranted political attacks. ‘In a press conference today, John McCain misspoke and immediately corrected himself by stating that Iran is in fact supporting radical Islamic extremists in Iraq, not al Qaeda -- as the transcript shows,’ Brian Rogers said from McCain's Virginia headquarters. ‘Democrats have launched political attacks today because they know the American people have deep concerns about their candidates' judgment and readiness to lead as commander in chief.’”