The HUGE McCain Blunder No One Knows About....Yet

[kpete]

The HUGE McCain Blunder No One Knows About....Yet
by slinkerwink
Thu Jul 17, 2008 at 03:45:35 AM PDT

I was researching McCain's past position on the war in Afghanistan, and came across this very interesting Meet The Press transcript from October 21st, 2001. This transcript reveals a very intriguing blunder by John McCain that should be discussed in the press today.

He said that he thought the war in Afghanistan should be settled first before going to war with Iraq. This simply puts to lie his arguments on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. He used to think that it was important to have everything in Afghanistan settled first, Osama bin Laden caught, and the Taliban regime extinguished before going to war with Iraq. Senator Joe Lieberman also makes a cameo in this transcript.


Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman On Meet The Press, October 21st, 2001:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/attacked/transcripts/nbctext_102101.html

RUSSERT: Would you have any problem expanding President Bush's orders to the CIA to go after Osama bin Laden to include Saddam Hussein?

LIEBERMAN: Well, I leave that to the president. But as a matter of principle and morality, of course not.

RUSSERT: Senator McCain?

MCCAIN: I think Joe's right.

And I would just like to add one additional point. I believe that we will succeed. We will endure in Afghanistan. We will take out bin Laden, and we will take out the Taliban. And then we've got a major challenge of a stable government, but...

RUSSERT: How long will that take?

MCCAIN: I think the longer we give the impression that we're there for, the shorter it'll be. Because, as you quoted from articles earlier, they think they can outlast us. I don't think they can this time.

RUSSERT: Do you believe the American people will continue to stay with that campaign?

MCCAIN: Absolutely, and I think the president is doing a great job in leading America and making us aware of the challenge we face.

But I think the real crunch is going to come after Afghanistan is settled and then we have to address the other countries, including Iraq. That's where the coalition may not be so strong. That's where people like the Saudis and the French and many others may have real reservations.

And so, we're going to have to be steadfast. And again, the president will continue and, I think, very eloquently stated, countries that harbor these terrorist organizations will be held responsible, so it'll be their choice, not ours. It'll be their choice.

RUSSERT: But after Afghanistan, you'd have no problem going after Saddam Hussein?

more at:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/7/17/63046/6692/392/552866

[hobbit709]

1. The pukes never let facts get in the way of their delusions.

[Alter Ego]

2. The sick thing about that is it's not even a blunder--it's a moment of clarity.

But the Republicans are so used to their candidate toeing the party line and saying exactly what they want him to hear that this would incense them.

[slinkerwink]

3. thanks for reposting it here! glad to see this go viral!

[2 Much Tribulation]

4. K&R, perhaps McCain should read my new sig line??

Or perhaps McCain fails to realize the vanity of trying to control the world, or even just the Middle East.

[formercia]

5. That's what they did.

The routed the Taliban, or so they thought, and before any of the coalition could have second thoughts, invaded Iraq. Meanwhile, the Taliban, having previously fought the Soviets, knew that to survive in guerrilla warfare, you don't take on a superior force on their terms. You retreat to a safe area, regroup, rearm, setup your lines of communication and hit the attacker on your terms. That's what they did. The same thing happened in Iraq and we're still there.

[slinkerwink]

7. and Osama bin Laden is still free

[nc4bo]

10. or in a deep freezer somewhere, waiting on a call to start the defrost cycle :S nt

[formercia]

11. ..and we still have the perennial bogey man for the sheeple

to fixate on. Meanwhile, the looting goes on.

[NashVegas]

6. What It Reveals Is How the American People Were Repeatedly Lied To

By anyone who claimed the Iraq War wasn't a done deal prior to Winter 2002/2003.

[slinkerwink]

8. Exactly.

[SwampG8r]

9. and pretty much is a promise

we are being lied to now as they push for Iran
Iran has a standing million man army and will not be pushed around easily

the importance of this election becomes clear as crystal as we near the end of bush2

[Douglas Carpenter]

12. Kick and recommended -- very important !!!!!

[Tesla]

13. ditto!

K&R!

[World Citizen]

14. there is some confusion...

as Biden mentioned the other day, about defining the enemy. How can you even stategize, let alone win, if you can even define the enemy?

Yet this mcSame guy knows how to win wars.

[Historic NY]

15. 9/11 is coming up again I hope the so called liberal media picks it up.

These bastards shouldn't get a pass for all the innocent blood shed for their intrigues. The deliberately drew down in Afghanistan to bolster troops in Iraq. Two jobs unfinished and the other is starting to cost more lives again.

[Kaleko]

16. McCain continues to speak out of both sides of his mouth -

and then he has the temerity to contradict himself again. Publicly, on TV!!

Really, we shouldn't make fun of people with obvious signs of bipolar disorder, but in this case an exception needs to be made.

[Nederland]

17. I'm not reading it that way

Where does he say that we should settle Afghanistan first, then Iraq? What he says is this:

But I think the real crunch is going to come after Afghanistan is settled and then we have to address the other countries, including Iraq.

That is not a statement of what he thinks should happen, it is a statement about what he believes will happen. If asked about this McCain will just point out that he has a long record of criticizing the amount of troops that the administration sent to do the job and the fact that he long advocated increasing our standing army size to address the shortfall.

[Nederland]

22. On 2nd reading I'm even more sure

Read the first part carefully:

RUSSERT: Would you have any problem expanding President Bush's orders to the CIA to go after Osama bin Laden to include Saddam Hussein?

LIEBERMAN: Well, I leave that to the president. But as a matter of principle and morality, of course not.

RUSSERT: Senator McCain?

MCCAIN: I think Joe's right.


Russert asks Lieberman if he would have a problem expanding the orders to include Saddam, Lieberman says no, and McCain agrees. There is no way to construe that as McCain believing we should wait.

[polmaven]

27. Thank you, Nederland!

I was beginning to think it was only me!

My interpretation is that Lieberman and McCain would have no problem including Saddam Hussein in the CIA orders. I completely agree with you that that cannot be construed as either Lieberman or McCain saying we should wait.

[whistle]

18. McCain and Lieberman both went along to get along with BushCo

...and did not even give a rat's ass of the long term consequences of these actions. The blunder was going against what they knew at the time to be the correct action, and they both did it specifically for political gains

[NattPang]

19. So we have a flip flop flip then?

1. Afghanistan first then Iraq
2. and only Iraq
3. Iraq and Afghanistan

[pleah]

20. K&R We do now!

[ray of light]

21. Remember?? Just a few weeks ago, people were making a ruckus when Kerry said McCain changed.

[wishlist]

23. But the media is determined to convince us Obama has changed positions n/t

[wurzel]

24. Wait till the liberal media get a hold of this!

[Maestro]

25. If confronted he'll stammer and stutter and

say that...'er, uh, what I clearly meant was that, but things changed when credible evidence surfaced, er, Colin Powell showed us that, yes. Did I answer the question?'

[davidsharon]

26. McCain flip flops an average of twice per day

Ok maybe I'm exaggerating, but the man seems to be in need of a fact-checker badly!

[Broadslidin]

28. Some scripted mediocre Meet the Press moderator might mention this to 'ol Oily McCain

:nuke: :hide: :nuke:

[dccrossman]

29. Then you have his modified position in 2003

From thinkprogress & Job Soltz:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/17/mccain-03-afghanistan/

He basically followed the neocons along as the position shifted.

[agentS]

32. I guess that basically makes him

McBush after all.

[ekwhite]

30. That was not a blunder

Other than entertaining the idea of going after Saddam Hussein at all. We should have focused on capturing Osama Bin Laden and rebuilding Afghanistan - the whole world would have been better off. Instead, we are stuck in a seemingly endless insurgency in Iraq, and are threatening war with Iran. The mistake was changing from his original position.

[KG]

31. furthur proof maccain is a flat out lunatic. and that lieberman is a spineless bootlicker.