Login HereDear press corps,
Please recognize that this is completely fucking wrong.
Kate Couric: Senator McCain, Senator Obama says, while the increased number of US troops contributed to increased security in Iraq, he also credits the Sunni awakening and the Shiite government going after militias. And says that there might have been improved security even without the surge. What's your response to that?
McCain: I don't know how you respond to something that is as-- such a false depiction of what actually happened. Colonel McFarlane [phonetic] was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening. I mean, that's just a matter of history. Thanks to General Petraeus, our leadership, and the sacrifice of brave young Americans. I mean, to deny that their sacrifice didn't make possible the success of the surge in Iraq, I think, does a great disservice to young men and women who are serving and have sacrificed.
The colonel in question is now a one-star general, and his name is Sean MacFarland. He was commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, based in Ramadi in 2006 and early 2007 and is a key figure in embracing the Anbar Awakening before it even had that name. Here he is explaining what was going on to Pam Hess, then of UPI, on September 29, 2006, at least two months before Bush decided upon the surge, and about three before he announced it to the public:
With respect to the violence between the Sunnis and the al Qaeda -- actually, I would disagree with the assessment that the al Qaeda have the upper hand. That was true earlier this year when some of the sheikhs began to step forward and some of the insurgent groups began to fight against al Qaeda. The insurgent groups, the nationalist groups, were pretty well beaten by al Qaeda.
This is a different phenomena that's going on right now. I think that it's not so much the insurgent groups that are fighting al Qaeda, it's the -- well, it used to be the fence-sitters, the tribal leaders, are stepping forward and cooperating with the Iraqi security forces against al Qaeda, and it's had a very different result. I think al Qaeda has been pushed up against the ropes by this, and now they're finding themselves trapped between the coalition and ISF on the one side, and the people on the other.
For McCain to say that the Anbar Awakening is the product of the surge is either a lie or professional malpractice for a presidential candidate who is staking his election on his allegedly superior Iraq judgment.
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John McCain is just proving once again that he has the stuff it takes to be a republican president in the mold of George Bush. He doesn’t tell any namby-pamby half-truths — he goes for the complete lie.
It’s not a bug. It’s a feature.
John McCain’s standard response now contains a subject, a verb, an object of the verb and the clause, “because the surge is working.”
Well, Mr. Ackerman, I was going to e-mail you a link to the website page where you could find the video for the Center for American Progress, the panel FISA: Safeguarding Both Security and Safety that I mentioned in the previous post. Unfortunately, when I looked under ATTACKERMAN, there was nothing but “Coming Soon”. Since I’ve had some problems sending links that are outside of firedoglake for a while now, I can only hope that you can cut and paste the link to get to where the video is posted:
http://www.c-span.org/search.aspx?For=Fisa
Who knows, maybe you can even figure out why neither of my attempts to provide a link seemed to work or ask the techs to contact me with what I’m doing wrong. They look like they work, but they just come back to a 404 error within FDL. Good luck and fill in your information, will ‘ya?!!
As to this new post, good points, but my personal opinion is that we shouldn’t be surprised by anything either the press or the loyal opposition says. Bush got rid of all of the top brass that didn’t agree with him about the surge or about the conduct of the war in either Iraq or Afghanistan or Admiral Fallon would still be there. Also IMHO, Petreaus should kiss his cushy job goodbye and consider retirement the instant Obama becomes President-elect.
And Keith Olbermann did not credit your scoop WHY?
Politicians put their foot in their mouth on a regular basis. Gaffes happen. Sometimes it may be the result of long hours on the campaign trail, sometimes because they simply can’t keep their facts straight and sometimes because they can’t keep their lies straight. Sometimes it’s simply because they do not understand the facts.
The Couric interview gets even more interesting as McCain tries to distance himself from the numerous failed Iraq policies under the Bush administration:
“Couric: Sen. Obama also told me, Sen. McCain, that the money spent on those additional troops, on the surge, might have been more effective had it gone to Afghanistan or even to a better energy policy in the United States. What’s your response?
McCain: The fact is we had four years of failed policy. We were losing. We were losing the war in Iraq. The consequences of failure and defeat of the United States of America in the first major conflict since 9/11 would have had devastating impacts throughout the region and the world.”
You have to ask, why would you support a president responsible for four years of failure.
“no one has supported President Bush on Iraq more than I have.” [John McCain, 03/28/08)
“The fact is that I have agreed with President Bush far more than I have disagreed. And on the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, I’ve been totally in agreement and support of President Bush.” [John McCain, 06/19/05]
“I am proud of this president’s strategy in Iraq.” [John McCain, upon receiving endorsement from President Bush, 02/13/08]
Quotes are a living history of our thought processes, how well we think, what we think and when we think it. Even Carly can’t change that fact:
“To say that John McCain was aligned with President Bush on the prosecution of the war in Iraq is to change history.” [Carly Fiorina, McCain Campaign Advisor, 07/13/08]
Sorry to post this in two places here, but just want to get the word out.
I found the video of McCain’s interview with Couric on the abcnews.com website:
http://www.cbsnews.com/section.....d=4284432n
It looks like they cut his interview and Obama’s down to size. The full McCain interview is 14 minutes.
The question in question starts about 2:56 in.
I wasn’t able to save the video, so someone grab it if you have the tools to save flash.