DNC: McCain Myth Buster: John McCain and Iraq

WASHINGTON, March 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was issued today by the Democratic National Committee:

John McCain often boasts on the campaign trail that "I know the situation inIraq." Yet again and again, McCain has gotten it wrong onIraq, just like the Bush Administration. [CNN Debate, 1/30/08]

Just this week, McCain made a series of major misstatements aboutIraq that revealed how little he understands of the situation on the ground. At a press conference on Tuesday, McCain said that it's "common knowledge...that al-Qaeda is going back intoIran and receiving training and are coming back intoIraq fromIran," even thoughIran is not helping al-Qaeda terrorists. Then today, the so-called foreign policy expert issued a similar statement linking al-Qaeda andIran, which his campaign advisers have falsely insisted is accurate. It's not surprising, then, that in 1991 when discussingIraq on CNN's Larry King Live McCain said "I'm not sure that if we did go in on the ground we could tell a Shiite from a Sunni, even from a Kurd." [The Trail blog, WashingtonPost.com, 3/18/08; Wall Street Journal, 3/19/08; CNN's Larry King Live, 4/23/1991]

After five years of war, how can the American people trust another president who can get the facts so wrong?

McCain GetsIraq Facts Wrong. "Sen. John McCain, traveling in theMiddle East to promote his foreign policy expertise, misidentified in remarks Tuesday which broad category of Iraqi extremists are allegedly receiving support fromIran. He said several times thatIran, a predominately Shiite country, was supplying the mostly Sunni militant group, al-Qaeda. In fact, officials have said they believeIran is helping Shiite extremists in Iraq....Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was 'common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back intoIran and receiving training and are coming back intoIraq fromIran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate...' 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." [The Trail blog, WashingtonPost.com, 3/18/08, http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/03/18/a_mccain_gaffe_in_jordan.html]

1991: McCain Says We Can't "Tell a Shiite From a Sunni." During an interview on CNN's Larry King Live, McCain said ""I'm not sure that if we did go in on the ground we could tell a Shiite from a Sunni, even from a Kurd." [CNN's Larry King Live, 4/23/1991]

After casting himself as a "Maverick" in 2000, the new John McCain is walking in lockstep with President Bush, pandering to the right wing of the Republican Party, and embracing the ideology he once denounced. On the campaign trail McCain has callously abandoned many of his previously held positions, even contradicted himself, in a blatant attempt to remake himself into a candidate Republicans can accept in 2008. So just who is the real John McCain? The Democratic National Committee will present a daily fact aimed at exposing the man behind the myth.

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org.

This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

SOURCE Democratic National Committee

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