Published:

RNC: The U.S., Iraq, and 100 Years

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being issued by the Republican National Committee. It was written by Zachary Roth and is from Columbia Journalism Review.

Ever since John McCain said at a town hall meeting in January that he could see U.S. troops staying inIraq for a hundred years, the Democrats have been trying to use the quote to paint the Arizona senator as a dangerous warmonger. ...

But in doing so, Obama is seriously misleading voters -- if not outright lying to them -- about exactly what McCain said. ...

Here's McCain's full quote, in context, from back in January:

Questioner: President Bush has talked about our staying inIraq for fifty years...

McCain: Maybe a hundred. Make it one hundred. We've been inSouth Korea, we've been inJapan for sixty years. We've been inSouth Korea for fifty years or so. That'd be fine with me as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed. Then it's fine with me. I would hope it would be fine with you if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where Al Qaeda is training, recruiting, equipping and motivating people every single day.

It's clear from this that McCain isn't saying he'd support continuing the war for one hundred years, only that it might be necessary to keep troops there that long. That's a very different thing. ...

Nevertheless, back in February, Obama said: "We are bogged down in a war that John McCain now suggests might go on for another hundred years." ...

Today, for instance, he said: "We can't afford to stay inIraq, like John McCain said, for another hundred years." ... In other words, he's gone from lying about what McCain said to being deeply misleading about it. Progress, of a kind. ...

To be clear, if Obama wants to take issue with McCain's willingness to keep U.S. troops inIraq for a hundred years in any capacity, that's obviously his right. But that's not the same as misleading voters about what McCain is proposing ...

To View The Entire Article, Please Visit: http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/the_us_iraq_and_100_years.php?page=all

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SOURCE Republican National Committee

Tags: ,ARO,CPN,POL,FOR,RNC-McCain-on-Iraq

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