McCain 'worries' that Iraq violence may help Dems
John McCain is worried about violence in Iraq, but not just for the obvious reason.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Friday he fears that al Qaeda or another extremist group might attempt spectacular attacks in Iraq to try to tilt the U.S. election against him.
McCain, at a town hall meeting in this Philadelphia suburb, was asked if he had concerns that anti-American militants in Iraq might ratchet up their activities in Iraq to try to increase casualties in September or October and tip the November election against him.
“Yes, I worry about it,” McCain said. “And I know they pay attention because of the intercepts we have of their communications.”
As Greg Sargent responded, “You know, I keep hearing from Republican pundits and operatives that the specter of terrorism inevitably bolsters the electoral prospects of Republicans. But here McCain says that Al Qaeda would amp up their attacks in Iraq to hurt him. Hard to keep track of this stuff sometimes.”
It is, indeed. I’d just add, however, that I suspect this is an effort to lay the groundwork for future campaign talking points.
McCain, I suspect, is not oblivious to current events, and is well aware that violence and casualty rates in Iraq are rising again. Having staked his claim to the presidency on the so-called “surge” policy, McCain’s already precarious political position gets worse as Iraq’s semblance of stability fades (along with the prospect of progress on political reconciliation).
So, McCain needs an insurance policy. If conditions on the ground in Iraq offer some optimism, he can tell voters, “See? I was right; all we need to do is stay the course and reap the rewards.” If conditions are deteriorating, he can tell voters, “See? I was right; our enemies are acting up to influence the U.S. elections. They’re afraid I’ll win and keep Bush’s policy going indefinitely, so they’re sending a message.”
Heads I win, tails you lose.
FOIST!
I truly despise politics.
I worry that Iraq violence may hurt Iraqi civilians or kill more American servicemen. I guess he and I worry about different things.
Just in time for the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion, presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain made an unannounced visit to Iraq. Unfortunately for him, this week's anniversary highlights that at almost every turn, John McCain has been disastrously wrong about Iraq.
For a catalog of McCain's erroneous statements, see:
"Forever Wrong: Five Years of John McCain on Iraq."
“Yes, I worry about it,” McCain said. “And I know they pay attention because of the intercepts we have of their communications.”
Is he talking about Al-Qaeda or democrats?
lol! worry? he should be shitting in his pants!
So Mc Lame, how's that surge of bullshit, lies, and deception working for you? Don't think the voters will be fooled again by it in November when you go down in flames.
Dale @ 5:
Both.
If he thinks it's true and really believes at election time there will be more violence because of his candidacy, then should he do the humane thing and drop out? Can we not hold him accountable for not doing what he can to prevent death and destruction?
Dale Says:
“Yes, I worry about it,” McCain said. “And I know they pay attention because of the intercepts we have of their communications.”
Is he talking about Al-Qaeda or democrats?
Quote This Comment
March 17th, 2008 at 11:21 AM - PDT
Dale, didnt you hear that the dems are working for al-cia-duh... fox noise told me.
Oh dear me, I better keep an eye out for Saddam's remote controlled model airplanes. Duct tape and plastic wrap is on sale at Kmart so let's all stock up for the latest terrorist attack.
Yawn.
Violence helps no one. Johnny, you'll say anything to win. You borrowed Hillary's playbook.
Unless the US economy completely collapses like a "third world nation", both parties will have Iraq and Afghanistan in their sites for a long time to come. No new prez is going to start closing US bases and bringin' home da troops, after all this cash being shifted there. No way.
its the same sick philosophy of fearmongering and media manipulation that has had the USA running right left and for cover for the last eight years and we are sick of it and it is DONE. let little madman boy keep spewing the same tired orwellian bullshit and you'll see a REAL mandate this november and i aint talkin no 1% fix.
If McCain is already so McScared of the McTerrorists...how can he be expected to face them down in a real McCrisis?
Left&Left @ 12:
9/11 helped Bush. I'm not saying he had anything to do with it.
Sorry - OT - but important.
Wall Street fears Bush Depression By Margareta Pagano, Business Editor
Excerpt:
Wall Street is bracing itself for another week of roller-coaster trading after more than $300 billion
was wiped off the US equity markets on Friday following the emergency funding package
1/5 of a trillion dollar welfare plan for the super-rich put together to rescue Bear Stearns.
One UK economist warned that the world is now close to a 1930s-like Great Depression,
while New York traders said they had never experienced such fear. The Fed's emergency
funding procedure was first used in the Depression and has rarely been used since.
A Goldman Sachs trader in New York said: 'Everyone is in a total state of shock, aghast at what
is happening. No one wants to talk, let alone deal; we're just standing by waiting. Everyone is
nervous about what is going to emerge when trading starts Monday morning.'"
These super-rich Wall Street bastards made billions in profit - where'd that money go?
Why are we bailing out the super-rich when gas costs $60 a tank?
http://www.bartcop.com/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/wall-street-fears-for-ne...
did i say "boy" i mean "Geezer" yeah, i'd say "let the old man howl".
Dale @ 9:
Neocons doing a humane thing? Since when do sociopaths care for others other than themselves and their personal enrichment?
I'd dearly love to hear the intercepted communiques where trrrrrrisssstsss ar talking about election '08, you know, like McCain claims to have heard...
It's not that I don't believe his comments that he's heard intercepted messages from our enemies hoping McCain will lose the election.
I'M NOT CALLING MCCAIN A LIAR.
not as far as I know.
However, I suspect those intercepted messages are a ssssssecret (shhhhhhhhhhhh!).
The man is over 70. It seems like over the age of 70 lots of folks "worry" a lot, Especially Old RePUGs. Should this guy be the new chimp in chief? I don't think so.
Judging by the last seven years of violence, I'd say the terrorists are quite happy with republicans.
Just intercepted: "There will be a fundraiser for Muslim al-Qaeda terrorist Obama in Falouja tonight. Free falafels!"
I am much more likely to be living in a tent in the not too far future if a republican is elected to be president than I am to be attacked by Al-Qaeda if a democrat is elected. I will take my chances with the democrats since living in a tent year round in Texas is not as much fun as it was when I was a kid. McCain, it's the economy, stupid.
bmw H. 528 @ 19:
Oh yeah.
This type of unsubstantiated, politicized bullshit must have been what Hillary meant when she touted McCain's vast foreign policy experience.
DumDumDumDum @ 17:
Next on the Food Channel...1,000 and 1 ways to feed your family on a dollar!
I know McCain is trying to amp up his tough guy image and play Democrats as allies of al qaeda, but couldn't this notion that the enemy will attack because of specific candidate backfire?
Straw-wiretapping argument.
Next on Fox - Fiscal Crisis - The End Result of the New Deal?
Next On CNN - Ben Bernanke - Fiscal Savior
Next on MSNBC - Stock Crash - How will your Hollywood Stars be effected?
Nice of McCain to give them the heads up that we can still intercept their communications. I don't suppose this would cause a rational terrorist to adjust his activity accordingly or put false information in subsequent communications.
Isn't that similar to the reason Bush gives for not giving the terrorists the skinny on interrogation practices?
No DUHit's the republicans war.
How many delegates do the terrorists have? Any superdelegates?
McCain will say or do anything if he thinks it will help his campaign. Just like going to Iraq for a bunch of photo ops. Imagine him getting that phone call at three in the morning. Do you really think he could wake up and clear his head fast enough? I'm doubting it.
Since the vast majority of people know that the dems will have the advantages going into the GE, if the terrorists DIDNT want a McCain presidency, they'd do nothing.
Liberal AND Proud @ 15:
Or these guys?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsR1D-uPanM
Ripley's Believe It or Not
McCain Working Overtime to Appear as Stupid as Bush
Left&Left @ 26:
Well ya see, that was another sign of her great political instincts. Inevitable, I tell ya, inevitable!
pissed off patricia @ 34:
Any call after 8:00 p.m. is likely to find McCain asleep.
So should we check with the terrorists before we cast our vote in November? Should someone call them or will they leave a message on an intercept?
bmw H. 528 @ 19:
So true. As I posted on another C&L Thread, the International Committee of the Red
Cross just finished their report on conditions in Iraq and have found that conditions
are, at present, the worst of ALL times as to the civilians/natives of that country not having clean drinking water, sanitary conditions and health care. This Red Cross report
is NOT receiving any attention/recognization at all by the MSM..as usual.
"Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Friday he fears that al Qaeda or another extremist group might attempt spectacular attacks in Iraq to try to tilt the U.S. election against him."
Someone should tell the terrorists that John Kerry is not running for president.
I see this as hedge betting, if there are more attacks and the media actually covers them, then he can blame the Democrat. If the the attacks stay the same and the media doesn't cover them like they haven't been, then he can talk about he was the one who supported the super duper successful surge. So we need to stay if they go up because that is where Al Qaeda is Iran is funding them. We need to stay if they stay the same because we are on the verge of winning. We need to stay if they go down because Iran is next. About 50% of the country is buying this shit.
DumDumDumDum @ 17:
NOOOOOW can march on DC with torches and pitchforks?
Filthy Harry @ 35:
They obviously prefer McCain to win. He's the one who'd fulfill bin Laden's goal of an endless war.
liberalHUSSEINmoderation @ 44:
Unfortunately no...we can't afford pitchforks and torces. I guess we'll have to use plastic forks and matches.
If you want to read a very good book about the Iraq war, read "Blackwater" by Jeremy Scahill. Not only does the book tell you a lot about the company, Blackwater, but it tells you so much more about the war. I have read just about every book written so far about this war and this is one of the best.
What violence? Mc100yearwar and the rest of the reich-wingers have claimed the war is over and that Iraq has returned to normal.
McSame needs to take a clue from Bush and play up how romantic wars can be. McCain needs to express how he would love to be younger so he too could enlist and fight for a country that doesn't comply with the Genevia Accords for prisoners of war.
How fitting would it be, to vote against making waterboarding illegal and then be subject to treatments he considers fair and reasonable for our POW's.
Elect McCain for president and replace "Irag" with the United States.
pissed off patricia @ 47:
What war?
Dr. Hussien Matt @ 48:
Yeah, remember bush-lite's speech and "Mission Accomplished" back in late 2003?
And here we are in 2008 and conditions for the native population of Iraq are worse
than when under Saddam H. Real success story huh?
If Muqtada al-Sadr decides to end his ceasefire, all bets are off on whether the surge is working.
I have a different catch-22 for McSplain:
If the surge is a success, that's good news because the job is getting done and our troops can START TO COME HOME.
If the surge is a failure, it's bad news but it means that we are never going to have the resources to do whatever the hell the "job" is, and it's time to start BRINGING THE TROOPS HOME.
Either way, the TROOPS NEED TO COME HOME.
That's funny. I'm worried about it because it means one more day of people's lives being snuffed out or irrevocably damned to sufferance beyond imagining, and one more day of feeling some metaphysical monster try ever harder to rip my very humanity from me.
I suppose some sniveling shitbag might just worry about his own precious grab for power.
This statement sounds like it came from A 70 year old coward who may have surrendered in viet nam and gave up as much highly classified info that he was trusted with.
It is moronic to think the al-queda in Iraq would want a a USA pull out. wouldn't they be better off to drag this so called war into the next 20 years.
If there was a pull out Al-Queda in Iraq would be expelled by the next dictator.
If the USA can not have a Democracy thaen how in the hell can Iraq?
Liberal AND Proud @ 46:
Ah dammit! And I spent ALL that time sharpenin my pitchfork...I even had it chromed...ah well
ConcernedHusseinCanuck @ 51:
I have been saying for a long time now that as long as we refer to Iraq as a war that puts into the minds of people that there must be a way to win. Wars can be won, but Iraq is an occupation, occupations can not be won, occupations can only be ended. As long as people believe that we are at war in Iraq, they will believe we can still win.
McCain will win the election (if there is an election) and Hillary will be his VP. Both will finish off the middle class and if McCain dies (which he probably will) Hillary will be more than happy to finish the job. Vote FRAUD is REAL!!!
Loonie @ 55:
This is a great example of how McCain does not think on his feet. He doesn't think before he speaks. Tact and diplomacy are important if you are speaking as a president.
Dale @ 16:
i am
Holy shit! The way out of Iraq has never been crystalized so clearly. If the terrorists would truly fear a Republican president, create a new, republican-only surge! Send 20,000 republicans to Iraq and watch the terrorists surrender in droves. Even better, send 50,000 Republicans!
nsr @ 45:
You bet. Which is why in the last weekend of October look for a tape from bin Laden saying he fondly remembers Barak Obama from his old madrassah days, and that if America will only elect a Muslim president he'll call off the Jihad. That oughta give him at least another four years of Republican rule, which is like money in the bank for Al Quaeda.
If anything, a major attack by al-Qaida prior to the election likely would help McCain, in that it would scare the population shitless and they would run to the person they felt would be tougher in such situations. I think that's one reason why we've seen so many warnings about imminent attacks during sensitive points in the election cycle in past years. And I think that Osama's "message" to the U.S. on the eve of the 2004 election tipped some voters toward W. over Kerry.
Does this mean he will walk the streets of Iraq without bulletproof vests and unarmered vehicle now? He did say the cities are alot "safer", right?
Walk the walk, McSane!!!
It's an offshoot of the logic behind their Iraq strategy - if the war goes poorly, it's proof that the Iraqis need America to stay there to help. If the war goes well, it's proof that the strategery is working, and we need to stay to see the plan to it's conclusion.
RayC Hussein @ 58:
My bad. I should have used the word invasion instead of war. I do think of the invasion as a crime more than anything else.
mordecai @ 64:
In that case we would likely see both Bush and McCain on TV saying things like "forget that kid Obama he can't help us now."
below_me @ 61:
I was afraid someone might think I was pushing a conspiracy theory.
liberalHUSSEINmoderation @ 57:
You can save it as a collector's item.
McCain: "They're just dying to make us look bad!"
If McCain had studied Al Qeada even superficially, he would know that they don't want Democrats in the WH, because the Democrats are going to end this nonesense and pull out. Bin Ladin likes the Republicans, because they are so easy to manipulate into serving his purposes. It is his desire to emire the US into endless wars that it cannot win, and in the process, bring us down by destroying and bankrupting our economy. That tactic is a major part of his strategic plan, from what I have read, which critically depends on the GOPer love of war.
McCain is just showing his ass, as usual.
Geraldo @ 71:
Didn't Bill Orally say something like that about the prisioners at Guantanamo?
See this is the kind of world you can expect when cut throat capitalists, hustlers, get rich quick con artists, and slime balls are in charge.
It's really not that difficult to complete the equation.
The damned old fool. ANYTHING having to do with the Iraq occupation will help the Democrats...at least with the Americans who have an ounce of sense.
This scumbag needs a hammock in the South Pacific somewhere.
That's funny. I'm worried Iraq violence may hurt/kill more of our troops and innocent Iraqis. McBitch should be worried about ending the perpetual death machine and less about the politics. I truly believe McCain was a hero at some point, but now is a different story.
One almost gets whiplash trying to keep up with this. Today, it's a good thing for the GOP but tomorrow it won't be. SHEESH!
Even before the invasion, the GOP used Iraq and the "threat" it allegedly posed to us for political purposes. At every turn, the American people have been told that the GOP strategy in Iraq is the only option we have and that only the GOP can keep us "safe" from terrorism. Democrats have specifically been accused of being "weak" on the terrorism issue and now McCain is playing that old saw indirectly by saying that the insurgents and Al Qaeda want a Democratic victory in November.
It's the gift that keeps on giving! There's just no end to the propaganda spawned by this horrible and unnecessary war.
Liberal AND Proud @ 70:
I'll put on the wall (of my carboard shack) right next to the upside down American flag....
Geez, what an egomaniac.
Liberal AND Proud @ 27:
Shred the dollar and serve small portions. The latest repug diet.
America the thinner.
Sure, the specter of terrorism helps Republicans, but the act of terrorism helps Democrats.
Lauren @ 3:
Exactly!
Loss of life and limb? No worries.
The country's on the verge of bankruptcy because of this illegal war? No problem, he's rich and getting richer from it.
It may hurt him in the election? Poor baby.
Here's what worries me: that Cheney's little trip to Iraq is tied up in a meeting with the powers that be, to 1) bring down oil prices in October (just like they came down before the 2006 election) and 2) attempt to decrease the violence prior to the election.
All I know is, that if Cheney shows up somewhere, it is not good for the American people.... only the select few that will benefit from his Faustian bargains.
pop@53 is correct. The Sadr Army cease fire is the reason the surge has allegedly worked, but it's events like this that may change that:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23675352
Hey, I got news for both Dems and repugs. Al Qeada could give a shit who wins this election. They have their own plan, and it doesn't take into account, what we say or do. For quite along time to come, america will be on top of their list.
LibertyLover @ 83:
Dont'cha mean Mephistophelian?
RayC Hussein @ 73:
He was saying that about the Gitmo prisoners who committed suicide.
No surprise the heartless selfcentred old bastard is only worried about his precious campaign and not the deaths of innocent Iraqis. After all he said he was fine staying in Iraq as long as its Iraqis not Americans being killed.
And of course the egomaniac interprets everything bad happpening in Iraq as a terrorist conspiracy against him, because in his mind he is terrorists greatest threat. I think terrorism will flourish if McCain is elected president. Mr. Bomb bomb bomb Iran will give people even more reasons to hate American foreign policy
Oh yea... Let's worry that the daily extermination of human beings both american and iraqis will somehow figure into the USA's political process... Fact is Bush (a repug) started this unjustified war and he got help from Hillary and McCain... McCain still sees the USA's presence as essential, for maybe as long as 100 years... So what's to think about? If you haven't made up your mind already about the party or candidate that offers the better vision and direction for our country then a few hundred more exploded bodies won't really make that much difference... Will it?
McCain is not a good campaigner. Paint drying is more interesting. If he was shrewd, he'd go home and have a series of BBQs for the press and let the chips fall. Between the fawning MSM and the bickering dems he has a better chance not campaigning.
Vexed @ 89:
Yeah, you can kind of tell from his focus of concern that McSplain doesn't actually possess . . . a human soul. If he did he'd give two shits about the massive amount of death and destruction still going on over there that's just not getting reported in the press.
Instead, he doesn't even give a wet fart. He's definitely not fit to be our President. Or, our Dogcatcher.
Chicken shit mass-murderer-for-profit and war criminal Dick Slobodan Milosevic Cheney sneaks into "safe" Iraq unannounced under heavy guard and airlifted to safety.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080317/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cheney;_ylt=AiPtR7qqx...
FriSat’s McAKA’s and The Big Pile O' McAKA's (link near bottom)
John McCain is a scumbag, even in light of his military service. I wouldn't care if John McCain led the American Revolutionary army. Someone please send this old man out to pasture to mingle with his "friends".
Gotta go...will check back to clean up any McMesses...please leave a massage ;-}
“Last word, freak.” - Melvin Udall
out
America has looong ago made up its mind about what it thinks of this Iraq fiasco and who will be paying for it come November. Anything the insurgents do from here on out is moot, as is John McCain's political career.
Reporter: "Senator McCain, what is your take on latest violent incident in Iraq, thursdays killing of a 15-year old Iraqi girl when two policemen opened fire on the
car of the girls family?"
McCain: "Well my friend, it's obvious they're monitoring our election very closely and obivously they are killing people to stop me from being elected."
Reporter: "Ok what about the six innocent civilians who died to US airstrike and helicopter fire last tuesday?"
McCain: "Obviously the anti-American militants pay close attention to our election and I'm very concerned that these militants are deliberatly dieing to influence the election hoping we will pull out and surrender."
This whole thing is WEIRD!
McCain WANTS to make Iraq the central issue of his campaign? Who the hell is he talking to anyway? Last fall when he said "The surge is working... the surge is working..." I thought he had slipped off the wagon, or micro-stroked a few brain cells. Now I am convinced that he has gone completely brain-dead.
Even General Betray-Us is now saying that the surge has not met up to expectations.
Security is getting better in Iraq.
A female suicide bomber has killed at least 42 people and injured 58 in the Shia Iraqi holy city of Karbala, Iraqi health officials say.
In the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a mortar attack by unidentified insurgents killed five people and wounded seven
Earlier in the day, bombs in and around the city killed at least two Iraqi civilians and two US soldiers.
The attacks came during an official visit to Iraq by the US Vice-President, Dick Cheney.
McYou'reNoFriendOfMine
FUCK that bloated bruised cheese headed lookin SOB!! If I want GOP rhetoric, I'll just tune into any mainstream media source!
Hmmm...... Well, McFriendy.....you could just blame the uptick in violence on the Arabians.
what a surprise: mcinsane-shitstain-shame sounds like all the other retards in the white house. go fuck yourself mr. cheney...go fuck yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3SemYQH-8o
What a joke. mcsame is sounding pathetic. He's beating bush's drum and cheering on the "war" and still trying to find a loophole to store his excuses in.
The mcsame express has lost all of it's wheels. I'm not going to give him enough dignity to even give him upper case letters for his name anymore, he is down with bush in the lower-case-only category.
What a piece of shit this man is.
I would rather hear he is worried and concerned what the violence is doing to the people of Iraq and our military. Goodness how shallow!
I hear that a bomb went off killing 39 while chenny & mcsane were there.
To bad they missed!
Hey McCain, if I was you, I would not worry about Iraq help Dems as mush as I would worry about Bush hurting you. Every single thing this moron has touched has turned to shit. Now he is trying to play god with the federal reserve and bail out his billionaire buddies that will be taking up the ass when the markets colapse.
When Black Friday comes
I'll stand down by the door
And catch the grey men when they
Dive from the fourteenth floor
When Black Friday comes
I'll collect everything I'm owed
And before my friends find out
I'll be on the road
When Black Friday falls you know it's got to be
Don't let it fall on me.....
Steely Dan
One UK economist warned that the world is now close to a 1930s-like Great Depression,
while New York traders said they had never experienced such fear. The Fed’s emergency
funding procedure was first used in the Depression and has rarely been used since.
Not to worry! GW will come out - give a great speech, throw in a few jokes which the press will giggle at and he'll leave, smirking in the knowledge that he's untouchable and his friends in the Military/Industrial Complex and the Oil Companies are very, very rich.
James Ratliff @ 107:
NO. Behind bars and not as president, respectively, would be fine.
below_me @ 6:
He does that even without the worrying .............
#111 , hahaha! God bless Depends.
Dang. I was going to make a comment on McCain's statement, but then you did that "heads I win, tails you lose" analysis of it, which is exactly what I was going to say, so now I, uh, well, I have nothing to say. So.... Um.... I guess I'll just stop.
"Heads I win, tails you lose."
The perfect analogy for Republican logic.
It was/is so refreshing to hear military vets speaking out about their experiences in Iraq during the "Winter Soldier" meeting last weekend. Damn, same violence, same PTSD, same miserable effects of war between the one McCain fought in, and the one we are fighting in today.
What is it with McCain that he would so heartily endorse the same mistake of 40 years ago?
Should he not be preeminently qualified to see the same pattern of disaster then and now?
If McCain wins does that mean we will keep searching for those missing WMD's ?
geomania6 @ 116:
Sure. We all know Saddam managed to hide all of his WMDs in a few days right before the war. Some sources (Mike Huckabee) say he moved them on invisible trucks to Jordan or Syria or maybe Belgium who knows until we found them. And if we dont we can still say he had them we just dont know where they are. Its kinda like proving the existence of God, although I'm guessing the existence of Saddams WMDs are a lil trickier to prove
Wait, Iraq is violent? Why didn't someone say something!
McCains in hiding right now. The puppeteers have tucked him out of sight out of mind and has allowed MSM do the talking for him. Embarrassing issues are haunting him recently
http://www.wcltam.com/news/special/articledetail.cfm?articleid=23261
and
http://www.tbrnews.org/Archives/a2818.htm#001
There's no way this man could complete a four year term with his body and mind issues. I'd keep an eye on who's his running mate.
McCain's right.
Those Iraqis are commies.
odanny @ 115:
You can ask the same question of the democratic party - I mean the majority of the house and senate.
Without the house and senate being in full throttle, Bush wouldn't have been able to pull off this fiasco.
This Just In: McCain "worried" that the economy's collapse might help Dems, too. He says global warming, corruption at the DOJ, and anything else Bush/Cheney touched, may also unfairly hurt his candidacy.
"McCain, I suspect, is not oblivious to current events"
Perhaps Mr. McCain's handlers are not oblivious to current events, but I strongly suspect the poor, decrepit Alzheimer's patient himself doesn't usually know the day of the week.
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