John McCain is clueless on the ceasefire in Basra
By John Amato Saturday Apr 05, 2008 3:15pm
McCain once again demonstrates that he's no straightalker when it comes to the issues that are most important to this country. He makes sure to get the whole Basra/ceasefire incident completely backwards which only undermines his credibility as a foreign policy man. Is he even following the fighting in Iraq? It was Maliki that went to Iran and then asked Sadr to broker a ceasefire.
Olbermann: ...that Sadr had only called for the ceasefire after members of Maliki’s government asked Sadr to do so in a during a secret trip to meet with Sadr in Iran.—making McCain wrong about the facts on his signature issue, making Sadr not Maliki the victor in this conflict by McCain’s own reasoning. And making Iran and not McCain and not the US the mediator of choice for Iraq’s two top Shi’a factions. The Maliki government and the Sadrists.
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Think Progress has the transcript and more:
McCain: It was al-Sadr that declared the ceasefire, not Maliki. … With respect, I don’t think Sadr would have declared the ceasefire if he thought he was winning. Most times in history, military engagements, the winning side doesn’t declare the ceasefire. The second point is, overall, the Iraqi military performed pretty well. … The military is functioning very effectively.
Finally, the New York Times reported Friday that at least 1,000 Iraqi national soldiers deserted or refused to fight in Basra.
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But nobody questions this in the MSM, except KO, Rachel Madow and the internet blogs. Sad that we keep the ignorant, snoring American masses in their deep, delusional slumber.
According to the alternate universe that the Repugs hang out in, this is Straight Talk! The Repug definition of Straight Talk is the opposite that is true. Anothe Straight Talk that came out of McSame's mouth this week is that the youth of America will vote for him; tons of fellow WARMONGERS in today's youth, just like it was in 1968-1972(NOT)!
But if he says it enough times, it BECOMES the truth, right? Rove strikes again.
"Come on and take a free ride"
The corporate candidate will continue this free ride with the corporate media .
Rendell and the Clinton camp are the only ones talking about it.
Of course, all Clinton's words are analyzed to death.
The media bias is sickening this cycle.
Maliki broke the cease-fire and even with the support of American troops, and airpower had to return to the status quo, abandoning his attempts to root them out, and he call that a victory?
Over 1000 Iraqi soldiers refused to fight, especially if it meant killing other Shia and a yet unknown number of their officers refused to follow orders.
Al Malki.
So why doesn't he wear and earpiece like Chimpy?
He's no straightshooter. He's also not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Is it just me, or does he come across as kinda dumb? And isn't that part of his reputation--hairtrigger temper, on the take and dumb?
The whole operation was apparenly run by Mahmoud al-Rummy.
What the hell exactly IS McCain clued on? It seems that every time he opens his mouth, he says the opposite of reality, his facts are mixed up, he's wrong, he's confused. Seriously, can any of his supporters explain exactly what they find in him worth supporting?
more at my blog...
history is going to look back on America at this time with very very little respect. its not just that we're crooks and liars. its that we are soooo comfortable being misinformed, in the middle of one of the greatest innovations in information and communication in our history.
There are five too many words in the headline.
Are you saying Shia refused to kill other Shia? Get outta here!!!
I agree with the above poster that McCain doesn't seem very smart. If the media does their job, it'll get clearer and clearer eventually.
And I wish somebody would ask him this question: What exactly makes you a foreign policy expert? What training? What expertise? What makes you think that you know more about this world than other people?
I would like to know his answer. Well, of course, his answer would be full of shit. The guy seems clueless about the complexities of the world. It took him a few years to figure out that German and Korea can't be compared to Iraq. He still doesn't know the importance of terms like Shia and Sunni. He looks at everything in a black and white way. Reminds me of somebody in the White House! This cowboy-way of looking at the world has put us in this situation. Of course, millions of Americans share this view, and they keep voting for people like him. After all, what you should want from a president is for him to be just like you!
God
BlessAmerica, i mean God Save America from our own govenrment.Now you know why he went on the biography tour.
He is clueless on the issues.
.
Johnny McTORTURE simply McSpoke... A G A I N!
.
grandpa is losing it and confused. being a neocon bitch does not help either.
Isn't he running on his foreign policy expertise?
Hmm.
McCain is merely a puppet.
He is ignorant, he is a tool, he only wants war.
These things are the PERFECT Presidential attributes for the neo-cons. That way they can say to McCain "JUMP", and he asks "how high?". The MSM can get a piece of the action with a dumb President, because the MSM is dumb as well. Every "prediction" and "analysis" the MSM pukes out tend to always turn out wrong, because they are managed by the very people who are wrong, that is, the state.
McCain is providing blogs with so much ammunition; it is amazing how this guy is starting off to be more wrong about more things than even Bush back in 1999-2000.
This is what happens with fixed primaries.
What a doddering old fool. He doesn't know this stuff because he doesn't NEED TO KNOW this stuff. Watch out who they will make him choose for his VP - that will be the actual president next January.
This will unfortunately be the case, unless of course the demos actually stop knifing each other in the back over this clinton/obama nomination fight.
Ex-Canuck @ 20:
Oh lord, please not Jeb
Iraqi Army = Arabic for clusterfuck
G.W. Bush = Texas distributor of Crapola, Inc., J. McCain, Arizona branch manager.
The surge is working.Here today news from BBC.
BBC NEWS
US soldiers killed in Green Zone
Three US service personnel have been killed and 31 wounded by rocket attacks on the Green Zone and a base elsewhere in Baghdad, the US military has said.
The rocket attack at 1530 (1230 GMT) on the Green Zone, which houses government offices and foreign embassies, killed two personnel and wounded at least 17.
A separate attack at the same time on a forward operating base in the Rustamiya district killed one and injured 14.
The attacks came after fighting between US and Iraqi forces and a Shia militia.
Twenty-two people were killed and more than 50 others injured in the clashes in the capital's eastern district of Sadr City, a stronghold of the Mehdi Army.
The militia's leader, radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, has called for a mass demonstration in three days' time against the US military presence.
Yes Jannie.......the Iraqi military did perform well but that was after the US sent 3 attack helos in and fired 3 missiles. And as they say (even here).....There's goes the neighbourhood!
John could have saved some typing on this headline and stopped after the third word. Or has that headline been done already?
el video links are all wicked broken. perhaps thats a blessing given it looks like I would have to watch a McCain Fox cocktail.
So where was the horse's ass whisperer, Joe Lieberman when McWhat? really needed him.
Al-Maliki will be out of office in a few months, at best. That won't be good for the Washington occupation, no sir! How dare those Iraqis not fawn all over the people killing them and destroying their families, huh? Why it's just like civilizing the Indians!
/sarcasm that means I have to take a shower....
Che's Lounge @ 12:
Sure are, so let's narrow it down:
I say indict this SOB on war crimes now, as a pre-emptive action, before he kills millions of civilians and thousands of American soldiers!
The Big Lie perpetrated by Democrats about the so-called 100 years war remark by John McCain has been exposed by the Washington Post FactChecker website:
http://tinyurl.com/6bjbsl
Do we really want even four more years of White House obfuscations, half-truths, and outright lies? There have been times in the Dubya presidency when I thought the man was seriously deranged, not merely befuddled like Reagan (who had the excuse, as it turned out, of Alzheimer's). There were times when I thought, golly, it's criminal to hold a mentally ill person responsible for his deeds, no matter how evil. Now, we see Bush III is following in his steps.
McPain, too, has mastered the art of Goebbelization. When Chrissy Pooh Wall-ass played devil's advocate using his typical straw man question about the possibility of Petraeus having a tough time justifying our continued presence in Iraq in view of the recent Basra showdown, McPain responded: "I don't think Sadr would have declared a cease fire if he was winning." He also claimed that the stand down "was Sadr's idea."
These aren't the senile ramblings of a codger, they're the usual neocon talking point spin. Plain talk? This asshole couldn't tell the truth if you put a gun to his head. He didn't in 'Nam and he won't in the White House. He's unfit to be our leader. Not that anyone commenting on C&L disagrees, so I guess I am, again, preaching to the choir.
Regardless of who suggested that Sadr ask for a ceasefire the simple fact that Sadr allowed himself to be seen as weaker showed that he was anxious to have done with the conflict. He may have gained something else by it but who knows... I dont know who "wins" in these circumstances but the violence is ending, which is usually a good thing. Even our own "success" in the cuban missile crisis was really a negotiated affair.
Violence starts; we must find the way to cast this in the most negative light for the administration and the iraqi government.
violence ends; see above.
Is it possible for there to be a story about the Iraqi government where Crooks and Liars won't look for the lead lining? And why? Because the government resulted from Bush's war? At what point do Iraqi politicians get absolved for GW's sins?
We lost the war
[Deleted. ALL CAPS-Sitemonitor]
Give Mr. McCain a break. You'd be lucky to do as well as he does if you had Alzheimer's.
Rusty Shackleford @ 21:
It sounds like that's exactly what they have in mind.
It's the Bush strategy: Get a likable idiot, and do your dirty work behind the scenes. It worked when Reagan played human smiley face for the neocon agenda. Then Herbert Walker picked dumb as dirt Dan Quayle as his Veep, hoping to repeat the cycle of idiot front man for criminal administration. When Bush lost to Clinton, they had to start their strategy over again with another idiot in the top slot. This one worked better than they ever could have hoped, because aside from being stupid, W also had a mean, vindictive side, and a complete lack of conscience that might have caused a more "compassionate" idiot to at least stop and consider the consequences of his actions.
So now they've trotted out another horse's ass, who doesn't appear to know much and who has a tendency to get testy when confronted with his own ignorance. Let's pay close attention to who the Repugs select as Mc Crazy's running mate. My money's on Jeb, since the coner stone of the neocon agenda seems to require the perpetuation of the Bush Dynasty.
I don't think I have to add a thing to this, I agree, I agree and I agree.
The pro-Iranian, US-backed "Iraqi Government" sent its forces to the south to put some muscle on other Shiite factions that are clearly going to win elections in October. This US sanctioned action was meant to intimidate or kill any Iraqi nationalists who don't like US or Iran meddling in Iraq. The "Iraqi Government" swiftly got its ass handed to it because they are not supported in that area and the nationalist militias are.
What will McCain's next gaffe be? Find out with the 23/6 John McCain Blunder-o-Tron!
All video links are broken?
[Thanks, celsius. I'll send this up the chain to get it fixed. Site Monitor]
Here is something we already know. McCain in my eyes is no better than Bush himself.
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