McCain to follow bin Laden to the gates of hell - unless the gates are in Pakistan
By Steve Benen Tuesday Jul 29, 2008 1:00pmJohn McCain appeared via satellite with CNN’s Larry King last night, and the two covered a fair amount of ground in a short amount of time. There were a handful of important exchanges, but this was arguably the most striking.
King asked McCain what he’d do, as president, if he learned that bin Laden was in Pakistan, and he had a choice to send in U.S. forces after him. McCain replied, “Larry, I’m not going to go there and here’s why, because Pakistan is a sovereign nation.... But I want to assure you I will get Osama bin Laden as president of the United States and I will bring him to justice no matter what it takes.”
Unless, “what it takes” includes going into Pakistan.
I have to admit, I’ve heard McCain staking out a similar position for months, and I have no idea why he’s sticking to this. Barack Obama has said he’d pursue high-value terrorist targets into areas of Pakistan where the Musharraf government has little or no control, launching limited attacks based on actionable intelligence. McCain believes we shouldn’t pursue these terrorist targets, because he’s concerned about Pakistani “sovereignty.”
But this is crazy. Existing U.S. policy, under the Bush administration, is to go after terrorists in Pakistan. Obama wants to keep this policy in place. In fact, we’ve already executed this policy on more than one occasion, and have killed al Qaeda leaders hiding in Pakistani mountains. McCain thinks this is a mistake? McCain disagrees with existing U.S. policy? He wants to do “what it takes,” but Pakistani “sovereignty” is so important, McCain would scale back counter-terrorism efforts in the region?
If there’s any coherent rationale behind McCain’s approach, it’s hiding well.
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The conspirators to 9-11 are in the US, not in Pakistan, or in any 'stan.
That's his secret plan! He'll get Osama elected as president, and then he'll be easy to catch! Oh wait, maybe I parsed that wrong. Or maybe Mccain actually thinks he's running against Osama.
SM...I know this is off topic...but it's VERY important.
http://action.aclu.org/mukasey
Everyone, please read this, sign it and forward it...we GOTTA stop this insanity!
Sen. McCain---Mr. McGoo. .......from Wickipedia..... Quincy Magoo is a wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of sticky situations as a result of his nearsightedness, or latent myopia, compounded by his stubborn refusal to admit the problem. SAY NO MORE!
Larry King was an absolute tosspot during that interview. He didn't ask McCain a single follow-up question.
u.s. shifting money to go to pakistan from counterterrorism to updating pakistan's f-16 fighter jets
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/24/pakistan.pentagon/index.html?eref...
Usama Bin Laden likely died at the end of 2001 or early 2002.
Well shoot. I was looking forward to seeing tv coverage of McCain and Osama at the gates of hell.
Wasn't Iraq a sovereign country when we invaded them with both barrels blazing and wasn't John McCain fine with that at the time?
Gee, I guess some nations' sovereignty is more important than other nations' sovereignty.
Ummmm. Isn't every nation on the planet a sovereign nation? By McCain's reasoning we can't go into sovereign nations to get Bin Laden, but he will nonetheless get Bin Laden. I guess McCain's plan is to wait for BL to show up in the States and then grab him. Awesome plan.
And what about the “sovereignty” of Iraq and Iran ??? Oh, I forgot, they have Oil and they don't have Nukes... yet. No wonder Iran may be actively and secretely seeking to get some... just to avoid being attacked by the US.
Maybe they could room together.
spero @ 7:
he's in a freezer somewhere they will bomb an area and plant the body
Odd that old confused man McCain didn't object to invading the sovereign nation of Iraq. It's makes no sense to be suddenly be concerned about invading another sovereign nation. What difference does it make? McCain is nothing more than a shell of a person. He has no character.
And he "knows how to win wars", riiiggghht.
Time for the Obama camp to take off the gloves.
This is a perfect opportunity to frame an attack ad - Larry King, McCain, Bin Laden and a ridiculous policy explanation. After seeing the crap coming out of the McCain group this last week, a well-crafted counterpunch would energize people who are tired of Obama's rope-a-dope tactics.
C'mon Barack - give 'em hell!!!
The Manchurian Candidate has spoken....again.
Nice smile, you freaking goon.
That headline made me lol :D
Using McCain's "sovereign nation" test, then the US will not attack Iran and we will pull our troops out of the once again sovereign nation of Iraq. I swear McCain has no clue about what words come out of his mouth. His brain and mouth are not in sync.
wow. everyone was impressed by McCain's famous green backdrop speech -- but the smile he gives at the end of that clip from the Reagan Library debate is even more unhinged if you ask me. Unhinged.
as for that answer he gives Larry King: "I won't go get him. But I'll get him, I promise." it's as if he realizes his first answer was awful and realizes he better promise to 'get him'. He can contradict himself in a single sentence nearly. He will say anything to be elected. If he ever had a shred of credibility and independence, he has pissed it away. He is now a cartoon of a panderer, on a par with Mittens.
Blue Lensman @ 15:
didn't he claim that he knows how to win wars and how to capture bin laden.....if that's true then tell bush how to catch bin laden instead of using it for political reasons.
Cats r Flyfishn @ 14:
Two wrongs don't make a right. McCain is the wrong choice for many reasons but not for respecting the sovereignty of Pakistan, Obama too should get permission once he becomes president.
Osama is in McCain's freezer.
Citing issues like sovereignty, when we have our hands right in the middle of other sovereign nations undermines McCain's creditability.
Terry @ 23:
You are so incredibly wrong! He's in Cheneys man-sized safe!
We are still living in 'The Twilight Zone'. Nothing this guy says makes any sense and he is running for POTUS????????? This is a never-ending nightmare. This country is FUBAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
brithumeistheantichrist @ 16:
Sen. Obama's people are not running attack ads and it's making McCain look even more desperate with ads like the one about Sen. Obama not visiting the vets in Germany and this newest one comparing him to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. By McCain doing what he's doing, the McCain campaign looks juvenile. McCain's campaign is debasing itself with no help needed from Sen. Obama's campaign.
pissed off patricia @ 27:
pissed off patricia @ 27:
HA! Excellent!
“Larry, I’m not going to go there and here’s why, because Pakistan is a sovereign nation…. But I want to assure you I will get Osama bin Laden as president of the United States and I will bring him to justice no matter what it takes.”
That quote stands alone as evidenciary proof that this man is either confused, mentally indigent or very simply...a complete freakin' idiot.
But, I must ask...was McCain speaking or not speaking for the McCain campaign when he made that statement?
constituent @ 13:
Ya, it will the October surprise...That will make Obama's plan to secure Afghanistan is no longer needed, thus enabling McSame to win.
"Bomb, bomb, bomb, not Pakistan..."
I know you're right on this one. But it's so damn frustrating to watch McCain disparage Obama.
I guess we'll have to wait until the debates to see just how feeble McCain really is.
And another wonderful visual planned by the McCain campaign.
They keep putting McCain next to OLD guys...Bush Sr., Larry King...do the idiots running this campaign understand that it only reinforces how freakin' old McThuselah is??
Hate to say this, but what right does the US have in going into Pakistan to go after Bin Laden? Why should the US be allowed to trump international law, again? Realize that if the US government and people choose this stance, they too could be attacked and have other armies cross our borders. Have any idea how many right wing anti-Castro killers are living free (thanks in large part to the work of the Bush family) in Southern Florida? Would you be ok with Cuba or Venezuela (two countries who were victims of an airplane bombing of one of these terrorists) bombing the section of Miami that these people like in? There are many similar examples I could pose. Would you be ok with Cuban troops coming onto US soil to get these people? You can’t call for policies that you aren’t willing to accept yourself. There are ways to bring the killer Bin Laden to justice and to not make us hypocrites once again in front of the world. If the Pakistani government doesn't help get Bin Laden then THEY are the immediate issue and should be dealth with legally, as should we for protecting right wing terrorists in this country.
brithumeistheantichrist @ 16:
I hope so. Dems tried to take the "high road" in '04 and look how far that got them.
Afghanistan's sovereignty didn't seem to matter much.
Nor did Iraq's... and that didn't bother McShame.
unadulterated evidence that McKeatingFive is full of shit.
Liberal AND Proud @ 30:
Sounds like he is assuring the listener that he will get Osama bin Laden as president of the United States and then when bin Laden is president of the United States, McCain will bring bin Laden to justice.
I guess once bin Laden is president of the US, McCain will impeach him or something.
I like Sen. Obama's plan better.
Stephen @ 10:
Yeah, and I plan on helping McCain nab ObL as his "October surprise". Here's the plan: I'll hang out in the beer tent throughout Oktoberfest. Then, just as bin Ladin's washing down his brat with a brewskie, I'll tackle him and drag him down to GOP Headquarters downtown. Genius, huh?
King asked McCain what he’d do, as president, if he learned that bin Laden was in Pakistan, and he had a choice to send in U.S. forces after him. McCain replied, “Larry, I’m not going to go there and here’s why, because Pakistan is a sovereign nation….
WTF..... He didn't have any problem with us going in and completely trashing Iraq, another sovereign nation that did absolutely nothing to us.
The Bin Laden family has close ties to the Bush family and ol' Whistling dentures McPain wouldn't want to offend his mentor.
"Let us never tolerate outrageous conspiracy theories" - President George W. Bush at the United Nations - November 10, 2001
Not a problem, since as every right-winger knows, the gates of hell are actually in San Francisco.
jebus.loves.me @ 31:
there's going to be a u.s. presence no matter who is president.....the agreement(s) have already been made
getting bin laden as you know won't change anything
When asked if he would persue Bin Laden if US intelligence had his location pinned down, Senator McCain replied,
“Larry, I’m not going to go there and here’s why, because Pakistan is a sovereign nation….
That should be the only line in the next Obama ad.
Orangutan. @ 42:
So sayeth the outrageous conspirator.
Wake up. We are being lied to. It makes no sense.
maybe all you goddamned naysayers ought to go back and look on the record and find out what Barack said, instead of saying that he didn't say it.
He said he would attack locations in Pakistan, if necessary, without consulting the Pakistani government.
stop whining and check the record.
and if you're waiting to get the statements of Barack Obama from the SCLM, you're waiting in the wrong line. you're already in the InterTruck, so check the google: obama attack pakistan, OK?
and if you're equating Obama with Kerry, check the lenses on your tv screens again and find the first network shill willing to tell the truth.
every time the quote Obama, the repeat a line or two.
when McShitStain gets quoted, they play film of him, especially if it's an attack on Obama.
and stop attacking Obama for silence when you haven't been listening to him anyway.
bin laden is dead according to the recently assassinated benazair bhutto - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=UnychOXj9Tg
Can you imagine if Sen Obama made a statement like, I will follow bin Laden to the gates of hell. Everyone would just look at one another and say, WTF?
I can just hear the jokes if McCain should become the president. People in Europe and around the world will say, Watch America as it drives forward for the next four years with it's right turn signal continually blinking
Well - benazair bhutto is dead. At the hands of the sovereign nation of Pakistan.
I love the way he lets off this big tough guy speech about finding Bin Laden and pissing on his mother, then gives his out-of-nowhere akward smile.. and nobody so much as moves.
Hilarious.
pissed off patricia @ 50:
Crazy Talk - IOKIYAR
and what, exactly, does sovereign mean?
let's have the prezdint asplain it
i think, once again, i am going to have to disagree with the consensus
obama's stated plan to go into pakistani tribal areas and hunt down OBL w/o pakistani assistance is a bad idea.
even if this spec-op operation was successful you'd have to ask yourselves 'at what cost'. which brings in the very question of just why people are willing to resort to terrorism in the first place.
OBL is a baaaaaaaaaaad man, and deserves nothing but the most severe of punishments, but alienating more people, jeopardizing/killing innocent people, and pissing off pakistan (and possibly destabilizing the shaky govt, that happens to have nukes) is a recipe for continuing trouble.
what? And Afghanistan WASN'T a sovereign nation? WTF is all this bullshit?
I had no idea that Pakistan was a "sovereign nation". For some reason I thought it was a sovereign nation. We have no right to bomb Pakistan or operate any military operation with in it's borders without its permission. Even if your little boogie man is hiding there or someone tells you that he's hiding there.
---"But this is crazy. Existing U.S. policy, under the Bush administration, is to go after terrorists in Pakistan. Obama wants to keep this policy in place."
You're right. It is crazy that Obama wants to continue this absurd/ illegal policy. I wonder what your view would be if this policy was reversed. Actually I don't have to wonder....
McCain has this one right. We shouldn't be sending troops into another soverign nation. The legitimate government in Pakistan is having a hard time with us killing pakistani solders in Pakistan after we asked them to go after the Taliban. We're in northern Pakistan right now making things worse because "all those towel heads look alike" to us. Obama is wrong on this one, its one of those instances where he takes the Bush position and Dems ignore it.
I get the wingnuts' crazed obsession with Israel, after all, if'n it's in the bible, it's special and magic and all, but Pakistan? Why exactly is Pakistan's territorial sovereignty respected by these people - no other country's is. What's the deal?
pissed off patricia @ 50:
Bwaaahahahahahahaaaaa! I want that on a damn bumpersticker!!
maybe change it up a bit...
"McCain in '08 Driving America forward with the turn signal on!"
Great idea PoP!!! Yer a daggum genius!
The very sight of a confused, slobbering President McGaffe will in itself strike fear into the Pakistani citizenry who will then track down and capture bin Laden and hand him over to US authorities.
Just another "Huh?" moment, from the Straight Jacket Express:
This "sovereign" thing strikes me as completely stupid. Was/Is Iraq NOT a sovereign nation? And tell me McSurge, "Where are the gates of hell, exactly?" You seem to know this and more, like "How to win wars" I think you are in our hair and I'd kind of like you out of our country.
Clemdog @ 62:
The gates of hell are just outside of new jersey.
St. McCain is trying to have it both ways and will say anything, as usual, that he believes will score him political points.
That's true, but he wasn't really making the argument that we should respect other nations' sovereignty even if it goes against our best interests. He's spewing out slogans like "do whatever it takes" and then saying "well, actually I won't do whatever it takes". Regardless of how right either position is, it makes a big difference to his credibility, IMO.
Truth B Told @ 1:
I asked you to provide a source for your bullshit and you disappeared. I'll ask again.
I'm confused. Are we, liberals, for or against escalation?
Heh, sovereignty of a nation has never bothered us before, why would it stop us now?
liberalMcSuuuurgeNmoderation @ 60:
I like it! That could so be a bumper sticker. Hell it could be a tee shirt too. Some cartoonist could draw an old car with a white head barely sticking up over the driver's side head rest and of course the blinker would be on. The license tag on the car would say "USA"
Clemdog@62
good one, very nicely put
of course, it sure puts the idea to go into pakistan in a less than flattering light... and the effects would be even worse than in iraq, considering the nukes and all.
Midnight Rambler @ 65:
Recall, Bu'ush said "yer either with us or agin us" and that them folks whut harbors Terrists are the same as Terrists and 're gonna get whacked, pronto.
A passing thought. Maybe the 40,000 people that signed the "SendRoveToJail" petition should E-mail Mr. Maverick and ask him, as a candidate for President, and a man that has sworn to uphold the Constitution, why he isn't outraged that Mr. Rove and several other members of the Administration have spit on the laws of the land and not even shown up to at least take the 5th. I haven't heard him say a word and think he should be held to task and answer the question. Better yet, can people start sneaking into his Town Hall meetings and ask the question, or are they pre-vetted like Shrub's events? Just imagine his response......Duh.....Duh......Duh.....
Midnight Rambler@65
excellent point. the inconsistency from mccain is, well, consistent. and the msm glosses right over this in their rush to put lips to flesh
Lemme get this straight, once and for all: John McCain wants to lead America... to the Gates of Hell. And roughly half of America is okay with this.
Kind of OT but it's something to think about. If Sen. Obama chooses Biden as his veep and assuming that Obama serves for two terms, at the end of that second term Biden would be 74 years old and most likely would decide not to run for president. Then we would be where the repubs are now. We would then have to find a candidate from amongst the ranks. While if Sen. Obama picks Kaine, we would be in good shape in eight years. At that time Kaine would be 58.
I'm sure the McCain campaign is going through the same numbers game but they have to think about a veep who could easily run in four years because I doubt seriously McCain could or would want four more years.
Funny I used to call the front door of my ex husband's mother's house, the gates of hell. I had my reasons.
McCain smiles when he gets a talking point right. The guy shoots for the stars. Mr McGoo has used up his hero chips. He is now just a snake in the grass.
pissed off patricia @ 69:
Ah hells yeah! I'd wear that!
Ian @ 74:
To be fair, the Vestibule of Hell only has clouds of insects which chase and sting you for eternity.
McCain must think we are idiots, if he can sell that kind of drivel. He promises he will 'get Bin Laden', but refuses to give any kind of strategy for doing so. First he says, he does not want to 'give his plans away'. Now he states he will not go into Pakistan to get him. Well, that is going to make things a little difficult, since that is probably where ABL actually is. He tries to give us the impression, he has some kind of special deal worked out. Well, he is not the President, and nation states are not going to make special arrangements, with someone who is just a candidate, and sucking in the polls. So really, McCain has nothing, except for some vague guarantee he will succeed, even though he has denied using a tactic which will probably be required. This is just another example of him standing his words on their head, and saying anything he (Rove) thinks someone wants to hear at that moment.
Why does McCain giggle and laugh, even when talking about the thousands who died in 9/11?
Commentator @ 78:
Indeed....not to be confused with the Foyer of Hell, which has poor lighting, and that awful smell of mothballs and feet.
liberalMcSuuuurgeNmoderation @ 77:
I'd like to collaborate with ya on that!
How do we contact one another without puttin private contact info on here?
Wonder if the SM could help? :D
G String, Ricky,
You are both missing the point entirely. No one here advocates violating the sovereignty of another nation. The point here is that John McCain is talking out of both sides of his mouth in order to defraud the electorate.
Maybe that famous republican chickenhawk brigade will bring Bin Laden to justice.
I'm with P/O Pat
"Wasn’t Iraq a sovereign country when we invaded them with both barrels blazing and wasn’t John McCain fine with that at the time?"
Assuming Hell exists, McCain is right about one thing: he will indeed be following bin Laden there. Or, possibly, preceding him there.
When McCain reaches the gates of hell, does he get to leave?
liberalMcSuuuurgeNmoderation @ 81:
Just like "Grandpa" McCain!
McCain spews propaganda and double talk.
Truth B Told @ 1:
The ISI (Pakistani equivalent to our CIA) is in bed with the power behind our own government--Cheney, key Congressional leaders. There's no way we're going after anything that threatens the ISI in Pakistan. It's our linchpin to dirty deeds in the Middle East.