Did McCain misspeak?
John McCain missed an "opportunity" to showcase his experience on a Middle East trip, said David Broder in The Washington Post, when he mistakenly said that Iran was training al Qaida operatives in Iraq, denting "his claim to expertise in t
What happened
On a trip through the Middle East, presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain said Wednesday that Iran was training Al Qaida operatives, and then sending them back to Iraq to fight Americans. He had made the same claim the night before on a U.S. radio program. U.S. Intelligence officials say it is unlikely that Shiite-dominated Iran would aid the Sunni insurgents of al-Qaida in Iraq, who target Shiites. Moments after making the comment, and after Sen. Joseph Lieberman whispered in his ear, McCain said Iranians are “training extremists, not al-Qaida.” His campaign said he “misspoke.” (The Washington Post, free registration)
What the commentators said
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
With Democrats divided and his nomination “secure,” these are “salad days” for McCain, said David Broder in The Washington Post (free registration). But his trip to the region was “a missed opportunity” to showcase his experience to general election voters. He should have assured Americans, and warned Iraq, that Iraqis need to get their house in order to earn the “open-ended commitment” of U.S. forces. Instead he dented “his claim to expertise in the region” by “mistakenly” citing Iranian support for al-Qaida in Iraq.
If McCain made a “gaffe,” it was one shared by “American military intelligence,” said Ed Morrissey in the blog Hot Air. Documents captured more than a year ago show a link between Iran and “at least certain individuals” in al-Qaida in Iraq. In that light, McCain is hardly “uninformed on the situation in Iraq,” as his critics claim, but better able to look past this and other such “false” arguments surrounding the Iraq war.
Claiming McCain was "right the first time" only magnifies the significance of his gaffe, said Moira Whelan in The Huffington Post. McCain admitted he was mistaken, but clearly “conservatives are scared.” They have “already lost 70 percent of the American public,” and the “triangulation of Iraq, Iran, and terrorism” was the “one issue they thought they could win.” McCain could have genuinely misspoken, but his backers know that constructing “a ‘grey area’ where none exists” is his only shot “at winning this election.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Trump talks pardoning Jan. 6 rioters, jailing rivals
Speed Read On NBC's "Meet the Press," the president-elect said he would pardon Capitol rioters and end constitutionally guaranteed "birthright" citizenship
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Syria's Assad flees to Russia as rebels take Damascus
Speed Read Ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad fled to Moscow after rebels' takeover ended his family's 54-year rule
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Could Russia's faltering economy end the war?
Today's Big Question Sanctions are taking a toll. So could an end to combat.
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published