[quote]BostonBarrister wrote:
Sen. McCain’s speechwriter had some contempt for Obama’s FP statements in an email sent around earlier:
[i]Senator Obama says that ending the war will not be easy, that ‘there will be dangers involved.’ Yet, in that patented way of his, he declines to name those dangers. Let me enumerate a few: al Qaeda, which is now on the run, will survive, claim victory and continue to provoke sectarian tensions that, while they have been subdued by the ‘tactics’ of the surge, still exist and are ripe for provocation by al Qaeda, which would almost certainly ignite again civil war in Iraq, a civil war that could easily descend into genocide.
To say that invading Iraq was used as a recruiting tool for al Qaeda is one thing. To pretend that our defeat there won’t provide an even bigger one is foolish supposition. Iran, which trains Shia extremists and is known to arm and equip Sunni extremists, a fact Senator Obama is apparently unaware of, will also view our premature withdrawal as a victory, as will other countries in the region, and the biggest state supporter of terrorists, a country with nuclear ambitions and a stated desire to destroy the State of Israel, will see its influence in the Middle East grow significantly.
These are some of ‘dangers,’ that our premature withdrawal from Iraq will engender, and they all have the potential to destabilize the entire region. A realistic plan to prevent them from occurring is what people with experience in statecraft call ‘strategy,’ something Senator Obama has not offered yet.[/i]
That was by speechwriter Mark Salter. You’ll note the continued use of the claim about support coming to Sunni terrorists from inside Iran. This isn’t a misstatement. They’re pressing this and attacking Obama on it. I’ll be interested to see how this fight plays out.
ADDENDUM:
ALSO - Note the email above is different from the statement reference below, so the McCain campaign is really putting this out there.
Here’s an excerpt from a WSJ blog post on this:
[i]A McCain adviser said that the statement was carefully written to avoid implying with certainty that it was the Iranian government that is supporting al Qaeda. Rather, he said, there is “ample evidence” that other forces in Iran were doing so. The aide suggested, however, that it was hard to believe that elements of Iran’s power structure couldn’t be at least complicit in these efforts.
To support the claim, the campaign provided articles from conservative publications such as the Weekly Standard.
The campaign does concede that McCain was wrong yesterday when he said that Iranian operatives were “taking al Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back.” In fact, American officials believe that was the case with Shiite militants operating in Iraq. McCain quickly corrected himself, after a prompting from his friend and colleague, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent. He made similar comments earlier on a radio program, though he did not correct those.
Democrats saw no distinction between the two statements and pounced - again. “Either John McCain is purposely playing politics with the facts on the ground or he doesn’t understand the threat facing Iraq and our brave troops,” said a statement today from DNC Communications Director Karen Finney.[/i]
(Also added the link for the first part.)[/quote]
Funny,
Our being in Iraq is the only reason for Al qaeda to be there, the military just did a study on this. The easiest way to get rid of them is leave.
and it’s clear McCain is trying to conflate the bad guys. Only Lieberman was off message.
Also they seem to be unaware that the sunni extremists/AQI have already declared victory, and Iran’s influence has already greatly increased. They really are idiots over there.
