I know a lot of Republicans, and most of them have a pretty decent sense of humor, so I'm tempted to believe that the whole McCain thing was a joke gone bad. It had to be. Either they were kidding, or they actually picked the guy to run for President of the United States of America.
So, now they're stuck with him, and the more they try to spin, the deeper they dig. It doesn't matter if you listen to part of the clip from yesterday or the whole interview, when you add up his inability to keep Sunni and Shia straight, his 'hundred year' comment and the fact that he doesn't know how many troops we have fighting in Iraq, one thing is clear. McCain is really confused on Middle East policy.
In the latest McCain screw-up, the Senator from Arizona actually told Matt Lauer that it's "not too important" when the troops come home. These are the same troops who have served multiple tours in George Bush's war, and who are half a world away from their families. This is the same war that has cost the American taxpayers billions of dollars, all to make us less safe than before it all started.
But, according to McCain, it doesn't matter when the troops come home.
Senator Obama's top surrogates were quick to let everyone know why it does matter, very much.
On Countown with Keith Olbermann,
In an interview on MSNBC,
and on a conference call earlier in the day.
You know who else it matters to? Iraqis. They clearly do not want a permanent American presence in their country, but that doesn't seem to matter to John McCain. Maybe someone should write it down for him so he doesn't forget next time. Iraqis do not want us to stay in their country. Not for a hundred years, not indefinitely, not any longer than it takes to withdraw safely. They do not want us there. And it doesn't look like they're kidding.
From a letter to the U.S. Congress from a majority of the Iraqi parliament:
"The majority of Iraqi representatives strongly reject any military-security, economic, commercial, agricultural, investment or political agreement with the United States that is not linked to clear mechanisms that obligate the occupying American military forces to fully withdraw from Iraq."
Sounds pretty serious to me.
