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GOP Senator Apologizes for McCain Tantrum at Syrian Christian Leader Meeting
Judicial Watch ^ | February 5, 2014

Posted on 02/05/2014 11:58:26 AM PST by jazusamo

Hell-bent on arming opposition forces in Syria—despite strong evidence that they’re run by Islamic terrorists—John McCain displayed behavior unbecoming of a United States Senator during a recent meeting with Syrian Christian leaders touring Capitol Hill.

The delegation of Syrian clergy came to Washington to raise awareness among lawmakers of the growing crisis among the region’s minority Christian community. Christians make up about 10% of the Syrian population and they are being targeted and ruthlessly murdered by radical elements of the rebel forces, according to the visiting church officials. They say the media and human rights groups in the west have been largely silent on the ordeal of the Christians in Syria.

A number of churches have been destroyed or burned, children were killed when rebels fired mortar rockets at an Armenian Christian school in Damascus and countless others have been abducted by Islamic fighters, the Syrian delegation reveals in a statement published by the research group, Westminster Institute, that brought them to Washington. Eleven nuns have also been abducted and are still in captivity and two bishops are still missing after getting kidnapped during a humanitarian mission.

But Senator McCain, an Arizona Republican, evidently doesn’t want to hear negative stories about the rebels he’s working to arm. So he stormed out of a closed-door meeting with the Syrian clergy officials last week. Held in the Senate Arms Services Committee meeting room, the reunion also included senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Graham is a Republican and the rest are Democrats.

McCain marched into the committee room yelling, according to a high-level source that attended the meeting, and quickly stormed out. “He was incredibly rude,” the source told Judicial Watch “because he didn’t think the Syrian church leaders should even be allowed in the room.” Following the shameful tantrum McCain reentered the room and sat briefly but refused to make eye contact with the participants, instead ignoring them by looking down at what appeared to be random papers.

The outburst was so embarrassing that Senator Graham, also an advocate of U.S. military intervention in Syria, apologized for McCain’s disturbing outburst. “Graham actually apologized to the group for McCain’s behavior,” according to the source, who sat through the entire meeting. “It was truly unbelievable.”

Not really, for those familiar with McCain’s history on this matter. The veteran lawmaker is enamored with a controversial young “Syria expert,” Elizabeth O’Bagy, who has managed to convince him as well as the president and secretary of state that Syrian rebels are mostly moderate and not terrorists. While persuading the U.S. of this, O’Bagy concealed that she was a political director for the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), a group that advocates for Syria’s rebels from Washington D.C.

Before getting exposed by conservative media outlets, O’Bagy claimed to be an objective analyst at a Washington D.C. think-tank that studies military affairs when in fact she had a “reputation as the leading expert on the armed opposition in the Syrian revolution,” according to SETF. In September O’Bagy was abruptly fired from the think-tank for padding her resume and McCain graciously hired her. “Elizabeth is a talented researcher, and I have been very impressed by her knowledge and analysis in multiple briefings over the last year,” McCain said in a statement to the political news publication that broke the story in late September.

Besides the fact that a Syrian Islamist group is essentially steering U.S. policy, a number of domestic and international media outlets have confirmed that terrorists—mainly Al Qaeda—are running opposition forces in Syria. For instance the New York Times published a piece that reveals Islamist rebels—including the most extreme groups in the notorious Al Nusra Front, an Al Qaeda-aligned force—are running the show in Syria. “The Islamist character of the opposition reflects the main constituency of the rebellion,” the story says. “Nowhere in rebel-controlled Syria is there a secular fighting force to speak of.”

Incredibly, last month an international news agency reported that Congress secretly approved U.S. weapons flow to what officials describe as “moderate” Syrian rebel factions. The White House refused to comment on the back-door operation, but the story cites U.S. and European officials who say the weapons deliveries have been funded by the U.S. Congress, in votes behind closed doors, through the end of government fiscal year 2014.

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TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Syria; US: Arizona; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: arizona; christianpersecution; christians; connecticut; ct; elizabethobagy; graham; islamistrebels; joemanchin; johnmccain; lindseygraham; mccain; obagy; rhodeisland; ri; richardblumenthal; sc; setf; sheldonwhitehouse; southcarolina; syria; syriachristians; syriarebels; terrorists; waronterror; weapons; westvirginia; wv
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McCain is way overdue for retirement.
1 posted on 02/05/2014 11:58:26 AM PST by jazusamo
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To: jazusamo

“Hell-bent on arming opposition forces in Syria—despite strong evidence that they’re run by Islamic terrorists—John McCain”

McCain is as big a fool as they come.


2 posted on 02/05/2014 12:00:39 PM PST by Blood of Tyrants (Haven't you lost enough freedoms? Support an end to the WOD now.)
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To: jazusamo
"... he didn’t think the Syrian church leaders should even be allowed in the room."


"What are you doing here? Get off my lawn!"

3 posted on 02/05/2014 12:03:36 PM PST by Paine in the Neck (Our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor)
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To: jazusamo

I wonder if Blumenthal tried to claim he fought in Vietnam.


4 posted on 02/05/2014 12:03:43 PM PST by Track9 (hey Kalid.. kalid.. bang you're dead)
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To: jazusamo
In the past he has also knocked an old woman out of a wheelchair because she didn't agree with him about POW/MIA issue.

And, he has screamed "I don't WANT you working in a factory" at a factory worker who asked him a question about the declining number of factory jobs in the country.

5 posted on 02/05/2014 12:03:47 PM PST by WayneS (Respect the 2nd Amendment; Repeal the 16th (and 17th))
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To: jazusamo

Hanoi John McCain obviously being funded by Islamic Terrorists.

McCain is walking treason

And, he is siding with EU and Soros in Ukraine...McCain bought by another group of losers


6 posted on 02/05/2014 12:04:01 PM PST by SeminoleCounty (A Theory is not a Fact....It is not called the "Fact of Evolution")
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To: Blood of Tyrants

mclame should be involuntarily by his family to save them (and him) further embarrassment.


7 posted on 02/05/2014 12:04:06 PM PST by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: jazusamo

Hmmmm, nothing happens fast in the Middle East so I wonder what has got McCain’s Depends in a bunch.
Cindy McCain’s shopping bill?
Boob McCain had another show canceled?
Linda is now dating Harry Reid?

Enquiring minds want to know. /sar


8 posted on 02/05/2014 12:05:25 PM PST by Zathras
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To: jazusamo

He insulted a bunch of Christians. How much trouble do you think this puts him in?


9 posted on 02/05/2014 12:05:45 PM PST by Cyber Liberty (H.L. Mencken: "The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.")
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To: jazusamo

McCain, go back to Hanoi!


10 posted on 02/05/2014 12:05:48 PM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: jazusamo

Any private citizen aiding and abetting Syrian terrorists like mcstain is doing would be renditioned under NDAA. Juan needs to cool his heels in a cell at Gitmo.


11 posted on 02/05/2014 12:06:19 PM PST by Sirius Lee (All that is required for evil to advance is for government to do "something")
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To: jazusamo

You know it’s bad when Lindsey has to apologize for his buddy.


12 posted on 02/05/2014 12:06:35 PM PST by rightwingintelligentsia (Democrats: The perfect party for the helpless and stupid, and those who would rule over them.)
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To: WayneS

He’s not only got loose screws there’s some missing.


13 posted on 02/05/2014 12:06:48 PM PST by jazusamo ([Obama] A Truly Great Phony -- Thomas Sowell http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3058949/posts)
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To: jazusamo

I read about this on both Mcafee and Norton’s web sites. His cerebral operating system is most likely infected with the “Viet Cong” Trojan malware. It’s very difficult to remove. They recommend isolating affected systems and disconnecting them from political power networks.


14 posted on 02/05/2014 12:08:10 PM PST by ElkGroveDan (My tagline is in the shop.)
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To: Track9
I wonder if Blumenthal tried to claim he fought in Vietnam.

I wonder if McCain tried to claim he was tortured in Vietnam.

15 posted on 02/05/2014 12:08:11 PM PST by montag813
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To: rightwingintelligentsia

Yep, my thoughts too.


16 posted on 02/05/2014 12:08:12 PM PST by jazusamo ([Obama] A Truly Great Phony -- Thomas Sowell http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3058949/posts)
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To: jazusamo

“Graham actually apologized to the group for McCain’s behavior,”

Graham is up for election, and unlike McCain who apparently only has idiots for constituents - they keep reelecting this old bastard - Graham has Christians for constituents and he is facing a challenge.

If Linda Graham was serious about his apology, he/she would start distancing himself/herself from this maniac.


17 posted on 02/05/2014 12:08:47 PM PST by ZULU (Magua is sitting in the Oval Office. Ted Cruz/Phil Robertson in 2016.)
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Please bump the Freepathon or click above and donate or become a monthly donor!

18 posted on 02/05/2014 12:09:15 PM PST by jazusamo ([Obama] A Truly Great Phony -- Thomas Sowell http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3058949/posts)
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To: jazusamo

“The veteran lawmaker is enamored with a controversial young “Syria expert,” Elizabeth O’Bagy”

On what level is he “enamored”? I wonder if it’s referring to “got the hots for”, or if he’s impressed with her professional credentials. In either case, he needs to see a therapist about anger management and impulse control. The guy has more than one screw loose.


19 posted on 02/05/2014 12:09:51 PM PST by MayflowerMadam
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To: SeminoleCounty
Hanoi John McCain obviously being funded by Islamic Terrorists. McCain is walking treason

And Sarah Palin DEFENDS HIM!

20 posted on 02/05/2014 12:11:30 PM PST by montag813
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