Maybe I’m wrong, but he wouldn't’t be in near as much danger at the RNCYou wouldn't know it reading Free Republic. :-)
Posted on 04/06/2007 6:33:36 PM PDT by AntiGuv
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John McCain (news, bio, voting record) said in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday he misspoke in his recent upbeat comments about security in Baghdad, where he traveled under heavy military protection.
The Arizona senator, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, maintains progress has been made in the U.S.-led war in Iraq, according to comments to be aired on CBS' "60 Minutes." Excerpts were released on Friday.
McCain said he regrets comments he made after a tour of Baghdad last Sunday, when he said he could see progress and the American people were not being told the "good news" about the war, according to excerpts of his comments and a press release provided by "60 Minutes."
"Of course I am going to misspeak and I've done it on numerous occasions and I probably will do it in the future," said McCain, according to "60 Minutes."
The excerpted quotes provided by "60 Minutes" did not indicate which comments McCain thought were misspoken.
A strong supporter of President George W. Bush's plan to send nearly 30,000 more troops into Iraq, McCain said last week after his tour: "I believe we have a new strategy that is making progress. That is not to say things are well everywhere in Iraq. Far from it, we have a long way to go."
McCain had been upbeat about his drive from the Baghdad airport into the city and his visit to a market where multiple car bombings killed 71 people in February as signs of improved security.
"Never have I been able to drive from the airport, never have I been able to go out into the city like I did today. The American people are not getting the picture of all that is happening here. Things are better ... but I am not saying mission accomplished," he said at the time."
After he spoke, Iraqi citizens, merchants and others said security had been stepped up for the choreographed visit.
Once seen as the Republican frontrunner for 2008, McCain has been overtaken by former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, in part because of his support for Bush's unpopular Iraq war policy.
In fund-raising reports released this week, McCain raised about $12.5 million, well behind Republican Mitt Romney who raised more than $20 million in the first quarter and behind Giuliani, who raised more than $15 million.
McCain acknowledged in this "60 Minutes" interview that he had been accompanied by heavy security during his trip.
"I can understand why (the Army) would provide me with that security, but I can tell you that if it had been two months ago and I'd asked to do it, they would have said, 'Under no circumstances whatsoever,"' he said.
"I view that as a sign of progress."
McCain also acknowledged many Americans do not agree with his position on the war.
"I believe we can succeed and I believe that the consequences of failure are catastrophic," he said.
'...I can understand why (the Army) would provide me with that security, but I can tell you that if it had been two months ago and I'd asked to do it, they would have said, 'Under no circumstances whatsoever,"' he said. "I view that as a sign of progress." McCain also acknowledged many Americans do not agree with his position on the war. "I believe we can succeed and I believe that the consequences of failure are catastrophic," he said.
The MSM, and especially Reuters, wants this war lost and lost now! Everyone, including the jihadists are playing a public relations game with sound bites taking the place of bullets.
McCain believes things are better and only indicates he mispoke as to the degree.
Misspoke is a sign of weakness. We do not need a weak Republican president.
That was a pretty quick flip flop. Must have gotting some polling numbers from the Blue States.
It’s 60 minutes. I’d trust McCain over it.
Maybe I’m wrong, but he wouldn't’t be in near as much danger at the RNCYou wouldn't know it reading Free Republic. :-)
Nailed it.
His campaign is sinking, so he's trying to suck up to the MSM to help him out.
Classic...
Someone at Reuters should ask a Kurdish politician how safe it was to walk around Baghdad in the '90s.Just a few excerpts from the 1997 report of Amnesty International, an avowed Bush hating organization. The same can be found concerning other years. Particularly their report claiming the sanctions were killing hundreds of thousands of people.
It sure is a shame that President Bush and the United State went into Iraq in 2003 and screwed up this utopia.
At least 100 members of opposition groups were extra judicially executed and hundreds arrested when government forces entered Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. Hundreds of people were executed during the year. Hundreds of suspected government opponents, including possible prisoners of conscience, were reportedly detained without charge or trial. Tens of thousands arrested in previous years remained held. Trial and pre-trial procedures for political detainees fell short of international standards. Torture and ill-treatment of detainees and prisoners remained widespread. The fate of thousands of people who had "disappeared" in previous years remained unknown. Human rights abuses continued in areas of Iraqi Kurdistan. They included arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention of suspected political opponents and executions.
During these clashes human rights abuses were committed by all sides and an estimated 70,000 people fled to neighboring Iran.
In January, the government announced that the judicial punishments of amputation and branding (see Amnesty International Report 1995) had ceased and would be abolished by law. In March, President Saddam Hussein reportedly ordered an end to the practice of ear amputation for army desertion and the release of hundreds of army deserters and draft evaders. In August, the Revolutionary Command Council (rcc), Iraq's highest executive body, reportedly issued Decree 81, abolishing the judicial punishments of ear amputation and branding for army desertion.
In March, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution condemning "the massive and extremely grave violations of human rights for which the Government of Iraq is fully responsible" and extended for a further year the mandate of the un Special Rapporteur on Iraq.
Hundreds of people were executed during the year. At least 96 members of the opposition Iraqi National Congress (inc) and four members of the Iraqi National Turkmen Party were executed by government forces following their capture in Qoshtapa, near Arbil, in August. Among the victims were Lieutenant Ra'ad 'Umar al-Khalidi and Fahd Muhammad Sultan. Hundreds of suspected government opponents, including possible prisoners of conscience, were also arrested in Arbil. They included members of the inc and the Iraqi Communist Party, suspected members of Turkman and Islamist parties and other non-Kurdish political opponents. They were said to be detained in government-controlled areas but their fate and whereabouts remained unknown. At least 12 Iraqi army officers were reportedly executed for objecting to orders to intervene in the take-over of Arbil. They included Brigadier General Adham al-'Alwani, Major Jihad 'Abd al-'Aziz al-'Alwani and Major Faisal 'Abd al-Hamid al-'Issawi.
Several political prisoners were said to have been executed, among them Duraid Samir Jihad al-Khayali and Jihad Samir Jihad al-Khayali, executed in May in connection with anti-government demonstrations in al-Ramadi province in 1995 (see Amnesty International Report 1996). They were reportedly subjected to torture prior to execution.
More than 120 army officers believed to be connected to the opposition Iraqi National Accord, were executed following an alleged coup attempt against President Saddam Hussain in June. Among those executed were several high-ranking officers, including Major-General 'Abd Mutlaq al-Jibburi, Major Fawzi Karim al-Hamdani and Colonel Riyadh Talib Jassem. Up to 300 had been arrested but the fate and whereabouts of those detained remained unknown.
In February, Lieutenant-General Hussain Kamel al-Majid and his brother, Lieutenant-Colonel Saddam Kamel, both sons-in-law of President Saddam Hussein, who had fled to Jordan in August 1995 (see Amnesty International Report 1996), were killed within days of having returned to Iraq after reportedly being pardoned. Their father, a brother and three other relatives were also killed. The government announced that the killings constituted an act of revenge by other members of the al-Majid family, but it was widely believed that the killings had been carried out with the acquiescence of the President. There was no investigation into the killings and no one was brought to justice.
Hundreds of suspected government opponents, including possible prisoners of conscience, were arrested during the year and remained held without charge or trial. Relatives of detainees were arrested on the basis of family links. In some cases relatives of suspected political opponents who fled abroad were said to be under house arrest. About 2,000 people arrested in 1995 following demonstrations in al-Ramadi province (see Amnesty International Report 1996) continued to be held without charge or trial, as were tens of thousands more arrested in previous years. Following an assassination attempt in December on 'Uday Saddam Hussain, the President's eldest son, hundreds of arrests were reportedly carried out in Baghdad and other cities. The fate and whereabouts of those arrested remained unknown.
Physical and psychological torture and ill-treatment of detainees and prisoners remained widespread. Methods of torture reported included beatings, electric shocks to the tongue and genitals, suspension from a rotating fan, burning the skin using heated metal implements or sulphuric acid, and rape. Some prisoners were said to have been flogged before their release.
As I said before; It sure is a shame that President Bush and the United State went into Iraq in 2003 and screwed up this utopia.
BRIAN MONTOPOLI: It seems that some reporters, including yourself and CNN’s Michael Ware, have really taken umbrage at John McCain’s recent comments, essentially saying that there are a lot of neighborhoods where you can walk around relatively safely. Is it fair to say that that really sort of bothered reporters?
ALLEN PIZZEY: Yes. It’s disgraceful for a man seeking highest office, I think, to talk utter rubbish. And that is utter rubbish. It’s electoral propaganda. It is simply not true. No one in his right mind who has been to Baghdad believes that story. Now, McCain and some other senators were there on Sunday, and they claimed, “Oh, we walked around for a whole hour…and we drove in from the airport. Gosh, aren’t we great, we drove in from the airport.” Excuse me, Mr. McCain, you drove in in a large convoy of heavily armed vehicles. The last one had a sign on it saying “Keep back 100 yards. Deadly force authorized.” Every single car that they approached or passed pulled over and stopped, because that’s the way it is. When one of those security details goes by, every ordinary person gets the hell out of the way, in case they get shot. If he did walk around that market, and I didn’t see him do it, and he didn’t announce he was going to do it, you can bet your life there were an awful lot of soldiers deployed to make sure that nobody came near that place. He’s talking rubbish. And he should not get away with it.
CBS’s Pizzey Calls McCain’s Bright Take on Iraq ‘Disgraceful,’ Dismisses Bias Charges
http://newsbusters.org/node/11848
Seems the Senator may not have the gumption to stand up and fight these guys.
And more time closer to home at the dog track in Arizona.
I would prefer that the Manchurian Candidate spent more time in the unemployment line!
why does McCain feel the need to respond to Allen Pissey?
Good post.
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