John McCain Continues Desperate Distortions on Iraq
April 30, 2008
John McCain and his Republican allies continued their desperate attempts to deflect attention from McCain's own words about his willingness to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years. During a media availability in Allentown, McCain said the Democratic National Committee's new "100" ad distorts his words. But, as the New York Times noted, "In the commercial, Mr. McCain's words speak for themselves" and are "not misstated." Worse still, McCain's allies at the Republican National Committee blatantly misrepresented the source of footage in the DNC's ad, even as they defended Republican ads using footage of Osama bin Laden taken from Al-Jazeera. [New York Times, The Caucus blog, 4/28/08; ABCNews.com, Political Punch blog, 4/30/08]
None of this can change the fact that McCain says keeping our troops in Iraq for 100 years would be fine with him. Instead of outlining a plan for victory and an exit strategy in Iraq, McCain is offering a long-term troop presence in Iraq similar to our presence in Germany and South Korea, an approach that he himself admits won't work. [ABC News, "Good Morning America," 4/9/2003]
"John McCain's desperate rants and the RNC's gross distortions can't change the fact that the American people are not 'fine' with our troops being in Iraq for 100 years under any circumstances," said DNC Communications Director Karen Finney. "These are John McCain's own words, and he should have the courage to defend them truthfully or tell the American people what his exit strategy in Iraq would be. His insistence on ducking the question is one more reason John McCain is the wrong choice for America's future."
McCain: 100 Years Comment is Being Distorted. "You know, we always talk about the importance of, of uh, campaigns that are respectful. Every objective organization has stated that the distortion of my statement about our involvement in Iraq, uh, is totally, totally false. And it's a little distressing to me when Senator Obama says that he wants run a uh, very, mmm, great campaign that is above politics and above the mundane aspects of political campaigns and then keeps turnin' around and saying, and totally falsifying my statement which is clear that I was saying that after we win, we may have a, a presence in Iraq the way we do in South Korea. South Korea we have a military presence as a buffer against, one, one sec, against, uh, that served as a buffer against further North Korean invasions and that is of course the relationship I was talkin' about, after the war is over, everybody knows it who reads that statement. So, um, I - I - it's disappointing that Senator Obama would continue to absolutely falsely characterize my remarks." [CNN Live Feed (Allentown, PA), 4/30/08]
2005: McCain Rejects Korea, Germany Model for Iraq. "In fact, when asked specifically if he thought the U.S. military should set up shop in Iraq along the lines of what has been established in post-WWII Germany or Japan -- something McCain has repeatedly advocated during the campaign -- the senator offered nothing short of a categorical 'no.' 'I would hope that we could bring them all home,' he said on MSNBC. 'I would hope that we would probably leave some military advisers, as we have in other countries, to help them with their training and equipment and that kind of stuff.' Host Chris Matthews pressed McCain on the issue. 'You've heard the ideological argument to keep U.S. forces in the Middle East. I've heard it from the hawks. They say, keep United States military presence in the Middle East, like we have with the 7th Fleet in Asia. We have the German...the South Korean component. Do you think we could get along without it?' McCain held fast, rejecting the very policy he urges today. 'I not only think we could get along without it, but I think one of our big problems has been the fact that many Iraqis resent American military presence,' he responded. 'And I don't pretend to know exactly Iraqi public opinion. But as soon as we can reduce our visibility as much as possible, the better I think it is going to be.'" [Huffington Post, 4/28/08]
January 2005: "Reduce Our Visibility As Much As Possible." "No, I would hope that we could bring them all home. I would hope that we would probably leave some military advisors...As soon as we can reduce our visibility as much as possible I think the better this is going to be." [MSNBC, 4/29/08: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1iVx4i4tAE]
November 2007: McCain Rejected Korean Analogy to Iraq. Asked by Charlie Rose if he thought the South Korean model would serve as an "analogy of where Iraq might be…in terms of an American presence over the next, say, 20, 25 years," McCain replied, "I don't think so." "Even if there are no casualties?" Rose questioned. "No," McCain reiterated. "I can see an American presence for a while. But eventually I think because of the nature of the society in Iraq and the religious aspects of it that America eventually withdraws." [The Charlie Rose Show, 11/27/07; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95HVxPuCTes]
January 2008: McCain Said US May Stay In Iraq For 100 Years, Long Term American Presence In Iraq Analogous To South Korea. At a New Hampshire town hall when McCain was asked "President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years." McCain responded: "Maybe 100" and "that would be fine with me." McCain explained his 100 year remark by drawing an analogy to the long-term American presence in South Korea: "We've been in Japan for 60 years. We've been in South Korea for 50 years or so. That'd be fine with me as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed." [McCain Town Hall, Derry NH Opera House, 1/3/2008; New York Times, "The Caucus," 1/11/2008]
