This is getting absurd. Every time you look John McCain has said something completely untrue. Whether it’s referring to an “Iraq-Pakistan border” (see video below) or speaking of Czechoslovakia, a country that hasn’t existed in 15 years.

Now he’s gotten wrong the one thing that his bid for president is based on: his supposed superior knowledge of the war in Iraq. He’s either lying or just has no working knowledge of the events of this war. He claims that the Anbar Awakening was a product of “the surge” of American troops into Iraq, which was announced on January 10, 2007, four months after the Awakening began.

John McCain and others who share his mindset on Iraq claim to want the Iraqi people to step up and take control of their country. They are constantly trying to blame the Iraqi people for being incapable of doing so. However, when news comes out that may actually point to success in that country coming as a result of the actions of its own people, McCain and company still want to claim all the credit for the American troops. It is yet another indication of these people’s true intention for that region: a presence of U.S. troops in the Middle East for, well, who knows how long, in order to attempt to gain American control over the region. This is not about the Iraqi people having control of their country. It never has been.

The funny thing about the Katie Couric interview is she says to McCain:

“Senator McCain, Sen. Obama says, while the increased number of U.S. troops contributed to increased security in Iraq, he also credits the Sunni awakening and the Shiite government going after militias.”

She did not say that Obama totally discredits the surge or claims it was worthless. And still, rather than simply agreeing that the Awakening and the surge together may have resulted in decreased levels of violence, he chooses to distort the facts and attempts to once again scare the American people in doing so (read: no one in Iraq is keeping the peace except U.S. troops).

He’s either a liar or stupid. I don’t look for either of these qualities when deciding who should be president.

— David Doody

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