McSame Old McSame

There he goes, again:

McCain Confuses al Qaeda in Iraq with Shi’ites. Again.

Nicole Belle, Crooks and Liars:

I can't figure out if he's doing this because he's too stupid to learn and educate himself or if he buys into the Rovian theory that if you stubbornly keep repeating something over and over that eventually, it's accepted as the truth. Either way, is that the kind of Commander-in-Chief we need after Bush?

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It’s really embarrassing that the guy who has built his whole campaign over staying in Iraq doesn’t understand the players at all. Of course the media will never point this out, but it’s ridiculous that he has made the same gaffe over and over again and can still be considered credible on National Security.

Confusion: McCain Still Trying to Figure out al Qaeda

Brandon Friedman, VetVoice:

While questioning General David Petraeus today, foreign policy bumbler John McCain again became confused over whether al Qaeda was a Sunni or Shia organization. You would think somebody could sit this guy down for five minutes and explain the differences to him.

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Of course, Senator McCain has a long history of bewilderment when it comes to this type of stuff. See here, here, and here, and here for examples.

Did McCain get confused about al Qaeda again?

Carpetbagger Report:

I’ve watched the exchange a few times, and I keep coming to the same conclusion: by rhetorically asking if al Qaeda is a Shiite sect, McCain was once again demonstrating that he’s confused about the terrorist group’s religious background. He added, “Or Sunnis or anybody else,” not to necessarily to clarify, but to cover his bases — he figures al Qaeda has to be affiliated with an Islamic tradition, even if he doesn’t know which one.

Ilan Goldenberg added, “McCain did genuinely mix up Sunnis and Shi’a again…. Now, I know that there is a bit of gotcha going on here. But this man claims that his greatest qualification for the Presidency is that he understands foreign policy. But the differences between Sunni and Shi’a matter. They matter a lot! And this nasty habit of mixing it up just seriously needs to stop.”

Indeed, I’d say it’s the “nasty habit” that makes this morning’s mix-up especially interesting. If McCain had consistently demonstrated a firm grasp of events in the Middle East, it’d be easier to overlook confusion over whether al Qaeda is Sunni or Shi’ia.

Question For McCain

Eli, Firedoglake:

Well, based on what I've read of Crocker and Petraeus's Senate testimony, it appears that the official BushCo/Republican party line is that Teh Surge is making progress, but not so much progress that we could start bringing all the troops home. We're winning against al Qaeda in Iraq, but they're still the big bad boogeyman (along with their BFFs in Iran), and Iraq is still the central front in the War On Terror.

Now, to my uninformed eye it appears that al Qaeda is a minor player in Iraq, and the only thing standing between Iraq and all-out civil war is not Teh Surge, but Teh Ceasefire (which is showing some cracks, to put it mildly) - but what do I know, I'm just a dirty unserious hippie.

So here's my question which I would like to see the media ask McCain, Bush, and any other Republicans who just happen to accidentally stumble in front of their cameras and tape recorders: What, exactly, would have to happen for you to declare that Iraq is a lost cause, or simply not worth the loss of money and lives?

For most Americans, the Iraqupation passed the Threshold Of Fail years ago, yet the members of the Endless War Party continue to insist that things are going well, we just need to be patient to let Teh Surge work its healing magic, and the media needs to stop occasionally telling us that Iraq is not yet the peaceful liberal ponyocracy that Dubya promised. The McBushies claim that any apparent setbacks are really illusions, or successes, or proof of Iran and/or al-Qaeda's desperation and scariness.

So what will it take, guys?