McCain’s April Fool’s Joke?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, WarHe said things are getting better in Iraq.
Hmmm…
Baghdad, April 1, 2007. It wasn’t your typical Sunday stroll. A Republican congressional delegation led by Sen. John McCain popped by the Shorja market in Baghdad this afternoon, a stop on an unannounced Iraq trip. They spent over an hour browsing market stalls, chatting with locals and drinking chai. “I bought five carpets for five bucks,” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina gushed at a presser shortly after the visit. (A helluva bargain by any measure). [...]In the interest of presenting the full picture then, I think it should be pointed out that McCain and his fellow senators were accompanied to the market by a small army, upwards of 50 soldiers according to a source who accompanied the group on the stroll. Just another day at the market. And even though McCain cited a drop in violence, Agence France Presse on Sunday quoted an Iraqi official who reported a 15 percent increase in violence across Iraq in March. According to their tally, 2,078 civilians, cops and soldiers were killed last month, 272 more fatalities than in February.
In any case, it didn’t take the insurgents long to send their reply. Less then 30 minutes after McCain wrapped up, a barrage of half a dozen mortars peppered the boundaries of the Green Zone, where the senators held their press conference. Though he was argumentative, McCain wasn’t completely out of touch on Sunday. Admitting “we have a long way to go,” the 2008 presidential candidate acknowledged that previous rosy assessments have been inaccurate. “I’m not saying ‘mission accomplished,’ ‘last throes’ or ‘dead enders.’”
Also, NBC reports that McCain was accompanied by “100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead.�
So then, the question is will this be an effective piece of political theatre or will it make Republican voters question McCain’s judgement even more?
This entry was posted on Sunday, April 1st, 2007 and is filed under 2008 Election, War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 1st, 2007 at 11:19 pm
[...] Not the complete picture? McCain says the American people aren’t seeing it in Iraq even as “three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead” him. McCain said this all wearing a bulletproof vest. It’s safe in Baghdad. Really. [...]
April 2nd, 2007 at 2:00 am
[...] Other Bloggers Are Weighing In: Eschaton; Washington Monthy (Political Animal); Pam’s House Blend; PoliBlog; The Daily Kos; The Reaction (Michael J.W. Stickings); Middle Earth Journal; Cliff Schecter; Firedoglake; Donklephant; The Impolitic [...]