AP Picks Up McCain Gaffe Story: "Obama campaign: McCain flubs on Iraq timeline"

[jefferson_dem]

Obama campaign: McCain flubs on Iraq timeline
1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain says Democrat Barack Obama is wrong about the Iraq war.

But Obama's campaign says McCain was wrong about the war's timeline during a nationally televised interview Tuesday.

Asked about Obama's contention that a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida combined with the addition of thousands of U.S. combat troops that were sent to Iraq contributed to the improved security situation there, McCain scoffed.

"I don't know how you respond to something that is such a false depiction of what actually happened," McCain told "CBS Evening News," adding that Col. Sean MacFarland was contacted by a major Sunni sheik.

"Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening," McCain said, referring to the U.S.-backed revolt of Sunni sheiks against al-Qaida in Anbar province. "I mean, that's just a matter of history."

The problem with McCain's statement — as Obama's campaign quickly noted — was that the awakening got under way before President Bush announced in January 2007 his decision to flood Iraq with tens of thousands of additional U.S. troops to help combat violence.

In March 2007, before the first of the additional troops began arriving in Iraq, Col. John W. Charlton, the American commander responsible for Ramadi, a city in Anbar province, said the newly friendly sheiks, combined with an aggressive counterinsurgency strategy and the presence of thousands of new Sunni police on the streets, had helped cut attacks in the city by half in recent months.

A spokesman for McCain did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.

<SNIP>

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iNCWjmQMaGvYwsHkcXn8...

[gateley]

1. Excellent!

I guess Anderson Cooper played the clip, too - and KO did a bit on it.

Has anybody asked CBS why they cut that part of the interview? That smacks.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. If McCain repeats so many gaffes until November Obama will walk in

it just shows McBush is not up to the job but what do we care. Just keep making the gaffes McCain!

[TwilightGardener]

3. Bwahh! Kick the old cruster in the nerts!

Good on you, Team Obama, this is a big boo-boo!

[Pirate Smile]

4. Good news.

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. Good they finally picked that up after the internet bloggers caught it

Now lets see if the TV media pick it up.

[Newsjock]

6. Jesus Christ on a trailer hitch, AP!

It's not "Obama campaign says" -- it's a freakin' bloody fact. I thought the new, bolder AP was supposed to not be afraid of calling things as they are.

Oh yeah, that's only when it helps the Republicans. Silly me.

[Muttocracy]

7. I hate the headline though - McCain flubbed all on his own and media caught it

This is bigger than a back-and-forth between the campaigns.

[jillan]

8. Give the man more media attention - please!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

9. The McGaffer strikes again

[dkf]

10. The media is waiting for Obama to mess up on foreign policy, not McCain.

It doesn't fit the story they are trying to tell so they bury it.

[Cha]

11. So is cbs trying to cover up something..

with katy as the interviewer?

[Ichingcarpenter]

14. They just didn't cover it up, they edited it and changed the sequence

Pravda......

[Cha]

15. Too bad they weren't fast enough

before they got busted. les moonves?

[Ichingcarpenter]

16. The attacks and lies will become worst- The Net is what saving the truth

The millionaire media heads don't get it or can't stop it, because the feeds
are out there for now with people to see the truth.

Obama knew the power and truth of the web more than any democratic or republican candidate.
Sorry hillary........... truth is a powerful weapon on the tarmac or reality.

Sometimes with the web, it reminds me of going to the greatest libarary on earth
that even the librarian doesn't' know or even have control on what is there.



The Net and education must remain FREE

[Cha]

17. Don't I know it and Al

Gore can be proud of a couple of things.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

12. I can't believe it.

[gateley]

13. McGaffe. nt

[CitizenLeft]

18. "I mean, that's just a matter of history."

Alrighty then.

I don't believe McCain is stupid. Or senile. I think he's a liar who's fooled a lot of people with his "maverick" bullshit. He makes shit up as he goes along, not caring if he's caught or not because his contempt for both voters and the media trumps anything else.

[Cha]

19. The bigger they are the

harder they fall..and mccain's in for a doozy.

[CitizenLeft]

21. I'll be watching, popcorn in hand...!

[Major Hogwash]

20. Why did CBS edit the interview?

Or is that something we should just come to expect from the main stream media?

[Ichingcarpenter]

22. I've seen it since the 70s

Pointed it out to my professors back then with evidence
during a 'riot' in Ocean Beach California how the media
changed the 'timeline' on what happened

What is nice now, is everyone can video it and the cameras
are getting smaller and can put it on the web.

[grantcart]

23. hmmm recall Andrea Mitchell saying something about needing professional

journalists to have real interviews and to just record people talking was a fake interview