IRAQ
The Maverick Makes It Up

This week during a trip to the Middle East, McCain severely undermined his frequent claims to be "the one best to address a national security crisis" by repeatedly stating that Iran was supporting al Qaeda in Iraq. McCain claimed that Iranian operatives were "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back." He insisted that it was "common knowledge...that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and coming back into Iraq from Iran." McCain's confusion over Iran and al Qaeda puts him in lockstep with the rest of the Bush administration. As the Washington Post notes, "The last five years have produced ample evidence that American leaders were woefully ill-informed about the country they came to rescue." The Post points to a 2002 op-ed by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger that erroneously pointed to a "Sunni majority" in Iraq, despite the fact that Sunnis make up only 15-20 percent of the population. Iraq war architect Bill Kristol famously insisted in April 2003 that "there's almost no evidence" of a conflict between Sunni and Shiite in Iraq "at all," claiming "Iraq's always been very secular." According to author George Packer, Iraqi exiles meeting with President Bush before the war "spent a good portion of the time explaining to the president that there are two kinds of Arabs in Iraq, Sunnis and Shiites." At first, the McCain campaign claimed the senator simply "misspoke." Now the campaign is embracing the remarks, leaving voters all the more unsure about McCain's understanding of foreign policy.

THE FACTS: Though Iran is 90 percent Shiite and al Qaeda is a Sunni group, it is not inconceivable that some aspects of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard are supporting some aspects of al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), or that AQI members have ever crossed the border into Iran. However, there is simply no evidence to support McCain's claim that Iran is "training" AQI in Iran. Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno stated last July, "We don't see any evidence, significant evidence, that shows that [Iranian-controlled] groups that are funding and providing arms to Shi’a extremists are directly related to al Qaeda." In a CNN interview on Wednesday, Gen. David Petraeus backed away from CNN's Kyra Phillips's statement that "it stands firm that Iran is funneling weapons and supporting al Qaeda." Petraeus said, "We're concerned very much about the lethal accelerants...that do come from Iran," but also emphasized that "the flow of foreign fighters and of suicide bombers that help al Qaeda typically is through Syria." "The point is that John McCain’s misstatement is typical of conservatives, who have, through intentionally deceptive language, constantly tried to elide the differences between groups with different goals and ideologies in order to create the illusion of a united Islamofascist enemy."

WHERE'S THE STRAIGHT TALK?: After press coverage of McCain's gaffe, his campaign issued a statement claiming the senator "misspoke and immediately corrected himself." In an interview, McCain himself insisted that he "corrected it immediately," and that he "just simply misspoke." However, as video proves, it was not until Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) whispered a correction in his ear that McCain corrected his mistake. Moreover, McCain conflated Iran and al Qaeda at least three times, not including another time last month -- hardly a case of "misspeaking." By Thursday the McCain campaign had reversed course, insisting McCain did not misspeak at all. McCain advisor Max Boot asked Thursday, "[W]hat gaffe?" and insisted, "There is copious evidence of Iran supplying and otherwise assisting Al Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni terrorist groups (including Al Qaeda central)." Randy Scheunemann, McCain’s senior foreign policy adviser, told the New York Sun, "There is ample documentation that Iran has provided many different forms of support to Sunni extremists, including Al Qaeda as well as Shi’ia extremists in Iraq. It would require a willing suspension of disbelief to deny Iran supports Al Qaeda in Iraq." 

RIGHT-WING ECHO CHAMBER: Just as McCain's campaign has flip-flopped on the veracity of his comments, the right-wing blogosphere has denied that McCain made any error, insisting "the truth" is that "al Qaeda has been receiving funding, training, and equipment from Iran." Weekly Standard blogger Thomas Joscelyn wrote that McCain "shouldn't have taken his statement back," and National Review's Michael Ledeen lamented that the senator "got spooked." However, when pressed for evidence of the Iran-AQI tie, many of these right-wingers link back to a single New York Sun article from early 2007 claiming that a division of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard "is working with individuals affiliated with Al Qaeda in Iraq" -- a far cry from McCain's assertion that Iran was "training" AQI. Like other conservatives, Eli Lake, the author of the Sun piece, dramatically simplifies the questions involved. "Listen this is not that hard a concept," he writes. "Al Qaeda is a terror cartel. Iran is also a terror cartel." Apparently that's a strong enough argument to satisfy the right.

Under the Radar

INTELLIGENCE -- PRESIDENT BUSH APPOINTS GEN. PETER PACE TO THE INTELLIGENCE ADVISORY BOARD:  On Feb. 29, President Bush issued an executive order revamping the President's Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB), "a nonpartisan body offering the President objective, expert advice on the conduct of U.S. foreign intelligence." Historically, the PIAB has provided checks on administration's intelligence gathering. Nevertheless, the President has been determined to stack the board with his loyal Bushies. Federal government employees are barred from serving on the board. But on Tuesday, Bush announced that he was appointing Gen. Peter Pace, who served as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, to the PIAB. Pace has been a consistent defender of the Bush administration's failed policies, insisting in 2006 that everything in Iraq is "going very, very well from everything you look at" and claiming that Rumsfeld "leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country." Earlier this month, Bush also appointed his former homeland security adviser Fran Townsend to the board. Townsend was a key player in broadening the administration's surveillance powers and vocally supported "special methods" of interrogation.

CONGRESS -- ANONYMOUS GOP SENATOR PLACES HOLD ON NOMINEES:  Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) sent a letter to President Bush on Thursday responded to the White House's continued -- and false -- accusations that the Democratic-led Congress is blocking executive and judicial nominees. Leahy reminded Bushthat his "judicial nominations have fared far better than those of [his] Democratic predecessor," and that nearly 90 percent of Bush's nominees have been confirmed to life-time appointments. Leahy also revealed that the confirmation of nominees for "two other critical positions at the Department" of Justice were blocked by an anonymous Republican. The White House has repeatedly blamed Congress for the large number of executive vacancies, even though Bush continues to nominate controversial figures who generate bipartisan opposition. According to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), he met with the White House in December and agreed to allow more than 84 of the President's nominees to go through. Bush, however, insisted that unless the Senate agreed to torture advocate Steven Bradbury's recess appointment, "he wouldn't make a deal."

IRAQ -- WHITE HOUSE CONTINUES TO DISMISS PUBLIC OPINION ON IRAQ: This week, Vice President Dick Cheney asserted that it is "pretty clear" there was a connection between Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Al Qaeda (despite all available evidence) and that the Iraq war has been a "successful endeavor." Moreover, when confronted with the fact that a majority of Americans think the war was not worth fighting, Cheney dismissively replied, "So?" Yesterday, White House press secretary Dana Perino defended Cheney's remarks, saying that Americans "had input" on the war in 2004: "The American people have input every four years, and that’s the way our system is set up." While Perino clearly suggested that current opposition to the Iraq war is inconsequential to the White House, she ignored the fact that in the 2006 mid-term elections, Democrats took back control of both the House and Senate due largely to Americans' desire for a change of course in Iraq.

Think Fast

Following weeks of oil prices hitting over $100 a barrel, Vice President Dick Cheney will meet Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Friday "for talks that will include discussions on cooperation to stabilize the oil market." "I'm sure they will talk about the need for a cooperative way forward to try and stabilize this market, reduce the volatility in the market, and serve the interests of both consumers and producers alike," John Hannah, national security adviser to Cheney, told reporters.

ABC News reports that at least two Iraqi families of victims killed by Blackwater security guards in September say "they have refused compensation offered by the company." The families were offered $20,000 for each victim.

A new Fox poll asserts that the American public believes Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) will be strongest against bin Laden. McCain, however, would not have authorized the strikes inside Pakistan that took out high value al Qaeda targets, nor would he authorize a strike against bin Laden inside Pakistan without that country's permission.

According to the Washington Post, "[i]nflation is walloping Americans with low and moderate incomes as the prices of staples have soared." The Post found that "there is a big divide" in price rises between "the basic items people need to live and get to work, and those on which they can easily cut back when times are tight."

As Wall Street is "caught in a credit crisis," the economic slowdown is heading toward Main Street and "seeping into new parts of the country, to communities that seemed insulated only months ago" which is "fueling worries that what most economists now see as an inevitable recession could end up being especially painful."

General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz acknowledged the car company made a mistake by not making a hybrid car. "We had the technology to come out with a hybrid at the same time as Toyota," Lutz said Tuesday. "In hindsight, it was a mistake. ... We made the mistake and we won’t make it again."

"China’s crackdown in Tibet will not cause President Bush to cancel his planned trip to the Beijing Olympics, the White House said Thursday."

"The success of the US 'surge' strategy in Iraq may be under threat as Sunni militia employed by the US to fight al Qaida are warning of a national strike because they are not being paid regularly." Leading members of the awakening councils "have said they will stop fighting unless payment of their $10 a day wage is resumed." According to a survey by GuardianFilms, four of the 49 councils have quit while 38 more are threatening to leave.

And Finally: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) doesn't have royal blood. Publishers of McCain's book, Hard Call, say that the senator is "related to the Scottish king, Robert the Bruce, on his mother's side," but "genealogists and medieval historian" tasked to investigate the link say it's not so, calling it "wonderful fiction" and "baloney".

Good News

"President Nicolas Sarkozy says France will cut its total nuclear arsenal to less than 300 warheads."

State Watch

CALIFORNIA: Study illuminates health care problems associated with language barrier.

IOWA: Lawmakers push to expand public employee union negotiating powers.

HEALTH CARE: Parents taking advantage of vaccination law exemptions spur fears of public health risk. 

Blog Watch

THINK PROGRESS: Sara Taylor, a former Karl Rove aide, has become an MSNBC pundit.

WONKROOM: Fox News fearmongers on climate change, says addressing global warming will "be painful."

FISHBOWL DC: Vice President Dick Cheney takes press relations lessons from Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

CITIZEN CRAIN: Family Research Council Vice President Peter Sprigg says he would "prefer to export homosexuals from the United States."

Daily Grill

"Our view is that it's a significant enhancement of the public corruption unit. We now have over 70 lawyers who essentially will be able to step up to the plate."
-- Los Angeles U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Brien, 3/17/08, on the disbanding of office's public integrity unit

VERSUS

"In interviews with The Times, several members of the disbanded unit challenged that explanation, saying the move was intended to punish lawyers for a perceived failure to produce and for bad-mouthing their boss, U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O'Brien."
-- Los Angeles Times, 3/20/08

Internships

The research team that brings you The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org needs summer interns! Click here for more information.