The Fact-Checker, by Michael Dobbs

McCain goofed. I've goofed; I'll bet even Dobbs has goofed.
The problem is less his goof than his BS trying to cover up his goof.
Can we really afford four more years of a president who can't think of any mistake he made?

Too many times, that's troubling.

Could McCain be suffering from early stage dementia?

http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=1906

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Dobbs balances all of the factual record against his baseless assertion: "After numerous trips to Iraq, the senator surely understands the difference between the two ethnic groups", judges it a toss up and calls it "fact checking". What a joke.

By the way, even with my relatively basic understanding of the situation in Iraq, I would never confuse the Shi'a with al qaeda. There are only 2 possibilities, McCain is frighteningly clueless or he is a liar. Dobbs is ducking.

Also, why does Dobbs pretend the six degrees of Kevin Bacon ridiculousness McCain's people are running complicates the issue? It's obviously absurd.

I had to laugh aloud at the statement, "There is no reason to doubt the statements by U.S. generals that some of the weapons and munitions used by Sunni extremists in Iraq can be traced back to Iran."

Sure, I believe that. I'd also bet that many of the weapons can be traced right here to the USA. After all, we are one of the biggest arms-dealing nations in the world, and while we rushed to secure the Ministry of Oil during the invasion, we ignored major weapons and ammo dumps.

Then there are the 190,000 weapons that went missing under General Petraeus, along with body armor and other military gear.

Voters would actually care about this issue if we could tell Sunnis from Shi'ites, but 99.9% of us can't.

Dobbs is being too easy on McCain. First off, his statement wasn't a distortion. It was an out-and-out lie. There simply is no evidence that Al Qaeda members are receiving training in Iran from the Iranian regime. This clearly was an instance of McCain not only saying something that was untrue, but that he must know to be untrue. In telling such a blatant lie, he's playing to the ignorance of the segment of voters who don't understand the huge differences between Shiia and Sunni, or between Arabs and Persians. This is the sort of public manipulation that facilitated the rush to war with Iraq. I am sick of the MSM fixating on this Rev. Wright business and giving McCain a free pass.

Dobbs is being too easy on McCain. First off, his statement wasn't a distortion. It was an out-and-out lie. There simply is no evidence that Al Qaeda members are receiving training in Iran from the Iranian regime. This clearly was an instance of McCain not only saying something that was untrue, but that he must know to be untrue. In telling such a blatant lie, he's playing to the ignorance of the segment of voters who don't understand the huge differences between Shiia and Sunni, or between Arabs and Persians. This is the sort of public manipulation that facilitated the rush to war with Iraq. I am sick of the MSM fixating on this Rev. Wright business and giving McCain a free pass.

The McCain campaign's editing out of the key first sentence from Odierno's comment, which changes its entire thrust 180 degrees, is a deliberate act of dishonesty, intended to mislead.

The Fact-Checker appears to have caught them in the act, but feels this doesn't merit a Pinocchio nose.

Why not? What does McCain have to do to merit more than two Pinocchios? Swear on the Bible that black is white and up is down?

When you are running as The Die-Hard Supporter of Bush's Failed War in Iraq you had better understand the difference between Shia & Sunni extremism and what countries might or might not be supporting it.

Bush didn't even know that there were ethnic divisions in Iraq before he invaded. He thought they were al just "muslims". You all see how well that feeble grasp of reality/history worked out for him and for all the U.S. soldiers that have died since he was allowed to play "War President".

McCain took an ugly turn down Idiocy Lane when he decided to hitch his wagon to Bush's. I lost all respect for the man when he campaigned in 2004 for the scumbags that smeared him in South Carolina in 2000.

This wasn't a "gaffe"- he is clueless. Perhaps the press should spend less time eating ribs at his ranch in Sedona and playing footsie with him on his bus and start actually covering his positions and his lobbyist pals.

Voters would actually care about this issue if we could tell Sunnis from Shi'ites, but 99.9% of us can't.

Posted by: WashingtonDame | March 20, 2008 02:12 PM
******************************************
But most of us would like our President (who has the power to invade or attackusing our vast military) to have a better grasp of the subject. I am not in Congress, nor do I have a degree. I have learned the difference just by reading the news. Perhaps I am missing my calling.
VOTE FOR ME!!!I NEED THE RAISE!!!

BREAKING NEWS...

CNN REPORTS THAT A MCCAIN AIDE OR STAFFER HAS BEEN SUSPENDED FOR CIRCULATING THE REV. WRIGHT VIDEO TO THE NEWS MEDIA! TALK ABOUT A SMEAR CAMPAIGN!

i hear on msnbc news today, that rev. wright is about to be honored for his legacy of achievements at the school of religion at Texas Christian University....

what does this tell me?...

that the media didn't do justice with this man with their reporting, by only showing 30 second soundbytes out of over 207,000 minutes of sermons and by not looking at his complete history of faith and healing within his church and community ...

i truly respect the washington post for it's in-depth article on rev. wright just yesterday...

3 cheers for the wash. post...

maybe some of the tv critics like hannity, o'reilly, dobbs, blitzer, anderson cooper, campbell brown, pat buchannon, and geraldo rivera ought to do some real investigative reporting on rev. wright's 36 year leagcy as a whole like the wash. post did, as opposed to the continous onslaught of 30 second soundbyte mistakes...or how about just read the article themselves and give this perspective?....but nooooooooo......these reporters/anchors are so blind-sided with the same hatred and rage that they accuse rev.wright with......

obviously the school of religion associated with TCU thinks very highly of this man's overall achievements! because they are ready to officially honor him for his victories on social injustice, faith and healing, despite what the critics are saying ....

SHAME ON THE MEDIA FOR CRUCIFYING THIS MAN without telling the whole story!

SHAME ON MCCAIN AND HIS CAMP FOR THIS SMEAR CAMPAIGN!

SHAME ON HILLARY FOR HER SMEAR AS WELL!

if you are going to be a reporter/news anchor or whatever you call yourself, then do your job!...get the complete story...otherwise you are spreading rumors & rhetoric to influence others with your vicious, racist thoughts!,

Same old Rovian fear rhetoric! Fear is one of the best motivators to do something and the GOP keeps ramping it up as if only they can protect you. This is despite the fact that the NIS has reported that Al Qaida is as strong as ever and has used Iraq as a recruiting poster. This is despite the fact that Iranian leadership is stronger today without the Iraqi counterbalance.

McCain is not mistaken. He is deliberately trying (and because 99.9% don't know the difference, succeeding) to tie AQ and Iran together. You don't have to wonder why. He wants us out of Iraq.
He wants to bomb, bomb, bomb. Bomb, bomb Iran. This elder generation holds onto the grudges and will not see the world as it is, but only as it was 30 years ago.
He wants to re-institute the draft. If it was good enough for him, it's good enough to build up enough military to attack any nation we disagree with.

A poster wrote: Voters would actually care about this issue if we could tell Sunnis from Shi'ites, but 99.9% of us can't. -- Whether voters should know the difference or not is another debatable topic. But anyone would WANT the guy who holds the red trigger to know the difference, right? The more this guy stands on the big stage, the more he looks like the guy who recently had the lowest approval rating. The Republicans are definitely on a roll!!

Exceptionally well stated docdwb. With overly biased extreme right wing conservative radio and tv commentators dominating the radio and television waves, it it virtually impossible to receive objective coverage of this, and many other subjects, having importance in this election. Their talking points beat to the tune of the same drum and its the ONLY music they want to hear. I find it amazing these same radio and tv hosts espouse a vitriolic non-stop feeding frenzy and character assasination against Barack Obama, yet are remarkably and collectively MUTE when it came to presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani's 39 year continuing close friendship with a child molester, a Catholic Priest named Monsignor Alan Placa. The Suffock County N.Y. grand jury report also stated this Catholic Priest helped cover-up the sexual abuse of children by other priests as well. Placa was stripped of his position by the Diocese of Rockville Centre and forbidden from representing himself in public or conducting worship services as a priest. This individual is also in the current employ of Giuliani Partners as a consultant. Placa officiated one of Giuliani's weddings and baptized two of his children. People of America, there is one hell of a difference between associating ones self with a known pedeophile and associating with a person who verbally expresses anger from living through and being on the receiving end of a ugly, yet true, period in our nations history. These commentators collectively porport to call their reporting 'fair and balanced'. Give me a break, I don't drive, nor fly, a turnip truck....

You address only one false claim made by McCain on the topic. Not only has he repeatedly asserted that Iran is training al Qaeda operatives, he also claimed that, when he said this, he simply mispoke. I quote ". I just simply misspoke when I said al Qaeda."

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/20/mccain-gaffe-nbc/

Now his campaign has shifted tack. They are no longer claiming that there were 3 separate slips of the tongue in two days. Rather they argue that he meant what he said and that it was true.

Now one can argue about exactly what his claim meant and that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, but even his own campaign admits that he lied when he said and I quote again "I just simply misspoke when I said al Qaeda."

I must say that you are clearly aware of this lie as you begin your article with the proof that it is a lie (the Hewitt broadcast). Also the lie is right there on Thinkprogress which you cite. Yet you chose not to share with your readers the fact that you have caught McCain in a bald faced lie.

Why ? How can you call yourself a fact checker when you choose not to mention the fact that a candidate lied ?

Even without the italics, the statement by the general is pretty clear that the relationship between the two is tangential at best. McCain misspoke, and he corrected himself when it was pointed out. Criticism here is, I believe, a reach.

Now wait a minute, Mr. Fact Checker.

"The charge that McCain mixed up Sunnis and Shiites is probably unfair. After numerous trips to Iraq, the senator surely understands the difference between the two ethnic groups."

He didn't just mix up Sunnis and Shiites, he was saying Iran was training and sending back into Iraq AL QAIDA. A blatant fantasy, at best. And that wasn't a slip. Not only did he say it several times until Iraq Joe whispered into his ear, NOBODY accidentally says "Al Qaida" these days. It's too loaded a term to just slip up when you meant to say something different. The human brain doesn't work that way, even when it's tired.

And this comes just two weeks after McCain claimed that if we left Iraq the country would surely be taken over by Al Qaida. There isn't a serious military analyst from anywhere on the political spectrum who believes this notion is even remotely plausible. AQI's numbers are too small and they have zero support among the civilian population. Ain't gonna happen.

But of course, McCain got a big lazy pass on it from our crack media, because after all he was once a POW. Being a POW means you can make outlandish statements unsupported by reality, after all. Even if you finished 894th out of 899 in your class at the Naval Academy. And by your own boasting admission, drank your way through your time there.

McCain could mumble something about the mountains in Tora Bora being made out of green cheese and the media would simply ooh and ahh over his foreign policy expertise. What nitwits.

John "bom-bom-Iran" McCain hasn't gotten over the Vietnam war yet. He thinks if we had stayed longer we would have won. Never mind the 58,000 dead Americans and MILLIONS of dead Vietnamese. It's a good thing they are forgiving people.

I don't think the Iraqis are going to be that forgiving. We rescued them from Saddam and then the Bushies rushed in to take over their country and turn it into a conservative Utopia.

It amazes me that after the Iraq debacle the press is still so gullible. McCain gives them some "straight-talk" buddy, buddy like Dubya, and they fall all over him. McCain brags that was critical of Rumsfeld. why didn't he speak up to Rummy's boss...you know, The Decider?

Yes to Obama in 2008. He has the judgement we need.

Maybe McCain is more like Reagan than we realized. His apparent confusion recently might be more than a simple "senior moment".

Maybe McCain is more like Reagan than we realized. His apparent confusion recently might be more than a simple "senior moment".

As a Concerned Local Citizen, mother of a US Army Sergeant deployed to Baghdad, I quickly sorted out Sunni from Shia as Kissinger, Kristol, et. al. were beating the drum for war in 2002.
This is the very reason I concluded an invasion would be disastrous. ( On the basis of other data, I concluded invasion was unnecessary.)
For 6 years I have DAILY interpreted all information from Iraq through the alliances & purported goals of Iran, Iraqi Shia, Iraqi Kurds, Iraqi Sunni, & radical islamists. How could a candidate for president do less? McCAIN is TOO OLD. He is no longer PAYING ATTENTION. He didn't appoplgize & say, "Oh, I meant Quds forces." He (& apparently Kissinger) are FORMING THEIR FRICKIN FOREIGN POLICY on a sloppy belief in interchangeability of Islamic "terrorist" threats.
VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA. He's only 47, still sharp, knows who Iran supports & who supports al-Qaeda. WE DESERVE a president who not only knows this, but recognizes the importance of knowing this.

As a Concerned Local Citizen, mother of a US Army Sergeant deployed to Baghdad, I quickly sorted out Sunni from Shia as Kissinger, Kristol, et. al. were beating the drum for war in 2002.
This is the very reason I concluded an invasion would be disastrous. ( On the basis of other data, I concluded invasion was unnecessary.)
For 6 years I have DAILY interpreted all information from Iraq through the alliances & purported goals of Iran, Iraqi Shia, Iraqi Kurds, Iraqi Sunni, & radical islamists. How could a candidate for president do less? McCAIN is TOO OLD. He is no longer PAYING ATTENTION. He didn't appoplgize & say, "Oh, I meant Quds forces." He (& apparently Kissinger) are FORMING THEIR FRICKIN FOREIGN POLICY on a sloppy belief in interchangeability of Islamic "terrorist" threats.
VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA. He's only 47, still sharp, knows who Iran supports & who supports al-Qaeda. WE DESERVE a president who not only knows this, but recognizes the importance of knowing this.

Nick on your post Mar 20 @ 4:26PM:

I tend to agree with you. It would be almost impossible to cover another front (or continue the two current) without a draft. It would similar to leaving the defense playing the game for five quarters straight. If they don't get a break, eventually the team will loose.

It has been speculated that he's seeking a single term, so it doesn't matter if the voting public doesn't like it.

He wanted Rumsfeld out badly. Rumsfeld was the SOS (1975) that started the ALL VOLUNTEER MILITARY and wouldn't let it go. Now he's out, and the gate is wide open. Do we need a draft? To do this right, yes. To do it poorly for another 100 years, no.

The main question is, are any of the current candidates going to be able to pull out? I don't think so. Truth is, to date, we have remained in almost every country that we fight with/from.

I regretfully admit to being a senior citizen albeit a bit younger than McCain, but I know the difference between Shia and Sunni. I also know there is a difference between Arab and Persian. Unfortunatedly this man is not senile but as uninformed and uninterested as our current President. One was at the bottom of his class at the USNA, and the other toward the bottom at Yale. Both were affirmative action admissions, based on powerful fathers who were graduates of their respective schools; neither would have been admitted on their own merit. We need a President like Barak Obama whose achievements are his own; a man of intellect as well as integrity.

and now the pres has blurted out some more lies.
fear fear fear.
the bogey man is out there.
but maybe its the GOP!

not the suggestion iran govt is actively wrorking towards being blown to bits like iraq.

would the appropriate punishment be impeachment or waterboarding?

Although I haven't always agreed with Dobbs' assignment of Pinocchio ratings, I had thought that the column was at least a worthwhile exercise until now. I cannot understand why Dobbs mischaracterized McCain's actual statements (he didn't simply "mix up" Sunnis and Shi'ites; he thrice repeated the very specific claim that Iran was assisting Al Qaeda), and overlooks the telling fact that McCain first honestly acknowledged the error, but then scrambled to cobble together some partial and, at best, irrelevant third party quotes to claim that he hadn't really made an error in the first instance. Dobbs caps off his analysis with the circular (and evidence-bare) assertion that it is somehow unfair to suggest that McCain's repeated misstatements indicate that he doesn't actually understand the situation in Iraq, because "surely" he must. As much as I support the concept of this column - and I really do - I won't be going out of my way to read this feature any longer. I'm afraid that it defeats the purpose of the column, at least as I understood its purpose, to bend so far backwards to give McCain, or any other candidate, the benefit of this much doubt.

The key word is "surely". "Surely" McCain knew what he meant to say.

This is exactly what the press did in 2000. Surely George Bush wasn't as stupid as he sounded.

Surely the press will get it wrong again.

I agree that Sen. McCain probably does know the difference between Shiia and Sunni, and this was more of a slip than a serious misunderstanding. Nonetheless, he was clearly confused at that moment, and that's what worried me. I'm five years younger than Sen. McCain and the same thing already happens to me and others I know. I like McCain, and eight years ago he would have been worth a very hard look. But today it's in my view too late. The Presidency is incredibly demanding. We've already had one President in recent years from limited energy and attention to early dementia, and he wasn't this old and was in better health to begin with. For the first time ever, I think, the age of the candidate is a very legitimate concern.

I agree that Sen. McCain probably does know the difference between Shiia and Sunni, and this was more of a slip than a serious misunderstanding. Nonetheless, he was clearly confused at that moment, and that's what worried me. I'm five years younger than Sen. McCain and the same thing already happens to me and others I know. I like McCain, and eight years ago he would have been worth a very hard look. But today it's in my view too late. The Presidency is incredibly demanding. We've already had one President in recent years from limited energy and attention to early dementia, and he wasn't this old and was in better health to begin with. For the first time ever, I think, the age of the candidate is a very legitimate concern.

Judging from McCain's missteps in Europe, I believe we're seeing the beginning stage of early onset Alzheimer's.

We should all follow the progress of this condition through the summer.

Hillary Clinton gets four Pinocchios for a grossly overdramatic account of a personal experience in a war zone, and McCain gets only two Pinocchios for either making up an Iran/al Queda connection, or being ignorant of the Sunni/Shi'ia situation?

At worst, Clinton's untruth is an egotistical gaffe, that can result in no real harm. McCain's untruthful comment, on the other hand, can move us closer to yet another war based on lies.

Your rebuttal of McCain's statement is not definitive by any stretch. Just because Iran is predominately Shiite does not mean that they wouldn't be motivated to cause chaos in neighboring shiite-Iraq. According to your own paper, the shaped-charge roadside bombs probably came from Iran. Anyone who is stupid enough to actually take a Hamas statement at face value (they aren't receiving aid from Iran) is living in some sort of fantasyland. Iran has a 30 year long history of antagonistic behaviour toward the US so why is it so unbelievable that they aren't helping terrorists kill Americans in Iraq? I can see that this whole manufactured "gaffe" is really just a childish attempt to equalize the stupidity between parties.

Anyone want to comment on this article in relation to our current conversation?

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,664967,00.html

I see that noone wanted to discuss The TIME article about the 9/11 commission's finding that there were substantive connections between Al Queda and the Iranian government. It's convenient how both Democrats/liberals and Republicans/conservatives will cherry pick information to only support their myopic version of events.

We are Americans. Whether you are for or against the war in Iraq, it is irresponsible for you to disregard the Islamic fundamentalist threat. If Iran is an important conduit for money and training to lunatics, it should concern you all.

As I have said MANY TIMES: IRAN IS THE SOURCE, FROM WHICH ALL TERRORISM FLOWS, IN SOME FORM, IN SOME FASHION, IT ALL PASSES THROUGH THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN.

I know this is going to burst a bubble, but right after 9/11 Iran was not oficially involved with the Taliban, nor with al-Qaeda. BUT THAT IS NOT TRUE NOW, AND MCCAIN IS NOT INCORRECT WHEN HE SAYS THAT IRAN IS WORKING WITH AL-QAEDA.

Much of the information concerning these connections is classifed, so that is why you didn't hear anyone clarify his remarks-but Lieberman was not correct-either. You see, now, the Revolutionary Guard, which operates quite independently of the kook Ahmadinejad and the Islamic Republic,(which Ahmadinejad does not want the world to know) DOES THE DIRTY WORK THAT THE GOVT. MAY, OR MAY NOT, LEARN ABOUT-THAT IS BY DESIGN, NOT BY ACCIDENT.

AL-QAEDA IN IRAQ HAS BEEN GETTING SUPPORT FROM IRAN, VIA GOLD SHIPMENTS THAT PASS THROUGH IRAN TO IRAQ FOR OPERATIONS AGAINST THE US, TO FAR MORE INVOLVED AND ADVANCED TERRORIST OPERATIONS. THIS IS A FACT, PEOPLE, AND MCCAIN IS RIGHT ON POINT.

As for the Shia/Sunni difference, that was just a slip-McCain clearly knows the diference between these two groups, more importantly MCCAIN UNDERSTANDS JUST HOW GRAVE A THREAT IRAN IS TO THE US AND ISRAEL.

I agree that Dobbs is being too easy on McCain. He certainly should know the difference between Shiites and Sunnis, but this was no slip of the tongue. He didn't seem to know that he should correct himself until Lieberman corrected him, and this makes me wonder if his mental abilities are not in serious decline. If so, I don't think Dobbs should give him a pass on this account.

For "independent in Sarasota", I looked at your link, and I find it unremarkable. It is not a suprise that Iran should have contact with an anti-American group located in a neighboring country. Nor is it a surprise that some elements of the Iranian government might be supportive of an attack on the US military (the USS Cole attack). However, to take this as evidence that Iran had some connection to 9/11 is just silly. After 9/11, there was only one country that al Qaeda felt comfortable fleeing to from Afganistan, and it certainly wasn't Iran.

For the nameless poster who tells us that Iran is the source of all terrorism: I guess you must be right because anyone using ALL CAPS must surely be telling the truth. It is nice to know that Iran is behind the Tamil Tigers, as well.

Hey Dave-in all your flippancy, do you seriously think that our European allies would back the US on more severe sanctions on Iran if they themselves were not utterly convinced of Iran's evil intentions, of being the regional Middle East Power, of continuing to enrich uranium to build a nuclear weapon while it deceives the IAEA, and its stated goals of the destruction of the US and Israel? Things have changed since the Iraq war-former enemies have now joined and formed connections to defeat the common enemy-the US. Iran has been building those connections with former enemies such as al-Qaeda and the Taliban by providing arms and gold shipments and more-such support has been growing, particularly in the past three years or so.

But if you don't believe that is so, then you're not very well informed, there is a lot of open source information there which documents the connections between Iran and al-Qaeda. But it is obvious that you don't know very much about Iran and its connections if you don't even know about the very important findings of the 9/11 Commission-although a lot of information is classified, there WAS assistance given to the hijackers by Iran, Atta and others passed through Iran on their way to the US.

However, if you're not too lazy you can google 9/11 commission and iran and check it out for yourself-but I doubt you'll do that-you'd rather stick with your personal beliefs rather than facts.

Dear Nameless

Yes, I think that the Europeans are appropriately wary of Iran's intentions, and I sure that there are many in the Iranian government who feel that Iran should have nuclear weapons to counter Israel. But neither the Europeans nor the 9/11 commission make the outrageous claims that you do. To be quite honest, you remind me of all the Iraqi expatriates who were spinning all sorts of stories in their successful attempt to sucker the US into invading Iraq. So, what's the real story Nameless? Are you hoping to get some property back that was stolen from you in 1979?

P.S. Dave-I think you need to do a lot more research into these issues, if you really want to claim to be informed. Iran is the greatest danger facing the world today, and even President Sarkozy of France has not ruled out military action against Iran-do you SERIOUSLY think the Europeans would be thinking and saying that, if they didn't know something more than what YOU think about the matter?

P.S. And as for the Tamil Tigers-the FBI among many other law enforcement organizations around the world believe that the LTTE otherwise known as the Tamil Tigers, absolutely IS and has had connections to al-Qaeda, certainly to Ramzi Yousef, the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and connections to the bombing of the USS COLE, which was an Iranian Revolutionary Guard operation. So before you get your nasties off about what you don't know, it pays to be a little informed about the issues; that way, you don't sound quite so petty and ill-informed, i.e., not credible.

So Iran is a bigger threat than al-Qaeda? Darn, I guess we'll have to invade there, too. Although the NIE says they don't have a functional nuclear weapons program, we can claim WMDs despite this. I think I've seen this movie before but surely it will end differently this time. Bottom line is McCain is ignorant of the situation, woefully misinformed, or crazily sabre rattling for a three front war and 2012 goal for the Apocalypse.

But not nearly so misinformed as YOU, Joe, in all your naivete, you believe that Iran and Iraq are essentially the same situation: THEY ARE NOT, AND ONLY THE ILL-INFORMED WOULD CONFUSE THE TWO-WHY, EVEN THE EUROPEANS KNOW AND ACKNOWLEDGE THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE IRAN THREAT.

This Dem says: Thank God for McCain, he DOES know the difference!

http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/

Dave:

More unremarkable information (links), keep your head in the sand brother!

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/020232.php

http://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=5167

Unremarkable? One of the most successful american killer's in Islam, SUNNI and funded and trained by Iranian oil dollars.

Don't let your political BS stand in the way of reasoned thought. Along with Saudi Wahabiast cash, Iran is one of the largest enablers of all islamic terrorism in the world. They support Ansar Al Islam (sunni) hamas (sunni) hesbollah (crazy) and any other nutjob willing to blow himself up. They are ideologically driven, befriend and fund any and all anti-american/anti israelli groups and are obviously attempting to develop nuclear arms. Helps me sleep at night, how bout you?

Obama's efforts to connect to the Republican Party, specifically Bush, and Dick Chaney, of the Halliburton Company, dates back to the Presidents Grandfather, Prescott Bush, and indeed Chaney was once an executive officer of Halliburton.

The American military pounds Iraq with Artillary, bombs, and the like, destroying large sections of cities, and infra-structures, then Halliburton comes in to rebuild. Halliburton and Halliburton associated companies have raked in ten's of billions.

Obama is just like the BIG HALIBURTAN. Haliburton has contracted to build detention centers in the U.S. similiar to the one in Quantanammo Bay, Cuba. Halliburton does nothing to earn the Two Dollars for each meal an American Serviceman in Iraq eats.

http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/

Halliburton was scheduled to take control of the Dubai Ports in The United Arab Emiirate. The deal was canceled when Bush was unable to affect the transfer of the American Ports.

Now we see what some might suspect as similiar financial escapading from the Democrats.

Two years ago, Iraq's Ministry of Electricity gave a $50 million contract to a start-up security company - Companion- owned by now-indicted businessman (TONY REZKO) Tony Rezko and a onetime Chicago cop, Daniel T. Frawley, to train Iraqi power-plant guards in the United States. An Iraqi leadership change left the deal in limbo. Now the company, Companion Security, is working to revive its contract.
Involved along with Antoin "Tony" Rezco, long time friend and neighbor of Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, and former cop Daniel T. Frawley, is Aiham Alsammarae. Alsammarae was accused of financial corruption by Iraqi authorities and jailed in Iraq last year before escaping and returning here.

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON --
Recently, Obama's campaign staff have been vetted by the IRS to disclose his connection to the criminal money generating underworld. Besides, his connections to the REZCO MAFIA types, his up-coming tax fraud charges -- Obama needs to disclose why he is a MUSLIM "PATWANG-FWEEE" and disclose Obama's MUSLIM Farrakhan mob connection to Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. Its minister, and Obama's spiritual adviser, is the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. In 1982, the church launched Trumpet Newsmagazine; Wright's daughters serve as publisher and executive editor. Every year, the magazine makes awards in various categories. Last year, it gave the Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter Award to a man it said "truly epitomized greatness." That man is Louis Farrakhan. Farrakhan and Chicago's Trinity United Church are trumpeting Barack Obama AKA Barack Hussein Obama as the second coming of the messiah. Obama should stop suppoting our intervention in IRAQ. It's time to introduce this false, fake Xerox - X box Obama and invite the self-indicting thief plagiarizing pipsqueke "GLORK" Xerox - X box to meet the Buffalo "GAZOWNT-GAZIKKA" Police Department Buffalo Creek. He is MAD!!! --

OBAM YOU'RE NO JFK --

"GLORK" Obama looks like Alfred E. Newman: "Tales Calculated To Drive You." He is a MUSLIM "Glork" He's MAD!!! Alfred E. Neuman is the fictional mascot of Mad. The face had drifted through American pictography for decades before being claimed by Mad editor Harvey Kurtzman after he spotted it on the bulletin board in the office of Ballantine Books editor Bernard Shir-Cliff, later a contributor to various magazines created by Kurtzman.
Obama needs to disclose why he is a MUSLIM "PATWANG-FWEEE" and stop suppoting our intervention in IRAQ. It's time to introduce this false, fake "GLORK" Xerox - X box Obama and invite the self-indicting thief plagiarizing pipsqueke Xerox - X box to meet the Buffalo "GAZOWNT-GAZIKKA" Police Department Buffalo Creek.

Michelle Obama should be ashamed.

"GLORK" Michelle Obama should be ashamed of her separatist-racist connection to Farrakhan and Chicago's Trinity United Church trumpeting Barack Obama AKA Barack Hussein Obama as the second coming of the messiah. If Michelle Obama new what her husband -- the Hope-A-Dope, Fonster Monster -- Barack Obama AKA Barack Hussein Obama did in Harlem, she would wash her wide-open, Hus-suey loving MUSILM mouth out, with twenty-four (24) mule-team double-cross X-boX-BorraX. He is a MUSLIM "Glork" It's time to introduce this false, fake "GLORK" Xerox - X box Obama and invite the self-indicting thief plagiarizing pipsqueke Xerox - X box to meet the Buffalo "GAZOWNT-GAZIKKA" Police Department Buffalo Creek. He's MAD!!!

http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/

THE SPEECH --

The Apologia has arrived and once again the self-indicting, separatist-racist Barack Obama AKA Barack Hussein Obama, promises to heal the wounds of the world. The speech is the rude awakening of mass messianism of his campaign. Apologetically, Obama the MUSLIM double-cross X-boX-BorraX has an astonishingly empty two-prawn echelon explanation of his misjudgment.
In the first prawn: with regard to his connection to separatist-racist Rev. Wright; Obama summons voodoo and juju to express slavery as beginning and ending with the Rev. Wright.
In the second prawn: Obama's speech takes credit for Ashley's dream. A dream of unity Martin Luther King, Jr. borrowed from Ashley for his historic "I Have A Dream" speech. In Obama's speech, the connective bond Ashley, the elderly black man and Obama's grandmother share; represents Obama's self-indicting rise to the Harvard Yard. For Obama, the grand flag of language is the semi-fore of words, bestowed upon our nation by the messiah-alumni from Harvard. Obama's Swoon-Song Apologia to the nation represents a failed hymn -- a hymn that fails to heal the nation, repair the world, or make this time different than all the rest. Obama's speech is a brilliant failure.

http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/

"There is no reason to doubt the statements by U.S. generals that some of the weapons and munitions used by Sunni extremists in Iraq can be traced back to Iran."

This very newspaper wrote, citing MG Caldwell, on April 11-12, 2007:

HEADLINE APRIL 12, 2007- Washington Post
"Iran Giving Arms To Iraq's Sunnis, U.S. Military Says; Such Aid Would Mark Shift by Tehran"

"Citing testimony from detainees in U.S. custody, Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell said Iranian intelligence operatives were backing the Sunni militants inside Iraq while at the same time training Shiite extremists in Iran."

So I must ask this: is your paper in the habit of reporting falsehoods or is it a reflection of vetted, primary sourcing? If the latter, why would your "journalists" not confer with their own before putting out a patently biased "assessment?"

John McCain was not born in any Territory of the United States.

Where John was born was not added to the Canal Zone until Dec 1941 when John was 5 years old.

"After numerous trips to Iraq, the senator surely understands the difference between the two ethnic groups."

And it looks like you "fact-checkers" don't know what the term "ethnic group" means. Both the Sunni and Shia in Iraq are mostly Arabs -- the SAME ethnic group; they are different RELIGIOUS SECTS.

McCain just did it again. In questioning Gen. Petreaus today he suggested that Al-Qaeda was a Shiite group. If he keeps saying it, he must believe it.