Today on the presidential campaign trail
It's all a matter of semantics, he suggested.
McCain said Army Col. Sean MacFarland started carrying out elements of a new counterinsurgency strategy as early as December 2006.
At issue are McCain's comments in a Tuesday interview with CBS. The Arizona senator disputed Democrat Barack Obama's contention that a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida combined with the dispatch of thousands more U.S. combat troops to Iraq to produce the improved security situation there. McCain called that a "false depiction."
Democrats jumped on his comments. They said McCain's remarks showed he was out of touch, because the rebellion of U.S.-backed Sunni sheiks against al-Qaida terrorists in Iraq's Anbar province was under way well before Bush announced in January 2007 his decision to send 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq.
McCain asserted he knew that and didn't commit a gaffe. "A surge is really a counterinsurgency made up of a number of components. ... I'm not sure people understand that `surge' is part of a counterinsurgency."
Speaking on CBS Tuesday of a Sunni sheik who approached Col. MacFarland, McCain said, "Because of the surge, we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening."
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Member Comments
Posted By: Lee Holmes @ 07/23/2008 4:03:32 PM
Comment: Uh-oh. Trouble on the Democrat starboard bow.
While the National Enquirer may not be the end-all of factual news coverage[or mebbe it is,when we consider the New York Times],it make the decision to put a couple of stalkarazzi buttonmen with cameras and place them at the Beverly Hills Hilton in Tinseltown where it picked up two things on the early morning hours of the 21st. One,a blonde woman named Rielle Hunter. The other,a former Democrat presidential candidate named John Edwards,who entered the hotel and remained in the room with Hunter until his later morning departure.[this,while Edwards wife is still undergoing treatment for cancer]. I guess Edwards wont make Obamas short list after all. We now return you to the usual MSM blah-blah.
SLATE July 23,2008:''Edwards:Busted''.
Posted By: Debunked! @ 07/23/2008 2:39:40 PM
Comment: Pia, you are smart as well. But you are CHOOSING to wear blinders! You asked a while back for someone to remind you why are you supporting Obama. That statement says alot. You can't even definitively defend him because there is no substance. I think you know he aint worth five cents but you choose to ignore it. I think your heart knows that something is not right with this man.
Have you noticed that 85% of the Obama crazies stopped posting! They use to pretty much threaten anyone who opposed this man. Why do you think they have stopped posting? People are waking up and seeing the situation for what it is.
As much as you try your best to defend this man, it would not surprise me one bit if once you are in that voting booth--you think REALLY HARD about this wonderful country and vote against him! I know you are going to say I have no clue as to what I am talking about but I think there is a layer of truth in my statements!
Posted By: sjpersonal @ 07/23/2008 2:38:47 PM
Comment: Hi P,
Considering what a woman hating individual McCain is, I believe CChick, Holy and the others like them to be exactly the type of supporters he deserves.