Should I Stay or Should I Go? McCain Camp Confused
All is in confusion in the Bush and McCain camps after Nouri al-Maliki told Barack Obama that he endorses a plan to get the USA out of Iraq on a sure and intelligent schedule. We’ve got Centcom sending releases “correcting” al-Maliki, the Bush Admin telling the world about his statement, and McCain stuttering and backtracking.
Since Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told Barack Obama this weekend that he advocates withdrawal as Obama outlines it, the Bush and McCain camps have been a good bit confused. Remember, these are the folks who have cultivated a five year relationship with the Iraq government. Given the incompetencies of the Bush government over the last seven years, it is not surprising that Malaki has gone off message. But check out the stumbling on the part of the Bush Administration — they actually sent a link to this story of Maliki endorsing the Obama plan to all of their email list. From ABCNews:
The White House this afternoon accidentally sent to its extensive distribution list a Reuters story headlined “Iraqi PM backs Obama troop exit plan - magazine.”
The story relayed how Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told the German magazine Der Spiegel that “he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months … ‘U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes,’” the prime minister said.
The White House employee had intended to send the article to an internal distribution list, ABC News’ Martha Raddatz reports, but hit the wrong button.
Meanwhile, the McCain campaign is sputtering a whole bunch, because McCain has always maintained, as ThinkProgress notes, that a duly elected Iraq government is in charge in Iraq. In other words, what Nouri al-Maliki says goes. Hmm, except when it disagrees with the McCain plan of 100 years, I guess.
Of course, the Bush Administration is busy telling Nouri al-Maliki what he said. In other words, they’re playing politics with military policy. As Josh Marshall notes, the “clarification” of Maliki’s statement was released by CentCom.
So which is it, should the Bushies stay or should they go. Perhaps the Clash had it best:
Should I stay or should I go now?
Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there will be trouble
An if I stay it will be double
So come on and let me know
Yeah, Obama has it right. It may end up badly if we go, but it will be double that in the long run if we stay, as McCain, echoing that other Boy George from the past, wishes.
good report, steve.
confirms all the news that i have read this morning on google reader and other sources
hoekstra, lieberman, and the other refuseniks — ie, refuse to admit that the world has changed, while they were watching — just can’t understand why the old “truths” — the politics of fear — don’t have the same ring anymore
Hoekstra is an idiot.
well, idiot or not, hoekstra still wielded a lot of power in the bush era, before november 2006. and so far — maybe this shows his idiocy — he remains resolutely unrepentant about the invasion of iraq
several weeks ago i watched a “debate?” between hoekstra and barney frank.
to call it a debate is a misnomer — instead, it was two people talking “at” one another, with barney frank just loving to stick the knife in and twist it.
Hoekstra is from the most unrepentantly conservative district in the US. He has no reason to change his mind towards sane ideas.
here’s my take on hoekstra — conservative dutch — michigan? out here, in my corner of WA state, we have two pockets of conservative dutch, and they have names like hoekstra.
my theory about conservative dutch in america comes from the realization that the netherlands is one of the pockets of extreme liberal (sexual and druggy) behavior in europe, which says — if my theory is correct — that the conservatives left in disgust, because they couldn’t stand their liberal brothers and sisters.
Hoekstra = Rich DeVos. He’s an Amway Republican. That’s all you need to know, Raymond.