John McCain, Liar (the latest in a continuing series of reports)

John McCain to the Iraqis: "We're McStayin'"

As any astute observer of history knows, a flux capacitor is what makes time-travel possible. Simply build one into a De Lorean, set the controls for the time to which you wish to travel, accelerate to 88 mph, and voila!

Time Travel.

Well, apparently, the McCain campaign has put out the requisition orders for one, or perhaps multiple, flux capacitors and De Loreans to go back and revisit the end of 2006 / beginning of 2007 timeframe. Like Doc Brown and Marty McFly who (inadvertantly) set the world careening on a different trajectory with a misplaced sports almanac, John "We're McStayin'" wants to rewrite the history of the "Surge."

"Great Scott!"

This blog post gives the account. Money Quote:

Note to self: if I ever run for President and decide to stake everything on my understanding of one thing, I should familiarize myself with the basic facts about it. I should be especially careful to do this before I say something like this about someone who got it right: "I don't know how you respond to something that is such a false depiction of what actually happened."

John McCain (quoting Huey Lewis): "Gotta Get Back. In. Time...."

UPDATE: Another excellent Dick Polman analysis, here. Quote:

McCain, naturally, wants the electorate to focus exclusively on the surge. And, yes, as it turns out, he was basically right about the surge (while overstating its prowess, as we shall see in a moment). But the surge, lest we forget, was basically a last-ditch tactic that was designed to mitigate a national security disaster, to get the conflagration under control. McCain was an early, unquestioning enabler of the invasion that sparked the conflagration. He helped set the whole house on fire (at a cost thus far of 4125 American lives and half a trillion dollars), yet now he wants to be reap political reward from the fact that he helped hose down some of the flames.

Nor does McCain talk much about some of the other factors, often cited by U.S. intelligence and military sources, that have contributed to the lessening of violence - such as the Shiite militia cease-fire, and the growing opposition, among Sunni tribal leaders, to the insurgents who fight in the name of al Qaeda. Indeed, the Sunni revolt against al Qaeda (commonly called "the awakening"), began in Iraq's Anbar province in autumn '06 - roughly four months before President Bush even announced his decision to hike the troop levels.

And by the way, take note of that accurate Sunni timeline - because McCain got his facts confused again late yesterday, when he mangled the timeline. (McCain has been factually confused a lot lately, as the Washington press corps is finally acknowledging.) According to the transcript of a CBS News interview, McCain credited the surge with sparking the awakening. In his words, "because of the surge, we were able to go out and protect (the Sunni shieks). And it began the Anbar awakening. I mean, that's just a matter of history."

Maybe in his mind it is, but not in factual reality world. The U.S. military spoke publicly about Sunni leaders' revolt against the insurgents long before the surge. In a press briefing on Sept. 29, 2006, Col. Sean McFarland said that the insurgents had been doing well earlier in the year, but "this is a different phenomena that's going on right now...The tribal leaders are stepping forward and cooperating with the Iraqi security forces against al Qaeda, and it's had a very different result. I think al Qaeda has been pushed up against the ropes by this."