I’m sure Barack Obama thought he was very clever when he came up with this (Weekly Standard Blog):
As commander in chief, I will always reserve the right to make sure that we are looking out for American interests. And if al-Qaida is forming a base in Iraq, then we will have to act in a way that secures the American homeland and our interests abroad.
However, read that again, slowly: “if al-Qaida is forming a base in Iraq.” Perhaps in his zeal to advance his White House ambition, Obama didn’t bother to notice the reason al Qaeda hasn’t formed a base in Iraq - namely that we’ve been whupping them throughout the country.
In response to Obama’s ignorance, John McCain tried some enlightenment (AP via San-Jose Mercury-News):
I have some news. Al-Qaida is in Iraq. It’s called ‘al-Qaida in Iraq.’
Not a good day for the Audacity of Hype.
March 1, 2008 at 2:44 am
[...] Barack Obama forgets Al Qaeda is already in Iraq. [...]
March 1, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Jeez, what an ignoramous. And he could be our next president? To quote Darth Vader, “NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
This reminds me of a sign I saw while I was walking through Berkeley (yes, that Berkeley) today. It listed the days since Operation Iraqi Freedom was launched and how many have died since then. The civilian one was incomplete/unreliable but it seemed whoever made the sign was religious about updating the troop death toll.
I wanted to find whoever put that up and ask them, “Did you keep a count for the Iraqis that were killed through terror before 2003? Are you going to keep a count for the ones that will slaughtered by terrorist groups if we leave prematurely and of the people that will be killed in future terrorist attacks launched from Iraq?”
I hope that McCain calls Obama on every untruth and ignorance that he spouts during the campaign. I don’t have alot of confidence right now that McCain will prevail over Obama, but I think it’s worth a fighting chance.