One of John McCain’s biggest talking points is how he has more foreign-policy experience than any of the major presidential candidates in the field. “I’ve been involved in every major national security challenge for the last 20 years that has faced this country,” McCain told reporters in Arizona two weeks ago. “I look forward to having that debate as to who’s the most qualified in the event of a national crisis and the phone ringing at 3am in the White House.” Yet on Day Three of an overseas tour aimed in part at promoting those national security credentials, McCain proves he’s not infallible when it comes to telling the difference between the Sunnis and the Shia. According to the Washington Post, the Arizona senator, in a media availability with reporters in Jordan, repeatedly misidentified which Iraq extremist group is allegedly getting aid from Iran. The likely GOP nominee told reporters that he was concerned about Iranian operatives “taking Al Qaeda into Iran; training them and sending them back.” Asked to elaborate, McCain said, it’s “common knowledge and has been reported in the media that Al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran. That’s well known. And it’s unfortunate.” In fact, U.S. officials have said they believe Iran, a predominately Shiite country, is helping Shiite extremists in Iraq, not Al Qaeda, considered a Sunni militant group. It didn’t take long for McCain to correct his mistake. During the presser, the Post reports, Sen. Joe Lieberman, a McCain ally who is traveling this week with the senator, stepped forward to whisper something in McCain’s ear. Afterwards, the senator corrected himself. “I’m sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al Qaida,” he said. A little too late. McCain’s opponents, including the Democratic National Committee, have already been emailing the clip around along with the transcript of a radio interview last night when McCain made the same gaffe.
NBC's First Read asks, "What if Clinton or Obama had made this mistake?" Good question.
Update: McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers responds:
“In a press conference today, John McCain misspoke and immediately corrected himself by stating that Iran is in fact supporting radical Islamic extremists in Iraq, not Al Qaeda -- as the transcript shows. Democrats have launched political attacks today because they know the American people have deep concerns about their candidates’ judgment and readiness to lead as commander in chief.”
