Boy, if this is all the liberals can manage against John McCain then he must be home free. Who hasn't misspoken occasionally?

Jerry, seattle , usa

Actually, Iran training Al Qaeda HAS been widely reported in the news. He meant to say extremists, but his original statement was accurate too. Look at the 9-11 Commission Report, page 61 or The New York Sun 11/14/06, or USA Today 4/11/07, The Guardian 5/22/07, and on and on. Could someone please at least PRETEND they aren't just looking for any little thing to crucify McCain over?

Jared, Salem, USA

It seems to me that all your leaders are clueless.
Maybe too much in-breeding.

Ned Kelly, Sydney, Australia

But Mr. Wendall you must be mistaken or the stories you mention are in error, or worse, McCain is really confused because the McCain campaign themselves had released this statement:


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.

Troutski, Seattle, Wa

They should seize on yet another example of McCain's clulessness and incoherency. bush's approval ratings are 24% & McCain's should be no higher.

tom, chicago, Il

Leave to the media and Obama's camp to be clueless that they reported about a year ago of the Iran Quds forces training and supporting Sunni and Shiite insurgents as well as Al Qaeda affiliated individuals. (WashPost and NYSun both had it at least.)

Pete Wendell, St. Louis Park, USA/MN

I just wish that the American voters opened their eyes to the fact that McCain is simply too old to take up such an important role. He should be at home enjoying his retirement.

The US are in deep economical crises, yet all he focuses on is Iraq - if the current administration had spent less money supporting the warlords and given more attention to their domestic issues and the real needs of their citizens they wouldn't be in such dire straits.
The USA are the most influencial nation in the world, when they are in crisis, the rest of the world is in crisis. Please elect a president capable of bringing this great nation back up.

mp, Lisbon, Portugal

So we are right back to the "nuclear threat" canard which we were presented with five years ago in a different form. As with Bush, McCain's default mode is "wishful thinking" - objective facts only get in the way. Flailing around for yet another cheap excuse for using overwhelming force on people they don't know anything about - as per usual. Crying wolf every five minutes disguises the Republicans' own failings; their inability to move out of the self-contained self-involved bubble saying "I am perfect and entitled, by definition I can do no wrong -it's you who's flawed" That's called "projective identification", or accusing others of the very thing you want to do yourself. That's why the "nuclear threat" is invoked once again: It's a self-fulfilling prophecy: Because the US administration wants to nuke the Middle East "preventatively", to show who's boss, they are creating a situation where they "have to", at least in their own fantasies. Poor show and no longer credible at all.

Julia Iskandar, London, England

He did not correct himself. He was corrected by Lieberman, or he would have continued to spout this nonsense. Also, it was actually the 3rd time he said Iran was supporting al-Qaeda. In a statement from his campaign on Monday honoring the fifth year anniversary of the war, McCain wrote:

"Today in Iraq, America and our allies stand on the precipice of winning a major victory against radical Islamic extremism. The security gains over the past year have been dramatic and undeniable. Al Qaeda and Shia extremists -- with support from external powers such as Iran -- are on the run but not defeated."

Tom, Laguna Woods, CA

I'm not sure this even counts as a gaffe, seeing as he corrected himself before the press conference was even over. It's not that hard to misspeak and say al-Qaeda when you mean Jaysh al-Mahdi; ultimately both groups are in the same business, and easy to mix up when you aren't thinking. Doesn't the fact that he corrected himself mean that he isn't 'willing to overlook the facts on the ground'?
At any rate, with the drama going on in CONUS with the Democrats this story is getting no mileage whatsoever.

Matt, Chicago, IL

Judging by previous form, he's a shoe in for president.

Uh-oh.

Jim, Bussels, Belgium