John McCain
McCain Asserts Return to Pre-Surge Iraq Troop Levels
By Michael D. Shear
Sen. John McCain has attacked Sen. Barack Obama for not traveling to Iraq to see the "facts on the ground." But a recent statement by McCain about troop levels has his opponents raising questions about his own knowledge.
In comments to reporters on Thursday, McCain asserted that "I can tell you that it is succeeding. I can look you in the eye and tell you it's succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels. Basra, Mosul and now Sadr city are quiet and it's long and it's hard and it's tough and there will be setbacks."
In fact, as the Obama campaign was quick to point out, the troop level in Iraq is at about 155,000 right now, well above the 130,000 that would mark a return to pre-surge levels. The goal, according to a transcript of a news briefing with Joint Staff director for operations Lt. Gen. Carter Ham at the end of February, is to reduce troop levels to 140,000 -- still above the pre-surge levels.
A representative exchange:
Q: General, coming back to Iraq and the troop numbers, so what you're saying is by the time we get to the end of July, we're going to be at 140,000, which looks to me like we're still talking about significantly higher than pre-surge levels in Iraq. Am I reading that correctly?
GEN. HAM: Yes.
Three of the five brigades that were added during the surge have been rotated out. The other brigades are in process of rotating out, and even when they depart, support personnel that were added during the surge will remain for the time being, military officials have said.
McCain's comments about Mosul being "quiet" also have raised some eyebrows. On the day that he said that, three suicide bombings in Mosul and the surrounding areas had left 30 Iraqis dead.
Obama's campaign seized on the slip ups, holding a news conference with Sen. John Kerry to blast McCain on the troop level mistake.
The McCain campaign reacted quickly, and angrily.
"What informed people understand, John McCain included, is that American troops are not even close to Surge levels," said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds in a statement. "Three of the five Army 'Surge' brigades have been withdrawn and additional Marines that were initially deployed for the 'Surge' have come home as well -- the remaining two brigades will be home in July. Talk about a political stunt, it's sending out campaign surrogates to parse words about a topic Barack Obama has no experience with, and has shown zero interest in learning about."
The spat had the feel of a classic back-and-forth as Democratic spokesman Damien LaVera quickly issued a statement saying: "Either John McCain doesn't know the facts on the ground in Iraq or he is continuing the Bush Administration's pattern of intentionally misleading the public. Either way, he is the wrong choice for America's future."
And McCain's team has scheduled a conference call for reporters this afternoon.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/05/30/mccain_asserts_return_to_presu.html
Blatant lies worked for the Bush Administration. Will it work for McCain? Looking a bit doubtful here.