What McClellan’s revelations tells us about John McCain’s judgment

May 29, 2008

At first blush, Scott McClellan’s criticism of the Bush White House wouldn’t necessarily have anything to do with the 2008 presidential race. McClellan hasn’t had anything to do with John McCain, and most of the people McClellan calls out are not part of McCain’s campaign.

But perhaps that’s an unimaginative approach. McClellan’s book apparently has quite a bit to say about the war in Iraq — clearly, a key campaign issue this year — including charges that Bush relied on “propaganda” to sell the war. The former White House press secretary added that the president failed to be “open and forthright on Iraq” and worse, “rushed to war” with inadequate planning and preparation for its aftermath.

What does this have to do with McCain? Chief Obama strategist David Axelrod knows:

In a wide-ranging interview on Wednesday with The Huffington Post, David Axelrod began with a bit of political thunder, accusing McCain of failing to question the White House as it used “deception and propaganda to essentially lead America to war.”

“What does all his experience get us?” asked Obama’s strategic guru. “What do all those visits [to Iraq] get us?”

He continued: “The fact that he goes to Iraq and gets a tour apparently does little to provoke the kinds of questions that should be asked, and what Sen. Obama has been asking since the beginning. So it is not a question of longevity in government. It is a question of judgment, it is a question of a willingness to challenge policies that have failed. And he seems just dug in.” […]

“We are talking on a day where the president’s press secretary released a book where they frankly acknowledged that they engaged in deception and propaganda to essentially lead America to war. Senator Obama saw through that and raised the appropriate questions. Sen. McCain didn’t,” he said.

As spin goes, that’s pretty good. All along, the nature of the debate between Obama and McCain was poised to be about judgment vs. experience.

In this sense, the timing of the McClellan book is pretty helpful — it offers the Obama campaign a chance to reinforce the fact that when the White House was making a bogus argument, McCain bought it and Obama didn’t. McClellan was, to borrow a phrase, catapulting the propaganda. McCain embraced it from the outset, and never let go.

McClellan helps put all of this on the front page, right where McCain doesn’t want it.

On a related note, in light of the fact that McCain and his cohorts have decided that hitting Obama over his lack of Iraq visits is this week’s big story, this might offer Obama and Dems another chance to remind everyone about one of McCain’s more notorious trips to Iraq.

Sen. John McCain strolled briefly through an open-air market in Baghdad today in an effort to prove that Americans are “not getting the full picture” of what’s going on in Iraq.

NBC’s Nightly News provided further details about McCain’s one-hour guided tour. He was accompanied by “100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead.” Still photographs provided by the military to NBC News seemed to show McCain wearing a bulletproof vest during his visit. […]

McCain recently claimed that there “are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods, today.” In a press conference after his Baghdad tour, McCain told a reporter that his visit to the market today was proof that you could indeed “walk freely” in some areas of Baghdad.

The next time McCain brings it up, I’d love to see the Obama campaign respond, “Sen. Obama could walk through a Baghdad market with body armor, snipers, and a legion of snipers, helicopters, and gunships, but I think our troops on the ground have better things to do.”

Ah, judgment versus experience. Didn’t Obama already win that battle? I guess we should be glad McCain is using the same failed tactics Clinton used.

  • When the war was going off the tracks in 2004 and the folks on the inside knew it, McCain doubled down and tied his future and the Country’s future on the judgement and competence of GWB.

    A bad bet I’d say.

  • Michael Ware and another guest on CNN today blasted the idea that these dog and pony show visits by politicians provide any useful information about the conditions on the ground in Iraq. Of course, common sense would tell you that.

    The other guest (sorry can’t remember her name), also brought out how disruptive these visits are, because of the extensive security precautions that must be made for the visiting dignitaries.

  • McCain can’t simply let McClellan’s book go uncommented on. Not only did he vote for the war, but he also helped sell the war, thanks to the lobbying of Charlie Black and his client Ahmad Chalabi. It doesn’t so much matter whether McClellan mentioned McCain, as it does that he was part of this parallel sales pitch. I think he has to start all over and explain what his rationale was. So does Hillary, if the media want to keep her relevant.

  • Meanwhile, we continue killing civilians in Iraq.

    The U.S. military said in a statement that it had targeted men linked to a suicide bombing network. “Unfortunately, two children were killed when the other occupants of the vehicle, in which they were riding, exhibited hostile intent,” the statement said.

    U.S. officials say they go to great lengths to avoid harming civilians in airstrikes.

    “It’s not Hollywood and it’s not 110 percent perfect,” said Col. Timothy J. Edens, the commander of the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, of the accuracy of his unit’s strikes. “It is as precise as very hardworking soldiers and commanders can make it. These criminals do not operate in a clean battle space. It is occupied by civilians, law-abiding Iraqis.”

    Those civilians include people like Zahara Fadhil, a 10-year-old girl with a tiny frame and long brown hair. Relatives said she was wounded by a missile on April 20 at approximately 8 p.m. in Baghdad’s Shiite enclave of Sadr City. The U.S. military said it fired a Hellfire missile in Zahara’s neighborhood at that time, targeting men who were seen loading rockets into a sedan.

    Her face drained of color and her legs scarred by shrapnel, Zahara spoke haltingly when asked what she thought of U.S. troops.

    “They kill people,” she said. Lying in bed, she gasped for air before continuing. “They should leave Iraq now.”

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/22/AR2008052203869_pf.html

  • So why are you giving shillary a free pass on this one – if what you say is valid, then same can be said about clinton.

    I understand why Obama is no longer talking about her, but the rest of us need to maintain a dialog until she quits catapulting kkkarl rove’s propaganda and undermining the democratic party.

  • A bad bet I’d say.

    Don’t kid yourself – I am sure mclame received more than adequate compensation for supporting the administration with his “bet.”

  • Not only McCain “bought it,” but so did Hillary. Her excuse is that she didn’t know then what she knows now. But that’s really lame. Little old me, living in PA at the time, reading various analysis of the potential of an attack on Iraq, and aware of the “footnotes” on the intelligence information given to Congress that indicated inconsistent viewpoints of the data by the variety of Intel agencies involved came to the conclusion that an attack on Iraq was ludicrous. Her vote on the resolution to declare the Iranian Kuds Force a terrorist organization was the last straw for me in any support I may have had for her. How anyone could be so stupid as to give this administration the rope they need to attack Iran is beyond me.

  • McCain is going to run on all his Washington experience in a year when the voters want to throw the bums out, especially Republicans.

    Nice strategic thinking.

  • Re: Ohioan (5)

    You know, it is really sickening to see this killing of civilians continue. It’s amazing how strong the evidence is that killing civilians does not endear you to local populations. I highly suggest you read the full article, which is about how Al Qaeda is crumbling with the passage of time (by their own actions, not the US’s).

    I never understood why the nationalist right continued to think that the Iraqis saw us as “liberators” as the invasion degenerated into a bloody mess. “Don’t worry pal, your daughter and wife and friends may be dead, but you’re free!”

  • NB – I am sure we made a lot of “friends” when we leveled the “City of Mosques”

    And let’s not even talk about the depleted uranium – this is an ongoing war crime and crime against humanity, a “gift that keeps on giving.”

  • Obama saw through the BS but McCain/Clinton did not. Brilliant spin IMO. As for the trip, it’ll never happen of course, but what if it did and there were Iraqi demonstrations in support of Obama? The sound of heads exploding could be heard around the world. I know, I have a rich fantasy life….

  • The next time McCain brings it up, I’d love to see the Obama campaign respond, “Sen. Obama could walk through a Baghdad market with body armor, snipers, and a legion of snipers, helicopters, and gunships, but I think our troops on the ground have better things to do.”

    Or how about:

    “I will agree to a joint visit with Senator McCain, but only after I’m given assurances by the commanders on the ground that such a visit does not interfere or disrupt the more important missions our men and women are currently undertaking, or force those same brave Americans to have to give up any of their time off to babysit a couple of Washington politicians.”

  • I do have a problem here. McCain’s the one coming up with all the ideas. The British-style question-and-answer session in front of Congress, the joint townhall style debates around the country, the joint trip to Iraq, etc. Some are good (the first one and maybe even the second one), some are horribly stupid (the third one).

    My opinion is that Obama has to offer some interesting ideas other than “change”. Most of his policies are solid but not really that exciting. He could get some good press if he put out something new once in awhile; some sort of challenge to McCain.

  • 2Manchu: ‘Babysit a couple of Washington politicians’

    Wow, that would be pretty good, LOL.

  • Just think of the “DERLICTION OF DUTY” by Condi Rice and GWB on Jul. 10, & aug 6, 2001 for ignoring those PDB. Had proper agencies been noticified there would have never been a attack on our Financial Capital of the World. To ignore it meant that this World Trade Center disaster on Sept. 11, 2001 was the stepping stone that this “WAR” administration needed to aggressively invade Iraq. Remember those words after Jan. 2001, I’m not bound by any agreement made by the previous administration. The “Chip” was on his shoulder, but in reality GWB had his “Block Knock” off.

    The NYTimes and Judy Miller assigned to the Pentagon for 12 years bought the bogus information of WMDs by Ahmad Chalibi who was the favorite of the Pentagon and this administration. Judy and the Times legitimized this illegal aggression against a totally weak country which had many sanctions and two (2) no-fly zones.

    Colin Powell should have resigned rather than lie to the United Nation. But now he is out of the hot seat and making tons of money as speaker for the money rats of silcon valley

  • I like how the republicans are trying to discredit McClellan by questioning why he didn’t come forward sooner if he felt so strongly….this establishes the standard that can be applied to McCain….why didn’t McCain do more sooner?

  • “McCain told a reporter that his visit to the market today was proof that you could indeed “walk freely” in some areas of Baghdad.”

    Old John was able to walk freely for a good distance with no cane or crutches before the heat and the weight of the body armor finally took him down, just off camera.

    I disagree with Franklin, McCain’s “ideas” are so devoid of substance there’s no reason to counter them. Obama should continue with the slow but steady message, continue with the refreshing coherence and complete sentences, aiming at November, until McCain ends up suggesting a “league of rulers Dating Game,” where one lucky National Leader got to interview a couple of dictators and maybe a prime minister about their dating preferences.

  • Franklin: I kind of agree with you about Hon. Sen. McCain leading the debate al little. I would add that Hon. Sen. Obama is constrained by not being free to act as the nominiee, however. When this changes, I expect things to improve.

    2Manchu, CB: Aside from the points you raise about the inconvenience to the military posed by these D&P shows, and the expense, I would try to frame it in the evidence that the more of these tours one goes on, the less they seem to know about the true state of ‘on the ground’ truth. It also seems that discussions with soldiers recently back from the theater would be both psychologically better able to articulate any reservations that they might have about current conditions, and also less influenced by their commanders.

  • This proves John McCain wants to stay in Iraq for 100 years.

    Obama aides said yesterday that the senator from Illinois is now considering a trip to Iraq as part of a long-deferred foreign tour. But they made it clear that he intends to assess how best to withdraw U.S. forces, not to reconsider whether they should be withdrawn. And they responded that none of McCain’s trips to Iraq has been illuminating enough to dislodge his commitment to Bush’s war policies.

    “For all the travel that he’s done, what we’re looking at is John McCain wanting to double down on George Bush’s foreign policy, to leave our troops there for 100 years instead of putting pressure on the Iraqis to come to some sort of political reconciliation,” said Obama communications director Robert Gibbs.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/29/AR2008052903844.html?wpisrc=newsletter

    McCain is Bush’s 3rd term. If McCain wins plan on staying in Iraq and a war with Iran.

  • I think Obama should go to Iraq but with the sole purpose to meet with the troops. He should ask to speak to the troops in private with no media to record the conversations. I think it will help Obama form his plan on how to get the United States out of Iraq. Obama should then come up with a plan for the United States to leave Iraq, rebuild Iraq, and stabilize the ME in general.

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