Ha! Ha! About time!.
The irony, of course, is that I'm sure McCain understands the Sunni/ Shia difference well enough (he's not George W. Bush, after all), but the condemnations of Al Qaeda have worked so well in American domestic politics for the last decade that, even though he knew he was talking about a different group of terrorists, he couldn't resist dipping into that poisoned well just one tiny more time.
Curmudgeon's not ready for prime-time! Not paying close enough attention. Phone call at 3 a.m. indeed!
McCain, the 71-year-old Arizona senator who touts his national security experience as a main reason why he should be elected, gave Democrats a line of attack to use against him on Tuesday.
On a Middle East and Europe swing, he got tangled up in stating which Islamic extremist group in Iraq that Iran is accused of supporting.
At a news conference in Amman, McCain said Iran supported the Sunni group al Qaeda in Iraq, until he was corrected by a colleague. U.S. officials believe Iran has been backing Shi'ite extremists in Iraq, not a Sunni group like al Qaeda.
It was the first stumble of note that McCain has made since clinching the Republican presidential nomination early this month.
"Just yesterday, we heard Senator McCain confuse Sunni and Shi'ite, Iran and al Qaeda," Obama said.
"Maybe that is why he voted to go to war with a country that had no al Qaeda ties. Maybe that is why he completely fails to understand that the war in Iraq has done more to embolden America's enemies than any strategic choice that we have made in decades," the Illinois senator said.
He also mocked McCain's oft-stated vow to follow Osama bin Laden to "the gates of hell" if elected, arguing the U.S. focus should have been on Afghanistan and Pakistan instead of Iraq.
"We have a security gap when candidates say they will follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell but refuse to follow him where he actually goes," Obama said.
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