McCain says General Petraeus and bin Laden have something in common

[ProSense]

MCCAIN: And also General Petraeus said the same thing. Osama bin Laden and General Petraeus have one thing in common that I know of, they both said that Iraq is the central battleground.

link

:wow:

[shraby]

1. I heard that too. Where'd he get his

"fact"? Has he been talking to Bin Laden lately?

[ProSense]

2. He's validating bin Laden's POV.

Osama bin Laden wants us bogged down in Iraq, and McCain is validating bin Laden's opinion.

[gblady]

3. I know....

I was thinking OMG, did he just say that????
wondered if I was hearing things>>>>
:wtf:

[Proud Liberal Dem]

4. Nope-You were NOT hearing things

I seem to remember him making the same argument before a few months ago I believe. I wonder what Petraeus thinks of McSame's comment? I think I know what he was getting at but I would probably be offended as Petraeus to be associated with Bin Laden in ANY way. That argument just seems............. painfully stupid and, I imagine personally insulting to Petreaus.
Also, I'm getting soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired of hearing about Petraeus and "the surge". Petraeus might as well be nominated for sainthood, knighthood, or GOD. McSame et. al seem to adore him so much I'm surprised he hasn't suggested naming a battleship, aircraft carrier or even a major highway after him (although I imagine that at least one of these things is coming sooner or later).

[ProSense]

6. Wonder why none of the pundits have mentioned this gaffe? n/t

[Matariki]

5. Only since we INVADED Iraq.

Would have not been the case otherwise.

[No Elephants]

7. Exactly. Before we invaded, Al Qaeeda was not even in Iraq and there was no such organi-

zation as Al Qaeeda in Iraq. If we were in Afghanistan, that's where Osama would say the central battleground is. Or Pakistan. Or Timbuktu.

[Lithos]

8. Yes, Iraq is the central battlefield now

Mostly because our 150,000 troops are pinned there as sitting ducks. The bulk of A.Q. is off to the side meaning that we've created a nice situation where they can sit in peace and conduct a battle of attrition against out soldiers.

This has nothing to do with the reasons to go into Iraq and only reflects the current situation. Had our strategy been better, we would be sitting in Afghanistan/Pakistan where AQ has its strength. Also instead of squandering our good will after 9/11 in an obvious misstep like Iraq, we would have done better to deal with Iran then (via diplomacy), the issues in Pakistan, and fixing (not hiding) the banking problems with the Saudis and Kuwaitis, etc.