McCain 1998: "Is This Guy Laden Really the Bad Guy That's Depicted?"

[bigtree]

October 06, 2008 6:44 PM


. . . a 1998 Mother Jones Magazine interview -- first seemingly unearthed by Talking Points Memo -- with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that includes the following curious exchange about Osama bin Laden:

MJ: You not only have had combat experience in Vietnam, but you were also a prisoner of war. When you look at terrorism right now, with people like Osama bin Laden, do you have any reservations about watching strikes like that?

John McCain: You could say, Look, is this guy, Laden, really the bad guy that's depicted? Most of us have never heard of him before. And where there is a parallel with Vietnam is: What's plan B? What do we do next? We sent our troops into Vietnam to protect the bases. Lyndon Johnson said, Only to protect the bases. Next thing you know.... Well, we've declared to the terrorists that we're going to strike them wherever they live. That's fine. But what's next? That's where there might be some comparison.

The interview took place in September 1998, one month after the August 7, 1998, truck bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

I would expect close Obama allies and perhaps even the Obama campaign to very soon start citing this interview, depicting McCain as not understanding and downplaying the terrorist threat back in 1998.


read: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/mccain-1998-is.html

[FLAprogressive]

1. Spread it like wildfire! nt

[baldguy]

2. To be fair, at that time Clinton was using bin Laden & Al qaeda to distract from Monica.

:sarcasm:

[The Wielding Truth]

3. McCain is continuously clueless.

[FLAprogressive]

4. This would just show more bad judgement from him...this needs to be made public nt

[OakCliffDem]

5. Kick