News Media ignored McCain's numerous foreign policy errors
During a March 18 press conference in Amman, Jordan, McCain made the admittedly false claim, twice, that Iran is training Al Qaeda. After Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who accompanied McCain on the trip, whispered something in his ear, McCain corrected himself, saying: "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda." McCain had made a similar misstatement on Hugh Hewitt's radio show the day before.
At an April 8 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, McCain asked Gen. David Petraeus, "Do you still view Al Qaeda in Iraq as a major threat?" Petraeus replied: "It is still a major threat, though it is certainly not as major a threat as it was, say, 15 months ago." McCain then asked, "Certainly not an obscure sect of -- of the Shiites all -- overall --" prompting Petraeus to reply "No," as McCain went on to finish his question: "or Sunnis or anybody else?" In fact, Al Qaeda in Iraq is a Sunni Muslim, not Shiite, group.
