Sen. McCain isn't the only Republican making a fool out of himself over his recent visit to Iraq. Rep. Mike Pence was on the trip as well, and as hard as it might be to believe, his take on the trip is even more absurd than McCain's.
First, via Glenn Greenwald, Pence's description of his trip to the market to buy a rug:
The merchant almost refused to take my money. He kept touching his heart and shaking his head no. His eyes, like so many others, radiated with affection and appreciation. He wanted to give me the rugs. I insisted that he accept my ten dollars and, happily, he relented.
And now, one day later, NPR has tracked down that very same merchant. Here's his take on the event:
"I didn't accept the money. I said to myself, they must be guests, so I must give them a good impression of Iraqis. After all, we are occuped by these Americans, and they are accompanied by a lot of U.S. security."
And here's his take on the insurgency:
We are not against the resistance. We are with them. However, the resistance must fight the occupiers, not the Iraqi people. A huge nubmer of US forces came yesterday. Why didn't they shoot at them, instead of harming us?
It would be fascinating to find out what makes people like Pence and McCain think they will be able to get away with such blatant lies. It's almost as if they think they are living in the 19th century, not the 21st.
UPDATE: Sickening news today from that very same Baghdad market:
A newborn baby was one of at least 14 children and adults killed when a suicide bomber detonated a lorry laden with explosives close to a primary school in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk yesterday.
The latest massacre of Iraqi children came as 21 Shia market workers were ambushed, bound and shot dead north of the capital. The victims came from the Baghdad market visited the previous day by John McCain, the US presidential candidate, who said that an American security plan in the capital was starting to show signs of progress.The Kirkuk bloodshed erupted when a bomber driving a truck full of explosives hidden by sacks of flour targeted an Iraqi police station that US soldiers were visiting. The full force of the blast hit a nearby primary school.
Buthayna Mahmud, 10, was horrified to see the bodies of her classmates strewn on the ground in flames. “Everyone I saw was wearing the blue school uniform drenched with blood. Some of their dresses were torn. I only saw fire. I heard teachers and students shouting,” she said. “When we rushed out of the school, we saw pupils on the ground, some of them burning.”
“We were at the last lesson and we heard the explosion. I saw two of my classmates sitting near the window. They fell on the floor, drenched in blood,” said Naz Omar, a girl in the fifth form. “They could not speak. I was terrified. I said, ‘God is Great. I need my mother. I need my father’.”
Even the normally mild-mannered FP Passport is laying this one at McCain's feet:
McCain and Pence's comments may be the most irresponsible statements by any U.S. political figure since Colin Powell's speech before the U.N. Security Council in 2003. It may be true that security in the market had moderately improved since January, but, sadly, McCain and Pence have now turned it into a high value target. How sad.
The worst part of all this is that it was entirely predictable. If the market wasn't a target before they arrived, it was absolutely predictable that it would become one after they left. Why McCain and Pence couldn't see that is beyond me. And McCain thinks he has what it takes to be president?
Subscribe to this blog's feed
