John McCain Can't Handle The Truth

Updated Below

Senator, and Republican Presidential candidate, John McCain became this week's greatest abuser of the truth as pertaining to the situation in Iraq when he claimed that “There are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods, today.” Mr. McCain made the statement on Bill Bennett's Morning in America radio show on Monday morning.

For a refreshing change, CNN's Wolf Blitzer actually questioned Mr. McCain on his claim on Tuesday, not surprisingly Mr. McCain offered more lies in response:

BLITZER: Here’s what you told Bill Bennett on his radio show on Monday. “There are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods, today. The U.S. is beginning to succeed in Iraq.”

Everything we hear if you leave the so-called Green Zone, the international zone, and you go outside of that secure area, relatively speaking, you’re in trouble if you’re an American.

McCAIN: That’s where you ought to catch up on things, Wolf. General Petraeus goes out there almost every day in an unarmed humvee. I think you oughta catch up. You are giving the old line of three months ago. I understand it. We certainly don’t get it through the filter of some of the media.

Not only did Mr. McCain claim falsely that General Petraeus travels in an "unarmed humvee," he also blamed the press for not reporting the situation in Iraq accurately. Again, in a welcome surprise, CNN chose to refute the Senator's misleading and false statements. To do so Mr. Blitzer talked to reporter Michael Ware, who has been stationed in Baghdad for the past four years, and as such is familiar with the actual situation on the ground:

Well, I’d certainly like to bring Sen. McCain up to speed if he ever gives me the opportunity. And if I have any difficulty hearing you right now Wolf, that’s because of the helicopters circling overhead and the gun battle that is blazing away just a few blocks down the road. Is Baghdad any safer? Sectarian violence, one particular type of violence, is down. But none of the American generals here on the ground have anything like Sen. McCain’s confidence. I mean, Sen. McCain’s credibility now on Iraq, which has been so solid to this point, is now being left out hanging to dry. To suggest that there’s any neighborhood in this city where an American can walk freely is beyond ludicrous. I’d love Sen. McCain to tell me where that neighborhood is and he and I can go for a stroll. And to think that Gen. David Petraeus travels this city in an unarmed humvee? I mean, in the hour since Sen. McCain’s said this, I’ve spoken to military sources and there was laughter down the line. I mean, certainly the general travels in a humvee. There’s multiple humvees around it, heavily armed. There’s attack helicopters, predator drones, sniper teams, all sorts of layers of protection. So, no, Sen. McCain is way off base on this one.

CNN's refusal to accept Mr. McCain's pro-war talking points as the truth is commendable, and a sign that real reporting does, if only occasionally, still exist and emerge from the bowels of the main stream media. Lest anyone should be disinclined to believe Mr. Ware's description of the security situation in Iraq it should be noted that two Americans were killed inside the heavily fortified 'Green Zone' in Baghdad on Tuesday. How can Mr. McCain even pretend that other neighborhoods might be safe when the most heavily guarded section of Iraq is currently unsafe for Americans to walk about in?

Mr. McCain's blind support of the war in Iraq is disturbing enough, his championing of it with false rhetoric and claims of success that are simply untrue are grossly negligent and dangerous in the extreme.

Think Progress and Crooks and Liars have more.

Update:

Think Progress has a report of Mr. McCain denying that he said "General Petraeus goes out there almost every day in an unarmed humvee." CNN's John Roberts, in a continuation of its good coverage and reporting on this story, confronted Mr. McCain this morning:

ROBERTS: Senator, did you mean to say that, that General Petraeus goes out every day in an unarmed humvee?

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ): I mean that there are neighborhoods safe in Iraq and he does go out into Baghdad and the fact is there has been significant progress and people are stuck in a time warp of three months ago. Of course, it’s still dangerous. Of course it’s still very dangerous. We only have two of the five brigades there and we are already seeing significant progress.

ROBERTS: Because I checked with General Petraeus’s people overnight and they said he never goes out in anything less than an up-armored humvee. You also told Bill Bennett on his radio program on Monday. You said there are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhood today yet retired General Barry McCaffrey said no Iraqi government official, coalition soldier, diplomat reporter could walk the streets of Baghdad without heavily armed protection. We’ve got two different stories here. Who’s right?

McCAIN: Well, I’m not saying they could go without protection. The President goes around America with protection. So, certainly I didn’t say that.

Mr. Roberts also deserves credit for actually investigating pro-war claims and not simply repeating them as truth as happens all too often. Another bit of actual journalism was conducted by the Washington Post, which covered retired General Barry McCaffrey's new report on the situation in Iraq that Mr. Roberts mentioned. In his report Mr. McCaffrey states that:

"no Iraqi government official, coalition soldier, diplomat, reporter, foreign NGO [nongovernmental organization], nor contractor can walk the streets of Baghdad, nor Mosul, nor Kirkuk, nor Basra, nor Tikrit, nor Najaf, nor Ramadi, without heavily armed protection."

Mr. McCaffery goes on to say of the situation in Iraq "the US Armed Forces are in a position of strategic peril," and to sum up the Iraqi viewpoint as such; "The population is in despair. Life in many of the urban areas is now desperate." Further proof that Mr. McCain has misled the public and falsely characterized the situation in Iraq by lying about the situation on the ground.

When investigated Mr. McCain's claims proved to be false. His solution was to deny that he made them in the first place, apparently in Mr. McCain's reasoning one bad lie deserves another.