Sen. McCain's Plan to Scare Americans

Written by: DFA Staff on Apr 19, 2008 9:15 AM EDT

John McCain, taking a page out of the President Bush/Vice President Cheney/Karl Rove/Republican playbook, is out on the campaign trail doing his best to confuse people about what is going on in Iraq.  From the New York Times:

As he campaigns with the weight of a deeply unpopular war on his shoulders, Senator John McCain of Arizona frequently uses the shorthand “Al Qaeda” to describe the enemy in Iraq in pressing to stay the course in the war there.

...

Critics say that in framing the war that way at rallies or in sound bites, Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, is oversimplifying the hydra-headed nature of the insurgency in Iraq in a way that exploits the emotions that have been aroused by the name “Al Qaeda” since the Sept. 11 attacks.

It is nice to see the media finally noticing this duplicitous attempt to conflate Al Qaeda, September 11th, and Iraq, but they still don't get it.  Mr. McCain is not simply "framing", he is being entirely and intentionally dishonest.  Iraq had nothing to do with the events of 9/11 and Al Qaeda in Iraq makes up a small percentage of the insurgency.  But, as we've seen before, if you say Iraq, Al Qaeda, and 9/11 in the same sentence enough times people start to think they are all the same thing.

Republicans have gotten a lot of mileage out of this strategy and the traditional media's proclivity for reporting this as merely an exercise in messaging allows it to continue.

Sen. McCain is wrong about what is happening in Iraq and his oversimplification is a boldfaced attempt to scare and confuse voters.

Danny
Communications Director

Tags: