For McCain, being smart is "not too important."

On June 11, John McCain was interviewed by Matt Lauer on Today. In that intreview, McCain said something that caused a bit of outrage. Here is the video supplied by the McCain campaign of the pertinent part of the interview:






The outrage was caused by the statement that "when American forces can come home from Iraq" is "not too important."

The McCain campaign issued a statement which in part said that

John McCain was asked if he had a "better estimate" for a timeline for withdrawal. As John McCain has always said, that is not as important as conditions on the ground and the recommendations of commanders in the field. Any reasonable person who reads the full transcript would see this[.]

I am willing to accept this explanation, but even with this explanation, there are two reasons why McCain's statements show that he is simply not too bright, to put it mildly.

The first reason is that, like Hillary before him (see this post), McCain should have realized the very obvious fact that the words he chose could easily be interpreted to have a negative meaning. I don't care what the context might be, any time you say that when American troops might be coming home is "not too important," you have said something pretty stupid. This is particularly true when one has recently opposed a bill that would increase benefits to veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan--which McCain did. Given these circumstances, McCain should have known that his choice of words would be viewed in a very negative light. And so I will say the same thing about McCain that I said about Hillary:

No one with any sense would have made these statements. They show stupidity and an utter lack of judgment and ability to realize risks and consequences and assess one's own actions. That's not Presidential material folks.

The second reason is that McCain's explanation is based on fantasy, not fact. As Keith Olbermann put it, "The full context is that the Iraq you (McCain) see, is a figment of your imagination." Recall that McCain was asked if he could provide an estimate for when our troops could come home. Here was his full answer:

No. But that’s not too important. What’s important is the casualties in Iraq. Americans are in South Korea. Americans are in Japan. American troops are in Germany.

That’s all fine. American casualties and the ability to withdraw. We will be able to withdraw. General Petraeus is going to tell us in July when he thinks we are. But the key to it is we don’t want any more Americans in harm’s way. And that way they will be safe, and serve our country, and come home with honor and victory — not in defeat, which is what Sen. [Barack] Obama’s proposal would have done. And I’m proud of them, and they’re doing a great job. And we are succeeding. And it’s fascinating that Sen. Obama still doesn’t realize it.

McCain tried to compare the situation in Iraq to present day South Korea, Japan, and Germany. It is certainly true that there are significant numbers of American troops in those countries, BUT none of those countries currently have an ongoing war on their soil. None of those of those countries have a population which is targeting and attacking American troops. Consequently, the situations in those countries in no way are comparable to what our troops face currently in Iraq.

For McCain's spin to make any sense, Iraq would have to become a relatively safe place for Americans AND it would have to stay that way. And anyone who thinks that is likely to happen is just plain delusional. Just look at what has happened in Iraq over the last five years. Things are violent, then things are relatively calm, then things are violent again, and on and on. The only way to achieve stability and relative peace--other than just allowing total civil war and letting things play out--is through a political solution among the three major groups in Iraq (Sunni, Shia, and Kurd). And anyone who thinks that is going to happen anytime soon has some serious reality issues.

And just to be clear, I think McCain has serious reality issues, and I think he is showing stupidity on an issue that is indeed very important.