Lieberman Prompts McCain To Correct Al-Qaida/Iran Error
Associated Press
March 19, 2008
AMMAN, Jordan — – Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting, mistakenly said Tuesday that Iran was allowing al-Qaida fighters into the country to be trained and returned to Iraq.
It was Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who was traveling with McCain, who told him of his error, enabling him to correct himself.
McCain, expressing concern about Iran’s rising sway in the Mideast, said, “Al-Qaida is going back into Iran and is receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran.” He made the comments Tuesday at a news conference in Jordan; he made similar comments earlier to radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt.
Memo to the media: McCain’s Al Qaeda-Iran gaffe not his first
Media Matters
March 18, 2008
In reporting presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain’s admittedly false claim during March 18 remarks to reporters in Amman, Jordan, that Iranian operatives are “taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back,” some in the media have echoed the McCain campaign’s assertion that he simply “misspoke.” For example, The Atlantic‘s Marc Ambinder called it “momentary confusion” and ABC News’ Jake Tapper, in a post on his blog Political Punch, wondered, “Jet lag?” In fact, as noted by Think Progress, McCain made the same misstatement to nationally syndicated radio host Hugh Hewitt during a March 17 interview, saying, “As you know, there are Al Qaeda operatives that are taken back into Iran, given training as leaders, and they’re moving back into Iraq.”
What Lieberman likely whispered to McCain in Jordan: “John, as we’ve told you before, we use that after the election if Bush fails to deliver.”