On February 13, 2003, John McCain said:
"Proponents of containment claim that Iraq is in a 'box.' But it is a box with no lid, no bottom, and whose sides are falling out. Within this box are definitive footprints of germ, chemical and nuclear programs, and from it has come blood money for Palestinian terrorists, and support for the international terrorism of Al Qaeda and Ansar al-Islam. And as he has done before, at a time of his choosing, Saddam Hussein will spring, like a jack-in-the-box, to reign devastation on his people and his neighbors, a devastation against which the daily curse of living in the shadow of his terror will pale.
Everything John McCain said then was not only false, it was knowingly false. There were no nuclear weapons programs. There were no connections between Saddam and Al Qaida. McCain was giving crooked talk and so was and is Hiatt. The both of them are either fools or lying. They certainly are not honorable men.
On March 19, 2003, John McCain said:
So I respectfully disagree with the remarks of the Senator from West Virginia. I believe the President of the United States has done everything necessary and has exercised every option short of war, which has led us to the point we are today.
I believe that, obviously, we will remove a threat to America's national security because we will find there are still massive amounts of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
These statements, statements Fred Hiatt made at the same time, were false.
On March 20, 2003, John McCain said:
"There has been no rush to war. That the United States exhausted diplomacy is evident in both the 12-year history of our dealings with Iraq since the first Gulf War and the six month effort at the Security Council to build consensus on the need to disarm Iraq. There will be plenty of time to discuss the American diplomatic campaign that preceded the war once military action is over. There is no cause to do so today.
This was and is false.
On April 10, 2003, John McCain said:
"Our successes in Iraq have been swift and impressive. Watching the events unfolding in Baghdad now, only three weeks since the war began, it is fair to say this campaign has been a rout. The defenders of Saddam Hussein, regular military and the terrorists who wage war behind women and children have not proven to be much of an obstacle to the rapid maneuver and inexorable progress of American fighting men and women and our coalition allies.
"The fighting is not over, but military victory is very near, achieved more quickly than we could have realistically hoped, and with fewer casualties, both military and civilian, than military planners could have imagined. It is an absolutely stunning military triumph and the credit is due to resources much dearer to us than the impressive technological superiority we brought to the battlefield. It belongs to the courage of the men and women who rushed into harm's way because their country, unlike other countries, believes that armed forces can be a force for doing good in this world, for righting injustice, and for advancing the cause of real peace, when war is waged on behalf of the values of a free people.
No warning there from Mr. McCain. More like crowing. So much for straight talk. Of course Mr. Hiatt was saying the same thing.
On August 25, 2006, John McCain said:
"I have often emphasized the importance of leveling with the American people about the high costs and many difficulties of the mission, the potentially calamitous consequences of failure and the many benefits of success, as the President has also frequently stressed. But I have never intended my concern that the American public be fully informed about the conduct and consequences of the war to indicate any lessening of my support for our mission there. . . . I commend the President for his public statements offering Americans an honest assessment of the progress we have made in Iraq and the challenges that still confront us there, and, of course, for his determination to defend American security and international peace and stability by succeeding in this arduous and costly enterprise."
Commending Bush for his straight talk? That is like Fred Hiatt commending John McCain for his "reality show." It is a sham.
On October 12, 2006, John McCain said:
Today, Army Chief of Staff, General Peter J. Schoomaker announced that the Army has plans to keep the current level of soldiers in Iraq through 2010. Currently there are 141,000 troops in Iraq, including 120,000 soldiers
. Earlier this year we heard reports that the Army would begin reducing the number of troops in Iraq to 100,000 by the end of the year. I support General Schoomaker's comments and believe we must increase troop strength if we are to win this war," McCain said.
Here is where McCain starts to tell some truth about himself. Since 2005, the Surge has been HIS recommended policy. President Bush is carrying out the McCain policy on Iraq. It is Fred Hiatt's policy too. And Joe Lieberman's.
Setting aside the fact that the surge is an absolutely stupid policy, where Hiatt's tells falsehoods is in saying John McCain said anything like that prior to 2005. He did not. He did not say anything but "we won" until 2005.
Hiatt credits McCain with "foresight and consistency." Hiatt is not telling the truth with he says this. McCain's own statements prove that Hiatt remains incapable of telling the truth about anything Iraq-related.
