Richard Whalen

Going all the way to the Mideast to make a fool of yourself is not exactly how you become the next President of the United States.

And how is it possible that Senator John McCain’s schedulers set a meeting with Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, March 17, ONE HOUR prior to Vice President Dick Cheney’s meeting with the Iraqi leader. According to The New York Post, both vowed that the United States would maintain a long-term military presence in the country until al Qaeda is defeated there. Maliki said he and the vice president discussed negotiations over a long-term security agreement between the two countries that would replace the UN mandate for foreign troops set to expire at the end of the year.

What kind of signals is McCain sending back to home front voters? No other candidate has linked his campaign so closely to the President’s unpopular war and this back-to-back visit has got to be right up there as a mega-political mistake.

But there’s more. Mistakenly, McCain said in Amman that “he continued to be concerned about Iranians taking al Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back,” according to The New York Times.

He continued: “Well it’s common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran. That’s well known. And it’s unfortunate.”

McCain, traveling with Senators Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, was soon discreetly corrected by Lieberman who whispered the error in his ear. Correcting himself, McCain said” “I’m sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al Qaeda.”

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was quick to criticize McCain on Wednesday, March 19 for “misidentifying Iraqi extremists, adding that he fails to understand the war has emboldened U.S. enemies,” Reuters. “Just yesterday, we heard Senator McCain confuse Sunni and Sh’ite, Iran and al Qaeda,” Obama said.

“Maybe that is why he voted to go to war with a country that had no al Qaeda ties. Maybe that is why he completely fails to understand that the war in Iraq has done more to embolden America’s enemies than any strategic choice that we have made in decades,” said Obama.

Further, Obama attacked his Democratic opponent, Senator Hillary Clinton. “Who do you trust to end a war: someone who opposed the war from the beginning, or someone who started opposing it when they started preparing a run for president?” he asked.

A presidential candidate who claims that he is best equipped to run the world has to show foreign policy “smarts”. Next time, if there is a next time, McCain could accept the standing Iranian offer of help in pacifying Iraq and enabling the U.S. to withdraw some more of our military forces.

You went to the Mideast to reinforce your national security credentials and you will be returning as a presidential candidate that messed up unnecessarily your foreign policy image. It is time for a reality check, John. Come back to the real world where a recession is deepening and voters are desperately afraid of what’s happening to their 401ks and their future economic security. Get your priorities straight and start reading your domestic economic briefing papers.