Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
I posted about this bit of American history years ago which has apparently disappeared down the "memory hole":
John McCain was a patron of Ahmad Chalabi, the exiled leader of the
Iraqi National Congress (and a fugitive from justice in Europe) whom
Neoconservatives like McCain supported and thereby lent his
credibility. Chalabi and his protege "Curveball" provided U.S.
intelligence agencies and the Department of Defense with falsified
information that the Neoconservatives relied upon to justify the
invasion of Iraq.
Part 1 of the investigative report by Mark G. Levey explored "McCain's Role in the WMD Cover-up, John McCain and Charlie Black's War, How a senator and a lobbyist led the deception campaign that tricked the U.S." Read the full report here Election Fraud News & The Money party.
Our boy John McCain is back at it again, this time supporting questionable characters in the Syrian opposition forces with links to al Qaida. McCain's motto: "Shoot first, ask questions later. Damn the consequences."
On Monday, John McCain, a supporter of U.S. intervention in Syria, slipped silently into the
country to meet with opposition leaders. McCain: ‘We Can Help The Right People’ In Syria:
A State Department
official confirmed
that the department was aware of the trip, and in an interview with CNN's Anderson
Cooper, McCain repeatedly expressed his gratitude to the State
Department, as well as to the rebel groups, for providing his security.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said that Syrian rebels "do not understand why
the U.S. won't help them" during an appearance Wednesday night on CNN's
"Anderson Cooper 360."
When Cooper asked McCain how weapons would be prevented from falling
into the hands of extremists, the senator said extremist fighters
compose a small fraction of Syria's rebel forces: 7,000 pro-al Qaeda
fighters from the al-Nusra front among some 100,000 insurgents.
"Every single day, more and more extremists flow in … but they still
do not make up a sizable portion," McCain told Cooper. "We can identify
who these people are. We can help the right people."
Apparently not. John McCain is hanging out with questionable characters again. Steve Benen writes, John McCain's allies in Syria:
A couple of weeks ago, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was stressing his
position for U.S. policy in Syria: the senator wants the U.S. to provide
Syrian rebels with extensive support, including "heavy weapons." ABC's
Martha Raddatz reminded the senator that some of these Syrian rebels are
terrorist who've sworn their allegiance to al Qaeda.
McCain said it's a "legitimate" question, but he wants to support them anyway. After all, he said, "there aren't that many" terrorists among the Syrian rebels he wants to give "heavy weapons" to.
Just
two weeks later, McCain quietly traveled to Syria, and his office
distributed photos from his visit to news organizations. One image, in
particular, has generated some unexpected attention.
Senator John McCain's office is pushing back against reports that
while visiting Syria this week he posed in a photo with rebels who
kidnapped 11 Lebanese Shi'ite pilgrims.
The photo, released by McCain's office, shows McCain with a group of
rebels. Among them are two men identified in the Lebanese press as
Mohamed Nour and Abu Ibrahim, two of the kidnappers of the group from
Lebanon.
McCain's office insists the senator was not aware that
he'd met with Nour and Ibrahim — if they are, in fact, the men in the
photograph [there are conflicting claims over whether the men are kidnappers] — and they had not been identified as such during his trip.
The spokesperson added that if McCain had unknowingly met with
kidnappers, "that is regrettable."
It is, indeed.
McCain's office went on to tell BuzzFeed
that it "would be ludicrous to suggest that the Senator in any way
condones the kidnapping of Lebanese Shia pilgrims or has any
communication with those responsible. Senator McCain condemns such
heinous actions in the strongest possible terms."
And to be clear,
I don't think anyone has suggested McCain is somehow sympathetic
towards kidnappers. Rather, the point is the senator is eager to provide
extensive resources to Syrian rebels, but he may not fully appreciate
who his new allies are.
Just as McCain did with Ahmad Chalabi and his
Iraqi National Congress. As Benen suggests, "whether McCain can say with certainty who the 'right people' are is very much in doubt."
The Iraq War is John McCain's legacy. Do not let him make the same rash mistake again with Syria.
Bonus: Tea Party Labels John McCain An ‘Illegal Immigrant’ for visiting Syria:
On Tuesday, the Tea Party website ‘Tea Party Nation’ put out an article
that labeled Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) an “illegal immigrant” because he
had sneaked into Syria to visit rebels fighting against the Bashar
al-Assad regime. Although the White House was aware
of McCain’s Syrian visit, the article indicated that his visit was
virtually the same as undocumented immigration. It also noted that
McCain’s humanitarian support for rebels could be attributed to his lack
of intelligence, and Democratic turnout for his unsurprising win in the
Arizona Senate race.
The characterization of McCain is just one incident in a long series of
efforts by the group to unjustifiably incite hatred against undocumented
immigrants.
More questionable "friends" you got there, John.
Extra Bonus: Another questionable "friend" you got there, John.