McCain retracts blather on Iraq safety
from NYT blog
Senator John McCain got a little more than he bargained for when he visited Baghdad’s central market last weekend. Shortly after his visit to the market – the scene of numerous deadly bombings in the past year – Mr. McCain said that the security situation in Baghdad was much improved in recent weeks as a result of a new infusion of American troops.
“’Never have I been able to go out into the city as I was today,” Mr. McCain puffed after his brief walking tour of the Shorja market. He remarked that he had left his helmet in his escort Humvee and felt utterly safe in the marketplace. Wearing a flak jacket, he neglected to mention that the pedestrian mall was patrolled by 100 heavily armed American soldiers and watched over by attack helicopters and snipers.
One of Mr. McCain’s colleagues on the visit to the Baghdad market was Rep. Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican, who marveled at the peaceful scene and compared it to a “normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime.” He, too, was mocked for those comparisons. Mr. Pence later said that he knew things were dangerous in Baghdad but he believed the United States was making some progress there.
(Continued here.)
Senator John McCain got a little more than he bargained for when he visited Baghdad’s central market last weekend. Shortly after his visit to the market – the scene of numerous deadly bombings in the past year – Mr. McCain said that the security situation in Baghdad was much improved in recent weeks as a result of a new infusion of American troops.
“’Never have I been able to go out into the city as I was today,” Mr. McCain puffed after his brief walking tour of the Shorja market. He remarked that he had left his helmet in his escort Humvee and felt utterly safe in the marketplace. Wearing a flak jacket, he neglected to mention that the pedestrian mall was patrolled by 100 heavily armed American soldiers and watched over by attack helicopters and snipers.
One of Mr. McCain’s colleagues on the visit to the Baghdad market was Rep. Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican, who marveled at the peaceful scene and compared it to a “normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime.” He, too, was mocked for those comparisons. Mr. Pence later said that he knew things were dangerous in Baghdad but he believed the United States was making some progress there.
(Continued here.)
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