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Spencer Ackerman on Jeffrey Goldberg and Stephen Hayes

Spencer Ackerman has written an excellent look back for the Washington Independent at the role of Jeffrey Goldberg and Stephen Hayes in taking the U.S. to war, and their unrepentant behavior since. Criticizing fellow journalists and journalistic institutions is rarely a good career move, and Ackerman deserves credit for doing it.

BUT THERE’S ONE GLARING FLAW: The article fails to mention this.

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No Evidence For Administration’s Claim On U.S.-Iraqi Declaration Of Principles

There’s been conflict between Congress and the Bush administration in the past several months over the Declaration of Principles Bush and Maliki signed last November. The Declaration of Principles appears to commit the U.S. to defending Iraq from both internal and external threats. Such commitments have previously only been made by treaties, which require Senate approval.

Last Thursday the Politico reported that a “senior administration official” claimed this was all a misunderstanding stemming from an Arabic-to-English translation of the Declaration of Principles. I’ve written a new piece for Democrats.com examining whether there’s any evidence for this. The answer appears to be no.

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This Dummy Wants To Be President?

The foolishness of this John McCain “gaffe”, to use the media’s favorite understatement, should terrify anyone who actually thinks the commander-in-chief should have a basic understanding of the wars we’re fighting :

Sen. John McCain, traveling in the Middle East to promote his foreign policy expertise, misidentified in remarks Tuesday which broad category of Iraqi extremists are allegedly receiving support from Iran.

He said several times that Iran, a predominately Shiite country, was supplying the mostly Sunni militant group, al-Qaeda. In fact, officials have said they believe Iran is helping Shiite extremists in Iraq.

Speaking to reporters in Amman, the Jordanian capital, McCain said he and two Senate colleagues traveling with him continue to be concerned about Iranian operatives “taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back.”

Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was “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.” A few moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate’s ear. McCain then said: “I’m sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda.”

Wow. If foreign policy is supposed to be the area in which McCain is an expert, I’m terrified of what he might do to the economy.

Also, I should point out that Bob Harris passed the “commander-in-chief test” five years ago. Maybe if John McCain spent less time kissing the press’ asses and more time studying, he’d understand why the Iraq war is a colossal clusterfuck. More importantly, he might start to understand why the “surge” isn’t “working”.