Democratic National Committee: John McCain's Katrina Deception Reveals Pattern of...

Democratic National Committee: John McCain's Katrina Deception Reveals Pattern
of Distortions

WASHINGTON, June 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- During his media availability in
Baton Rouge today, John McCain told reporters that he "supported every
investigation" into what went wrong during Hurricane Katrina. Unfortunately
for the people of Louisiana, that is just not true. John McCain voted TWICE
to oppose a Congressional commission to examine the federal, state, and local
response to the disaster: once in September 2005 and again in February 2006.

(LOGO: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080519/DNCLOGO)

McCain's outright deception today is the latest in a string of misstatements
and distortions on key issues that call into question his willingness to
mislead the American people, telling them what he thinks they want to hear
instead of the truth. Just last week, John McCain falsely claimed that our
forces in Iraq had drawn down to pre-surge levels, then used a defense that
was so misleading, one fact checker called it "an insult to our intelligence."
He falsely claimed Iran was training al-Qaida in Iraq, claimed he could walk
peacefully through a Baghdad market despite requiring a massive security
escort, and denied he had ever said he didn't understand the economy -- all of
which have proven inaccurate.

"John McCain seems perfectly comfortable misleading the American people rather
than telling them the truth," said Democratic National Committee
Communications Director Karen Finney. "By refusing to admit that he voted
against the creation of a Katrina Commission today in Baton Rouge, John McCain
once again demonstrated a willingness to mislead Americans. After voting with
President Bush 95 percent of the time and promising more of the same failed
Bush leadership, it is no surprise that John McCain is promising more of
George Bush's culture of deception and distortion. In recent days the American
people have been reminded about the painful consequences of the Bush
Administration's misleading propaganda, particularly in the run up to the war
in Iraq. John McCain's refusal to tell the truth about his record is one more
reason he is the wrong choice for America's future."

JOHN MCCAIN'S PATTERN OF DECEPTION

ON A KATRINA COMMISSION: "I have supported every investigation and ways to
find out what caused the tragedy." [Media Availability, Baton Rouge (LA),
6/4/08: HYPERLINK "http://redir.democrats.org/link/rrr5k6rrrrryrrrrq57a_"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD8X1ZKTsBg]

-- McCain Voted Against Establishing A Commission To Study The Response
To
Hurricane Katrina...TWICE. McCain voted against amendments
establishing
a Congressional commission to examine Federal, State, and local
response
to devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in U.S. Gulf Region,
especially in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and other areas
impacted
in the aftermath; and makes immediate corrective measures to improve
future responses. [2006 Senate Vote #6, 2/2/2006; 2005 Senate Vote
#229,
9/14/2005]

ON IRAQ TROOP LEVELS: "So I can tell you that it is succeeding. I can look
you in the eye and tell you it's succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge
levels." [Wisconsin Town Hall, 5/29/08:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=42ke9Q-qXg4]

-- Combat Units Sent As Part of the Surge Will Not Be Removed Until End
of
July. "The increased U.S. presence in Iraq -- which topped out at
about 170,000 troops -- is expected to go down to 140,000 by the end
of
July. U.S. officials plan to keep 15 combat brigades in Iraq through
the
end of the year, though ongoing assessments could allow commanders to
change those numbers." [Washington Post, 5/20/08]
-- Even after planned withdrawal, Troops Won't Reach Pre-Surge Levels.
"McCain said Thursday that the troop surge President Bush put in
place last year was working. As evidence, McCain contended that there
were fewer US troops in the country today than there were before the
surge began. 'We have drawn down to pre-surge levels,' he
said. But according to Pentagon figures, that's not true. Currently
there are more than 150,000 troops in the country; before the surge,
there were more than 130,000. Even after planned withdrawals over the
next two months, there will still be 140,000 American troops
there." [Boston Globe, Political Intelligence blog, 5/30/08:

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/05/mccain
_obama_tu.html]
-- McCain Defense "An Insult to Our Intelligence." McCain
insists that he did not make a mistake, in verb tenses or any other
way.
"I said we had drawn down," he told reporters today. "I
said we have drawn down and we have drawn down three of the five
brigades. We have drawn down three of the five brigades. We have drawn
down the marines. The rest will be home the end of July. That's
just facts, the facts as I stated them. For the record, those are NOT
the facts as he "stated them." What he said was that U.S.
forces had "drawn down to pre-surge levels."...Prior to the
conference call, I was inclined to give McCain a maximum of two
Pinocchios for his misstatement about troop levels in Iraq. Everybody
misspeaks once in a while. But the attempt by the McCain media machine
to spin the mistake as a simple matter of "verb tenses" is an
insult to our intelligence. [Washington Post Fact Checker blog,
5/30/08:

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/mccain_the_surge_and
_verb_tens.html]

ON IRAN TRAINING AL-QAIDA FIGHTERS: McCain Claimed Iran Was Training Al-Queda
Operatives (And Stuck By His Claim After Correcting Himself)

-- March 17, 2008: McCain said, "As you know, there are al-Qaeda
operatives that are taken back into Iran, given training as leaders,
and
they're moving back into Iraq." [New York Times, 3/19/08;
Entire Transcript at

http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/talkradio/transcripts/Transcript.aspx?Con
tentGuid=ae522a49-6c82-4791-a76e-44ebb718bf32]
-- March 18, 2008: "'We continue to be concerned about Iranian
[operatives] taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them
back,' he said in comments after meeting with Jordan's King
Abdullah II on Tuesday afternoon. Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it
is '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 I. Lieberman
(I-Conn.), standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered
in
his ear. McCain then said, 'I'm sorry, the Iranians are
training extremists, not al-Qaeda.'" [Washington Post,
3/19/08]
-- March 19, 2008: In a statement on the fifth anniversary of the U.S.
invasion of Iraq, McCain said "Al Qaeda and Shia extremists -- with
support from external powers such as Iran -- are on the run but not
defeated." [McCain Presidential Campaign Press Release via Targeted
News Service, 3/19/08]
-- McCain Is Wrong: Iran Is Not Training Al Qaeda. "Mr. McCain said
several times during his visit to Jordan - during a news conference
and
a radio interview -- that he was concerned that Iran was training
members of Al Qaeda in Iraq. The United States believes that Iran, a
Shiite country, has been training and financing Shiite extremists in
Iraq, but not Al Qaeda, which is a Sunni insurgent group...Mr. McCain
has based his campaign in large part on his assertion that he is the
best prepared candidate to deal with Iraq." [New York Times,
3/18/08]

ON THE BAGHDAD MARKET: McCain Claimed He Could Safely Walk Around Certain
Baghdad Neighborhoods. "McCain's latest problem began before he left for the
region, when he told Bill Bennett on the radio that 'there are neighborhoods
in Baghdad where you and I could walk today.' After Michael Ware of CNN's
Baghdad bureau accused the senator of living in 'Neverland,' McCain charged
that it's reporters who are living in a 'time warp of three months ago.'"
[Newsweek, 4/16/2007]

-- McCain Was Forced to Admit He "Misspoke" When He Failed to
Mention His Massive Security During Baghdad Market Trip. "Wearing
a bulletproof vest and surrounded by 100 soldiers in Baghdad's
central market, McCain said: 'Never have I been able to go out into
the city as I was today.' Headlines soon after called his
statements 'propaganda' and a 'magic-carpet
ride.'" An op-ed in the Rocky Mountain News called
McCain's staged walk through a Baghdad market "a truly
Orwellian publicity stunt," that was turned into a "desperate
attempt to give some sliver of credence to claims that the dreaded
'liberal media' are failing to report on all the wonderful
things happening in Iraq...Chastened, McCain issued a half-hearted
apology a few days later, saying he 'mis- spoke' when he
pointed to his little walk under the protection of several platoons
from
the world's most powerful military as evidence of Baghdad's
excellent shopping opportunities." [Washington Post, 4/7/2007;
Rocky Mountain News, 4/10/2007]

ON HIS OWN UNDERSTANDING OF THE ECONOMY: McCain denied saying he wasn't well
versed in economics.

-- McCain Claimed That He Never Acknowledged He Wasn't Well Versed In
Economics.
-- TIM RUSSERT: You have said repeatedly, quote, I know a lot less about
economics than I do about military or foreign policy issues. I need to
be educated. Is it a problem for the campaign that the economy is the
most important issue, one by your own acknowledgment you're not
well versed on.
-- JOHN MCCAIN: I don't know where you got that quote from. I'm
very well versed in economics. I was there at the Reagan revolution.
[Fact Checker, Washington Post, 1/25/08,

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/the_gop_debate_in_fl
orida.html]
-- McCain Has Acknowledged That He Doesn't Understand Economics Well.
-- "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as
well as I should," McCain said. "I've got
Greenspan's book." --Boston Globe, Dec. 12, 2007.
-- "I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics
than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be
educated." --Stephen Moore, "Reform, Reform, Reform,"
OpinionJournal.com, 11/26/05
-- [Fact Checker, Washington Post, 1/25/08,

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/the_gop_debate_in_fl
orida.html]

SOURCE Democratic National Committee

Damien LaVera of the Democratic National Committee, +1-202-863-8148