McCain in '91: Not Sure We Could Tell a Shiite from a Sunni, even from a Kurd
Posted by Michael Link on March 19, 2008 at 06:03 PM
Our research director just dug this one up, particularly relevant given McCain's trouble understanding the basics in Iraq. This is from Larry King Live, 4/23/1991, when he was arguing deposing Saddam:
MCCAIN: "Third of all, I'm not sure that if we did go in on the ground we could tell a Shiite from a Sunni, even from a Kurd. And who is it that we'd be fighting and battling against on the streets of Baghdad?"
Oddly, it's the trouble McCain is having now...
Oh, but there's more. Much more. Take the jump and read the rest of the transcript.
Here's the rest of it:
MCCAIN: [T]he fact is, if we went in on the ground into Baghdad that's the only way I know of that the Arab world could turn Saddam Hussein from the bum that he is into the hero that Nasser was, number one.Number two is I don't think you could do it with air power. Unbeknownst to a lot of people, we tried bombing- We weren't trying to kill him, but we were just trying to bomb every place we thought he might be or could possibly be.
Third of all, I'm not sure that if we did go in on the ground we could tell a Shiite from a Sunni, even from a Kurd. And who is it that we'd be fighting and battling against on the streets of Baghdad? And, if we got into Baghdad, we would lose all of our military supremacy and we would take casualties.
KING: If they'd welcome this-
Sen. McCAIN: One more point - real quick. I want to get rid of Saddam Hussein. There's a few other dictators I'd like to get rid of, too. And I hate to use the phrase 'slippery slope,' but if we've got to get rid of this dictator, which ones do we take on next?
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