McCain Fumbles, Lieberman Recovers

Presidential candidate John McCain had a press conference today in Amman, Jordan today flanked by his buds Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Out of the mouth of the candidate that professes to have the most foreign policy experience came this (via WaPo):

He (McCain) 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."

This, as the McCain camp claims, is not just a slip of the tongue. Al Qaeda is Sunni. Iran is Shiite. Those two factions get along as well as Clinton and Obama supporters. McCain had also said this on Hugh Hewitt's radio show. Lieberman must not have been around. Here's the video including Lieberman correcting McCain:



McCain needs to watch that stuff or he'll risk losing Hillary's endorsement of his lifetime of achievement.