Questioning General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker in an on-going Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing, John McCain just tried to reaffirm al Qaeda’s importance by asking if it was “a minor Shiite group… or minor Sunni group, or anybody else.” He was clearly trying to draw out a “no,” but that’s not the point. The point is that McCain still doesn’t seem to understand al Qaeda is a Sunni group.
Most foreign policy experts have known this since the ’90s. Those that didn’t, found out on 9/12/01. How is McCain doing this over and over and over?
I’m stunned. I’m going to have to check the video when it’s available to see if I have this right.
Update: I was close. Here’s the transcript:
MCCAIN: Do you still view al Qaeda in Iraq as a major threat?
PETRAEUS: It is still a major threat, though it is certainly not as major a threat as it was say 15 months ago.
MCCAIN: Certainly not an obscure sect of the Shi’ites overall?
PETREAUS: No.
MCCAIN: Or Sunnis or anybody else.
Video after the jump.
