Anti-war groups launch campaigns against 'bomb Iran' McCain David Edwards and Nick Juliano

Published: Friday February 29, 2008



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Print This Email This Democrats and anti-war activists have made John McCain's hawkish views on Iraq and Iran one of the most prominent arguments against his presidential candidacy. VoteVets.org has launched a new ad against the Republican candidate featuring a female Iraq vet and her baby, suggesting that McCain will spend on endless war instead of on the things Americans really need. Meanwhile, anti-war group True Majority is planning a campaign targeting McCain's musings about bombing Iran. The group will unveil its IranMobile at a rally in Ohio this weekend. Brave New Films has released a new video parodying McCain's botched attempt at a joke during a campaign appearance last year. The GOP candidate changed lyrics of a famous Beach Boy's song to "Bomb Iran." "What is troubling is that John McCain's attitude toward this conflict is eerily similar to talk that began before the war in Iraq. Weapons of Mass Destruction seem to be replaced with nuclear threats that have been unsubstantiated," Brian Rothenberg, of ProgressOhio.org which is co-sponsoring the effort, said in a news release. "The invasion of Iraq opened the floodgates for Al Qaeda and what Sen. McCain says will be 100-years of American soldiers in a foreign land." The Associated Press criticized Democrats for taking McCain's "100 years" comment out of context. Jon Soltz, a co-founder of VoteVets, and conservative writer Ericka Anderson of HumanEvents.com appeared on MSNBC to debate the claims in the ad. "We all respect John McCain's service in Vietnam," Soltz began. "But he's not in touch with what Americans want. ... We have a right to ask him for some straight talk. ... He can't do everything he says. Cut taxes for the richest people in America. Keep us in Iraq in an endless war." Anderson retorted that the ad campaign "goes back to the guns vs. butter argument, and it's just an illogical argument, because Iraq isn't a war we can walk away from and expect it not to follow us home." "Osama bin Laden is in Afghanistan," Soltz said in response. "There was no al Qaeda in Iraq when we invaded. ... John McCain wants to keep 90% of our army in a civil war." "The people in our organization have been to Iraq," Soltz continued. "We've seen it first hand. We don't need Republican talking points." "You aren't the only people that have been in Iraq!" Anderson shot back. "For some reason, the Republican Party and the conservatives in this country lost their way," Soltz replied. "It's like you don't care about the people that attacked our country!" Anderson insisted that McCain "wants the troops to come home just as much as you do, but he wants them to come home with honor. ... They're not going to come home with honor if they cut and run. ... We have a job to do in Iraq." This video is from MSNBC News Live, broadcast February 28, 2008.





