McCain Gets Surge Facts Wrong, CBS Edits It Out

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This is really ironic, the same day John McCain sends out an e-mail about the supposed "love affair" between the media and Barack Obama McCain makes a major mistake in an interview with CBS's Katie Couric but CBS doesn't air it, instead leaving it on the "cutting room floor". http://nottingtonnews.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/mccain-gets-history-of-the-surge-wrong-cbs-doesnt-air-footage/ Here's an excerpt: "During a CBS interview on Tuesday, [US Senator and presidential candidate] John McCain made a stone cold error on a subject about which he claims expert knowledge: the “surge” strategy in Iraq. In an interview with anchor Katie Couric, the Arizona Republican said, inaccurately, that the surge strategy was responsible for the much-touted “Anbar Awakening,” in which Sunni sheiks turned against Al Qaeda, helping in turn to reduce violence in the country." Here's part of the interview from the transcript, the part that wasn't aired on tonight's newscast: Katie Couric: Senator McCain, Senator Obama says, while the increased number of US troops contributed to increased security in Iraq, he also credits the Sunni awakening and the Shiite government going after militias. And says that there might have been improved security even without the surge. What’s your response to that? McCain: I don’t know how you respond to something that is as– such a false depiction of what actually happened. Colonel MacFarland was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening. I mean, that’s just a matter of history. "In fact, as Spencer Ackerman and Ilan Goldenberg have reported, the record firmly establishes the opposite: instead of being caused by the surge, the key signs of the Anbar Awakening occurred not only before that strategy was implemented, but before it was ever conceived." McCain wasn't always confused as to which came first or which caused or helped the other between the surge and the Anbar Awakening. In fact, here is a transcript of what he said on January 5, 2007 as he advocated the newly proposed surge: “Too often the light at the tunnel has turned out to be a train, but I really believe — I really believe that there’s a strong possibility that you may see a very substantial change in Anbar province due to this new changes in our relationships with the sheiks in the region. … But it’s important, as I said in my opening remarks, that this troop surge be significant and sustained. Otherwise, don’t do it.” This one incident indicates two things, in my opinion; one, that McCain is either becoming increasingly confused about the facts or is purposely stretching the truth for political gains and two, the media he's complaining about snubbing him is more than willing to help him cover his tracks when he commits a major gaffe such as this one. What are your thoughts on this? Was this yet another perfectly innocent mistake or another case of misspeaking and did CBS simply randomly cut this segment of the interview out for time constraints and no other reason? Somehow, I don't think so! Annie