3 John McCain
In summer 2008, the US presidential campaign was in full swing. In late July, Senator Obama began a weeklong trip to the Middle East, starting with Afghanistan before moving on to Iraq and Israel. One intention of the trip was to demonstrate his ability to serve on a world stage during wartime, something that his detractors had questioned. Of course, such a trip waspolitically risky, if Obama were to make an embarrassing mistake during its course. Reporters and press eagerly waited for a gaffe.
They got their gaffe, but not from Obama. On July 29, Republican presidential candidate John McCain was speaking on Good Morning America. When asked for his assessment on the severity of the current situation in Afghanistan, McCain responded:
“I think it’s serious . . . It’s a serious situation, but there’s a lot of things we need to do. We have a lot of work to do and I’m afraid it’s a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border.”
Iraq and Pakistan share no borders. A country known as Iran sits in between.Thousands of kilometers separate them. Even navigating between Iraq and Pakistan’s closest points would require a sizable trip down the coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
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