John McCain is making further rounds on a whirlwind tour of the Middle East, along with two representatives of the U.S. government, a whispy turncoat (Joe Lieberman) and a whispy dandy (Lindsey Graham). Pegged essentially as “The Untouchables Go to Iraq” in talk radio circles, the trio have undertaken the trip to somehow solidify McCain’s claim of being the strongest presidential candidate on national security and foreign policy. If the presence of three doddering white men in the sands of Mesopotamia wasn’t a dubious enough proposition on this front, McCain has committed verbal errors that could cause him significant problems in the months ahead.

While speaking to reporters in the capital of Jordan yesterday, McCain said that “al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that’s well-known.” Really, John? It strikes me as odd that an overwhelmingly Shiite country (Iran) would aid and abet a Sunni terrorist organization (Al-Qaeda). Shiites have gotten a tad irked over the past few years since Sunni extremists in Iraq have been consistently blowing up their Iraqi brothers in faith and even before the U.S. intervention, a Sunni-led Iraq started a bloody war against Iran that left over a million people dead. Thus, it is unheard of to those with even a tenuous grasp of Middle Eastern society that Iran would be so inclined to supply the murderers of its constituency with weapons and training to expedite that process. There is a reason why there has been so much Muslim-on-Muslim hatin’ in the cradle of civilization: these two sects share the trait of mutual loathing.

As can be expected, the Democratic Party jumped all over this gaffe, as they rightly should have. Karen Finney, spokesman of the DNC called into question McCain’s ability to offer a clear way forward in Middle Eastern foreign policy. Also as was expected, McCain’s camp fired back. According to CNN, McCain’s campaign responded with “Democrats have launched political attacks today because they know the American people have deep concerns about their candidates’ judgment and readiness to lead as commander in chief.”

What a fucking load of bollocks. As an American, I’m insulted that someone would suggest that my expectations of a potential president’s “readiness” don’t include a thorough understanding of the enemy we are facing. I would have let this flub fly as an instance of bats in the belfry of John McCain’s elderly brain, but the goof in Amman wasn’t the only instance of the mistaken connection in the Middle East. The statement corroborated a similar explanation McCain gave in an interview the day before with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt (great name for a lumberjack), in which he said “As you know, there are Al Qaeda operatives that are taken back into Iran, given training as leaders, and they’re moving back into Iraq.”

I don’t know what’s more embarrassing: the fact that there is such a violent divide still on the Muslim world between Shiites and Sunnis based on a succession disagreement with roots in the 8th century, or the fact that most Americans still have no idea what the fundamental difference between the two major sects of Islam actually is. However, while ignorance of the American citizen might be comfortably limited to living room vitriol, extending this dangerous misconception of Middle Eastern politics to the U.S. presidency is not only dangerous, it’s disastrous.

What I see in McCain’s misstep is a transmogrified version of the age-old racist adage, “they all look alike.” While I make no claim that McCain was being racist in this instance, he’s demonstrating the same outlook that has plagued much of American sentiment since 9/11. That is, in some way or another, the whole of the Muslim world is tacitly sympathetic to the cause of Osama bin Laden and that the words “insurgent,” “extremist,” “jihadist,” and “Al Qaeda” are as interchangeable as Martha Stewart’s drape collection.

Since Republicans have gotten a free pass with what essentially amounts to a more PC-version of “Asian people can’t drive” in claiming that Democrats can’t effectively lead America against terrorism, calling into question McCain’s preparedness is hardly playing politics. If this man’s foreign policy chops are as legendary as they’re being made out to be, then I want to see the Straight Talk Express back it up. The first time.

Image Credit