For the third time in two days ... Sen. John McCain ...has pushed the definitively false statement liking Al-Qaeda and Iran ..

McCain Repeats Iran-Al Qaeda Gaffe Yet Again | March 19, 2008

Sen. John McCain has done it again.

For the third time in two days, the Arizona Republican has pushed the definitively false statement that the terrorist group Al-Qaeda was getting assistance from Iran, even though he was publicly ridiculed for the same false assertion on Tuesday.

This time, in a statement from his campaign honoring the fifth year anniversary of the war, McCain wrote:

"Today in Iraq, America and our allies stand on the precipice of winning a major victory against radical Islamic extremism. The security gains over the past year have been dramatic and undeniable. Al Qaeda and Shia extremists -- with support from external powers such as Iran -- are on the run but not defeated."

On Tuesday, the senator, appearing in Israel, made a nearly identical assertion that al-Qaeda was leaving Iraq to retool and regroup in Iran.
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Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who was accompanying McCain on the trip, was forced to lean over and whisper in McCain's ear that it was Shiite extremists, not Sunni al-Qaeda, that was going to predominantly Shiite Iran.

The repeated gaffes, which now appear to becoming something of a pattern, have already become fodder for McCain's Democratic opponents.
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"Just yesterday, we heard Sen. McCain confuse Sunni and Shiite, Iran and Al Qaeda," said Obama. "Maybe that is why he voted to go to war with a country that had no Al Qaeda ties. Maybe that is why he completely fails to understand that the war in Iraq has done more to embolden America's enemies than any strategic choice that we have made in decades."

United States is ready to launch a broad military operation against Syria if it insists on its position on the Lebanese crisis

Mar 4, 2008 | Egypt leaks information about an American military action against Syria

Jordanian newspaper Al-Arab Al-Youm reported today, through sources that an American message leaked by Egypt to Syria shows that the United States is ready to launch a broad military operation against Syria if it insists on its position on the Lebanese crisis and this is the real reason behind the deployment of “USS Cole” in front of the Syrian - Lebanese waters

The source said that the official announced reason of Condoleezza Rice’s visit to Egypt is to push the Palestinian - Israeli peace process forward but the real reason is to explain the American military actions and the presence of the American ships to the Egyptian leadership. ...

China: "'Secret prison' and 'torturing prisoners' have become synonymous with America,"

China hits back at US on rights, says Iraq war a disaster | 21 hours ago

BEIJING (AFP) — China on Thursday accused the United States of human rights hypocrisy, as it branded the US invasion of Iraq the "greatest humanitarian disaster" of the modern world.

In an annual response to Washington's criticism of China's human rights record, the Chinese government labelled the United States arrogant, and highlighted what it said were widespread US failures at home and abroad.

"(America's) arrogant critique on the human rights of other countries are always accompanied by a deliberate ignoring of serious human rights problems on its own territory," said the report, released by the state Xinhua news agency.

"This was not only inconsistent with universally recognised norms of international relations, but also exposed the double standards and downright hypocrisy of the United States on the human rights issue, and inevitably impaired its international image."
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"The invasion of Iraq by American troops has produced the biggest human rights tragedy and the greatest humanitarian disaster in modern world."

It also criticised civilian deaths in Afghanistan, secret prisons and torture of detainees.

"'Secret prison' and 'torturing prisoners' have become synonymous with America," the report said.

The report added that US citizens' right to join unions had been restricted, prisoners' rights had been violated, and authorities attempted to manipulate the media.

The report launched attacks on the United States' inability to tackle poverty, fight crime and even the exorbitant cost of running for president. ...

Russia: US "has in effect legalized torture, uses capital punishment on minors and denies responsibility for war crimes ...

Russia Accuses U.S. of Double Standards on Rights (Update1) | By Michael Heath

March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Russia said the U.S. State Department's ``latest opus'' on human rights reflects the double standards of a country that uses the issue as a foreign policy tool while failing to examine its own actions.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement it rejects criticism of Russia's human rights record from a country that ``has in effect legalized torture, uses capital punishment on minors and denies responsibility for war crimes and human rights violations in Iraq and Afghanistan.''

The U.S. report, published two days ago, said President Vladimir Putin's centralization of power in the Kremlin, selective law enforcement and restrictions on aid groups and the media have eroded government accountability. The Foreign Ministry called it ``a hackneyed set of claims.'' ...