McCain Lies About Troop Level In Iraq

John McCain wants voters to believe he is a straight-talker, unlike other Republicans, and has even named his campaign bus the "Straight Talk Express". So it is particularly disappointing to see him tell a lie, and then refuse to admit it.

The other day, McCain told an audience that U.S. troops in Iraq are back down to pre-surge levels. When it was pointed out that it is simply not true, he got a little miffed and said the withdrawals are currently in the works and will be down to pre-surge levels by the end of July.

Unfortunately, that is not true either. There are some troops in the process of withdrawing, but even after these troops finish their withdrawal at the end of July, there will still be 10,000 more troops in Iraq than before Bush's troop surge.

Maybe this is why he doesn't seem to be bothered by over 4,000 American deaths in Iraq. After all, if he doesn't consider 10,000 troops to be of any significance, why should a mere 4,000 or so deaths be significant?

But this many troops are of great significance to McCain's Democratic opponent. Barack Obama has called for McCain to tell the truth. He says, "We all misspeak sometimes. I've done it myself. So on such a basic, factual error, you'd think that John McCain would just say 'Oh I misspoke, I made a mistake' and then move on. But he couldn't do that, he dug in."

Obama added, "Just like George Bush, John McCain is refusing to admit that he's made a mistake. And that's exactly the kind of leadership that has got us fighting for five years in a war that should have never been authorized. We don't need more leaders who can't admit they've made a mistake, even about something as fundamental as how many Americans are serving in harm's way."

It looks like the "straight-talker" is just like other Republican leaders. He's willing to say anything to get what he wants -- whether it's true or not. This is more evidence that he's just a Bush clone.