As we all know, McCain is using taxpayer dollars to undertake a campaign trip around the world. And, it is a campaign photo op. Yesterday, McCain got confused over the most basic facts about who is doing what in Iraq and Iran. Very basic stuff:

 Quote:
Sen. John McCain, traveling in the Middle East to promote his foreign policy expertise, misidentified in remarks Tuesday which broad category of Iraqi extremists are allegedly receiving support from Iran.

He said several times that Iran, a predominately Shiite country, was supplying the mostly Sunni militant group, al-Qaeda. In fact, officials have said they believe Iran is helping Shiite extremists in Iraq.

Speaking to reporters in Amman, the Jordanian capital, McCain said he and two Senate colleagues traveling with him continue to be concerned about Iranian operatives "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back."


Wait. Isn't Iraq supposed to be McCain's strong suit? So much for that lifetime of experience constantly attributed to McCain by Hillary Clinton.

McCain's major mistake wasn't a one-time thing. According to the Huffington Post, McCain made the same incorrect statements about al Qaeda on the Hugh Hewitt show -- and they've got the audio:

 Quote:
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.


Al Qaeda is Sunni. Iran is Shiite. That's a pretty big mistake for someone who is supposed to be so steeped in foreign policy and Iraq.

What if Clinton or Obama had made this mistake?

Now the traditional media types have it in their heads that McCain knows foreign policy inside out. That's wrong.

Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was "common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate." A few moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate's ear. McCain then said: "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda."

The mistake threatened to undermine McCain's argument that his decades of foreign policy experience make him the natural choice to lead a country at war with terrorists. In recent days, McCain has repeatedly said his intimate knowledge of foreign policy make him the best equipped to answer a phone ringing in the White House late at night.

Not so ready for that phone call after all.

So we learn that the volatile Senator doesn't know the basics -- the very basics -- about Sunnis and Shiites. He made the mistake by linking Al Qaeda and Iran. No doubt, McCain thinks that's a good, scary talking point, but he's wrong. His new adviser, Karl Rove, probably told him to do it anyway.