McCain's Hamas Comments (In Context)

Matt Lewis | May 16, 2008 4:39 PM

This morning, Obama forces accused John McCain of hypocrisy. In short, they referenced an op-ed in today's WaPost by a former Clinton State Department Official, who quoted McCain as saying of Hamas: "They’re the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another. . . ”

It turns out that the quote wasn't exactly the whole story. In fact, it seems to have been, shall we say, selectively quoted.

As I noted earlier, the McCain campaign said that pre-conditions must be met before McCain would meet with Hamas. The video the liberals put out only showed part of McCain's response. The video below shows that McCain has always contended he would negotiate with Hamas only after they ... well, here's the quote:

“Well, hopefully, that Hamas now that they are going to govern, will be motivated to renounce this commitment to the extinction of the state of Israel. Then we can do business again ..."

Update: McCain's comments at the NRA meeting today:

"Earlier today, Senator Obama made a few remarks I would like to respond to. I welcome a debate about protecting America. No issue is more important. Senator Obama claimed all I had to offer was the 'naive and irresponsible belief' that tough talk would cause Iran to give up its nuclear program. He should know better. I have some news for Senator
Obama: Talking, not even with soaring rhetoric, in unconditional meetings with the man who calls Israel a 'stinking corpse' and arms terrorist who kill Americans will not convince Iran to give up its nuclear program. It is reckless to suggest that unconditional meetings will advance our interests.

"It would be a wonderful thing if we lived in a world where we don't have enemies. But that is not the world we live in, and until Senator Obama understands that reality, the American people have every reason to doubt whether he has the strength, judgment, and determination to keep us safe."