I caught this discussion on CNN. Sorry but I cannot find any better link to a more comprehensive transcript.
Arizona Senator McCain, a candidate for the Republican nomination for president, arguing that the surge is working, made a statement today to the effect that "there are some streets in Baghdad there where it is safe to take a walk."
Skeptically, Wolf Blitzer arranged for a remote connection with Michael Ware, CNN's long-standing man on the spot in Baghdad to ask him if what McCain said was true. What Ware said over the flip:
Update: A much better diary by xrepup containing transcription compiled by TIVO is posted about 7 diaries below. But since my point here is the impact of the MSM when it does its job, I'll not delete. See also, Donnas
Update II: Now up at Crooks and Liars
Update III: Made the Rec List for the first time. For those of you aware of what I have been saying in the other diaries about prayer, take heed - prayers DO sometimes get answered.
Flinching a little, Ware opened his speil by saying the reason he was having trouble hearing Wolf's question was because of the helicopters overhead and the sounds of a street gun battle nearby. He emphatically denied knowing of anywhere in Baghdad where anyone could walk in safety. (In fact, the very same link above carries a story about a contractor killed this very day by a rocket attack in the so-called Green Zone, purportedly one of the safest areas in the city.)
Michael Ware then continued - "Senator McCain's statement that there are places in Baghdad where it is safe to walk is beyond ludicrous."
Update IV: Thanks to a fellow Kossack, here is the link to the CNN transcripts: Here's what McCain said, critical quotes italicized:
BLITZER: Here's what you told Bill Bennett on his radio show on Monday. "There are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods today. The U.S. is beginning to succeed in Iraq."
Everything we hear, that if you leave the so-called Green Zone, the international zone, and you go outside of that secure area, relatively speaking, you're in trouble if you're an American.
MCCAIN: You know, that's where you ought to catch up on things, Wolf. General Petraeus goes out there almost every day in a non-armed Humvee. I think you ought to catch up. You see, you are giving the old line of three months ago. I understand it. You certainly don't get it through the filter of some of the media.
But I know for a fact that much of the success we're experiencing, including the ability of Americans in many parts. Not all. We have got a long, long way to go. We have only got two of the five brigades there to go into some neighbors in Baghdad in a secure fashion.
Obviously, this immediate, credible refutation of McCain's fantastic fairy tale, can only but serve to lessen our perception of his ability to lead in a reality-based world. No wonder Fred Thompson is brightening up to the prospect of running to become the Republican nominee for president. If the so-called front runner can't even get his facts straight, and has to resort to spin and hyperbole to get TV time, the Republican party is in a world of hurt.
Please join me in giving a warm fuzzy to CNN. For once, it did its job - it reported McCain's bullshit, and immediately reported the truth, exposing the fiction for what it really is.
If only the MSM were always this quick to expose the misinformation being peddled by so-called leaders, it would be far harder for us to be hoodwinked. Perhaps, even, responsible reporting would work to winnow out those that don't deserve to be elected and leave us with a field if truly worth candidates.