Screenshot of FOX NEWS video.
Video can be found at: http://video.foxnews.com/v/3778687817001/sen-john-mccain-reacts-to-president-obamas-address/?#sp=show-clips
SMELL Test
Source – In Senator John McCain’s reaction to President Obama’s September 9th, 2014 speech on ISIS, he gave himself creditability by stating that he and Senator Lindsey Graham had been to Baghdad previously. He also gives credit General David Howell Petraeus, Ambassador Ryan Crocker, and brave American men and woman. He credited them multiple times in context of the Iraq war. He did this very carefully, to only give credit to those people that he supported. He also wanted to give the view that he was knowledgeable about the officials behind the Iraq war.
Motive – The title of this video gives the motive Senator John McCain has. “Sen. John McCain reacts to President Obama's address”, he was asked by Fox News to comment and give insight and commentary on President Obama’s ISIS strategy. It also seems that he attempts to harm the President’s creditability by undermining his strategy and commenting on “failures” by the president.
Evidence – Senator John McCain attempts to use his political past, and political position now to validate his points. Although he gave credit to General David Howell Petraeus, Ambassador Ryan Crocker, and brave American men and woman, he didn’t ever validate any of his points with outside sources.
Logic – The way he gives credit to the officials behind the Iraq war as well as the men and woman of the U.S. military was effective. It gave a way for Sen. John McCain to establish his argument while giving a small amount of validity to his points. He also tells the audience that he and Senator Lindsey Graham had been to Baghdad before. This shows the audience that he has a level of knowledgeability about the Iraq war. This adds to his overall arguments of President Obama’s strategy.
Left Out – Had Senator John McCain used a creditable outside source to verify his points about ISIS and President Obama, it would have given his arguments a sense of validity.
John McCain Fact Check
Fact #1: Sen. McCain - “On Twitter, and Facebook, they are urging people to come
across our borders and attack the United States of America.” ("Sen. John McCain reacts...,"2014)
True – ISIS/ISIL does have a
sophisticated and very efficient social media campaign that began in late 2013.
“The coordinated campaign has featured what appears to be disciplined,
from-the-top-down message control designed to simulate organic grass-roots
activity. Complete with an app and highly orchestrated hashtag pushes, the
group's social media strategy mirrors that of a marketing company building buzz
around a new product.” "This is a combination of an extremely ambitious
military campaign with an extremely ambitious PR campaign. Social media is most
of that PR campaign." (Trowbridge, A., 2014)
Yes, they even have an app, “ISIS
has developed a Twitter app for Android phones called The Dawn of Glad Tidings,
Berger said. It offers users news and information about ISIS. When users sign
up, they give ISIS permission to send tweets through their own personal
accounts.”(Trowbridge, A., 2014) The app
syncs to your Twitter account, but your Twitter behaves just as it would
normally. But periodically the app will use your Twitter account to broadcast
ISIS/ISIL message through pre-approved trending hashtags. As the terror group
sieged the Iraqi city of Mosul, it reached almost 40,000 tweets. The Social
Campaign gives ISIS/ISIL many different advantages. “The social offensive --
with its gruesome photos purportedly showing mass executions of Iraqi soldiers
-- serves to boost recruitment, aid ISIS fundraising, bolster its credibility
in its competition with al Qaeda for leadership of the global jihadi movement,
and Little said, "strike fear into the hearts of their enemies." (Trowbridge,
A., 2014)
ISIS/ISIL has encouraged their
followers to threaten the United States and its allies through social media
outlets. “ISIS launched a social media campaign called a “Warning to the
American People.” Official ISIS Twitter accounts encouraged followers to post
threats against the U.S. on social media with the hashtag #CalamityWillBefallUS.”
(“Hashtag Terror: How ISIS Manipulates Social Media,” 2014). ISIS/ISIL have also issued various threats on
American soil, “A number of the supporters have specifically directed the threat
against New York City, posting images of Times Square and of the falling Twin
Towers along with the message “The head of ISIS Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
said: Our appointment in New York.”(“ISIS Renews Twitter Campaign Threatening
U.S.,” 2014 )
ISIS/ISIL has a very efficient and
beneficial PR campaign, especially through social media outlets. Although there
are attempts to delete and block their various accounts, they are still
promoting their ideals effectively. ISIS/ISIL have made threats, as well as
encourage others to threaten, the United States.
Fact #2: Sen. McCain - “There is no comparison to Yemen and Somalia, there is no
comparability between the threats there.” ("Sen. John McCain reacts...,"2014)
False – There is a very prominent
comparison to the terror groups in Yemen and Somalia, and the terror group of
ISIS/ISIL. Al-Shabab of Somalia and the AQAP (al-Qaeda of the Arabian
Peninsula) are both terrorist affiliates of the powerful terrorist group al-Qaeda.
“AQAP chief Nasir al-Wuhayshi is al Qaeda's No. 2 and has so far remained loyal
to the terror network's leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.”(Smith-Spark, L., 2015). “Al-Shabaab’s
senior leaders are affiliated with al-Qa‘ida and are believed to have trained
and fought in Afghanistan.”(“Terrorist Groups: Al-Shabab,” n.d.).
This link to Al-Qaeda gives both of these terror organizations have a very
creditable threat to the United States.
They have demonstrated that they
can attack targets outside of their respected countries. “Al Shabaab has also
shown the ability to attack hotels in Mogadishu. On Dec. 3, 2009, a suicide
bomber dressed as a woman attacked a graduation ceremony in a hotel meeting
room and killed some 20 people, including four government ministers. On Aug.
24, 2010, al Shabaab gunmen disguised as government security forces conducted
an armed assault on a hotel near the presidential palace in Mogadishu that
killed 30, including seven parliament members and two government officials. On
Feb. 8, 2012, a suicide VBIED was rammed into a cafe outside the Muna Hotel,
killing 11.”(Stewart, S., 2012). AQAP has constantly attacked the government of
Yemen in order to dislodge the government and establish an Islamic caliphate. “AQAP
has conducted a number of high-profile attacks inside Yemen targeting the
Yemeni Government, including a complex, multistage attack in December 2013
against Yemen’s Ministry of Defense that killed at least 52 people, and in
February 2014 the group freed over two dozen prisoners after attacking Sanaa’s
central prison.”(“Terrorist Groups: Al-Qa'ida in The Arabian Peninsula (AQAP),”n.d.).
AQAP has released a video of the
group’s leader Nasir al-Wahishi, making a verbal threat to the United States. This is definitely not an empty threat. AQAP
has demonstrated numerous times that they are capable of striking American
soil. “AQAP has also attempted, unsuccessfully, to strike the U.S. homeland:
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to bomb a Detroit-bound jet on Christmas
Day, 2009, but failed due to a technical malfunction; two attempts to down
Chicago-bound cargo planes with bombs disguised as printer cartridges were
intercepted in October 2010 based on Saudi intelligence; and a May 2012
attempted bombing of a U.S.-bound airliner was foiled by a double agent.”(Masters,
J., & Laub, Z., 2013).
Both of these terrorist
organizations have the capability to strike the United States and our western
allies. They are a creditable threat to us, and they shouldn’t be taken as
lightly as senator McCain does. They’ve been linked to al-Qaeda, one of the
greatest threats to the United States in the modern age. Just as al-Qaeda wouldn’t
be under estimated, these small terrorist organizations should be considered as
much of a threat as any.
Fact #3: Sen. McCain - “Look, the President of the United States when he didn’t leave
a withdrawal force behind lead to all of this.” ("Sen. John McCain reacts...,"2014)
True – In 2010, President Obama
changed the mission in Iraq from Operation Iraqi Freedom, predominately a
military combat mission, to Operation New Dawn. Operation New Dawn outlined a
reduction of U.S. Troops in Iraq and a transition to training the new Iraqi
government’s military.
“During Operation New Dawn, the remaining 50,000 U.S.
servicemembers serving in Iraq will conduct stability operations, focusing on
advising, assisting and training Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). Operation New
Dawn also represents a shift from a predominantly military U.S. presence to one
that is predominantly civilian, as the Departments of Defense and State work
together with governmental and non-governmental agencies to help build Iraq’s
civil capacity.”(Operation New Dawn, n.d.).
President George Bush, and the Iraqi
government had agreed to the US-Iraq Status
of Forces Agreement, which established an end date for American involvement
in Iraq. President Obama inherited this agreement and pledged to fulfill his
obligation by the end of 2011.
“Good afternoon, everybody.
As a candidate for President, I pledged to bring the war in Iraq to a
responsible end -- for the sake of our national security and to strengthen
American leadership around the world.
After taking office, I announced a new strategy that would end our
combat mission in Iraq and remove all of our troops by the end of 2011. (Office
of the Press Secretary, 2011)
This withdrawal of U.S. troops allowed
the rise of a Shi’ite dominated government led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that
then used sectarian policies to rule
the diverse nation. The Shi’ite government persecuted many Sunni government
officials which incited a public outrage.
“ISIS took advantage of the public outrage in Iraq against [Prime
Minister] Maliki and his imprisonment of Sunnis. They launched what they called
the "Breaking the Walls" campaign, which was a series of strikes
against Iraqi prisons. A number of the prisoners joined ISIS, swelling its
ranks. Against a backdrop of intense anger, ISIS infiltrated Anbar and
convinced tribal leaders and Sunni protestors that they were the only group
that could protect them from the Shia-dominated government. The resulting
street battles in Fallujah between disenfranchised Sunnis and ISIS fighters
pitted against the Shia-dominated military led to the city breaking away from
government control. The fall of Mosul allowed ISIS to plunder an unprecedented
amount of US military supplies, originally given to the Iraqi Security Forces.
This weaponry allowed ISIS to continue fighting south along the Tigris River
through other Sunni-dominated areas. ISIS's success in Syria and the lack of
order in Iraq has allowed the group to depend on a flow of fighters and
supplies between the two countries. ISIS' ability to operate with relative
impunity in Syria, combined with the local anti-government discontent among
Sunnis in Iraq, has allowed ISIS to take over and operate across the two
countries in an area approximately the size of Belgium.” (Bender, J., 2014).
While this effect cannot be directly
linked to the removal of a U.S. security and training force, the United States government
did agree to sell American military weaponry to the Iraqi Defense Department.
This American weaponry is now being used by ISIS to promote their cause, and
combat the U.S. led coalition against ISIS. Had the U.S. security and training
force remained in Iraq until a stable government was established, ISIS could
not have taken root in Iraq.
Fact #4: “Now we face this ISIS which is larger than the state of Indiana.”
True – At the time of this speech in September of 2014, Isis
had control of over 90,000 square Kilometers of land,
“90,000: The number of square kilometers ISIS is believed to
control. The amount of territory held by ISIS changes by the day, said Clarke
but it includes big swaths of north and northeast Syria to include major cities
like Aleppo and Raqqa. ISIS also has a major presence around a critical border
crossing between Syria and Iraq. In Iraq, ISIS's reach stretches to the
northern and northwestern parts of country, but also goes as far down as
Fallujah and west of Kirkuk.” (Gollom, 2014).
That is relatively similar to the size of the state of
Indiana. Indiana is 94,321 square Kilometers.
Bibliography
Bender, J. (2014,
October 30). How ISIS Became One Of The World's Most Dangerous Terrorist
Groups. Retrieved February 24, 2015, from http://www.businessinsider.com/rise-of-isis-2014-10?op=1
Gollom, M. (2014,
August 26). ISIS by the numbers: How big, strong and rich the militant
organization may be. Retrieved February 23, 2015, from
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/isis-by-the-numbers-how-big-strong-and-rich-the-militant-organization-may-be-1.2746332
Hashtag Terror:
How ISIS Manipulates Social Media. (2014, August 21). Retrieved February 23,
2015, from http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/international-extremism-terrorism/c/isis-islamic-state-social-media.html
ISIS Renews
Twitter Campaign Threatening U.S. (2014, August 12). Retrieved February 23,
2015, from http://blog.adl.org/international/isis-renews-twitter-campaign-threatening-u-s
Masters, J.,
& Laub, Z. (2013, August 22). Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Retrieved February 23, 2015, from http://www.cfr.org/yemen/al-qaeda-arabian-peninsula-aqap/p9369
Operation New
Dawn. (n.d.). Retrieved February 23, 2015, from http://www.usf-iraq.com/operation-new-dawn/
Office of the
Press Secretary (2011, October 21). Remarks by the President on Ending the War
in Iraq. Retrieved February 24, 2015, from http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/21/remarks-president-ending-war-iraq
Smith-Spark, L.
(2015, January 14). AQAP: What is al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula? Retrieved
Sen. John McCain reacts to President Obama's address [Video
file]. (2014, September 10). Retrieved from http://video.foxnews.com/v/3778687817001/sen-john-mccain-reacts-to-president-obamas-address/?#sp=show-clips
February 23, 2015, from
http://www.wptv.com/news/world/aqap-what-is-al-qaeda-in-the-arabian-peninsula
Stewart, S.
(2012, April 26). Al Shabaab's Threat to Kenya. Retrieved February 23, 2015,
from https://www.stratfor.com/weekly/al-shabaabs-threat-kenya
Terrorist Groups:
Al-Qa'ida in The Arabian Pennisula (AQAP). (n.d.). Retrieved February 23, 2015,
from http://www.nctc.gov/site/groups/aqap.html
Terrorist Groups:
Al-Shabab. (n.d.). Retrieved February 23, 2015, from http://www.nctc.gov/site/groups/al_shabaab.html.
Trowbridge, A.
(2014, June 16). Jihadists on the move in Iraq with weapons, hashtags.
Retrieved February 23, 2015, from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/isis-jihadists-on-move-in-iraq-using-weapons-and-twitter-hashtags/
