The following is a fact-check from the June 27, 2010 episode of Meet the Press.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ)

1) White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel appeared on Meet the Press on June 20, 2010 – FALSE

2) Last week White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel reiterated the Obama administration’s plan to begin withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in mid-2011 – TRUE

3) The president’s spokesperson [Robert Gibbs] said, regarding the date for the beginning of withdrawal, “It’s etched in stone, and he has the chisel” – TRUE

SEN. McCAIN: Rahm Emanuel on your program last, last Sunday reiterated the commitment to leaving middle of 2011. The president’s spokesperson said, “It’s etched in stone, and he has the chisel.”

A few more quick Sen. McCain checks to round out what has turned into “McCain Day” here at Meet the Facts:

1) This one is pretty minor but we’ll point it out anyway. Rahm Emanuel did not appear on Meet the Press on June 20, 2010, he appeared on ABC’s This Week with host (and fact-check proponent) Jake Tapper. Though this is most likely a harmless misstatement, Sen. McCain’s statement is obviously FALSE.

2) However, on This Week Rahm Emanuel did in fact reiterate the Obama administration’s date of mid-year 2011 to begin the withdrawal of troops. Thus, we rate Sen. McCain’s statement TRUE.

3) According to CBS news, the White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs did report the President saying the withdrawal date is etched in stone and that the President even has the chisel. Thus, we will rate Sen. McCain’s statement TRUE.

This fact-check took a combined 1 hour.

The following is a fact-check from the June 27, 2010 episode of Meet the Press:  

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ) | No military adviser recommended to President Obama that he set a date of mid-2011 for begin the withdrawal of coalition forces from Afghanistan – LIKELY FALSE

SEN. McCAIN: Look, I, I’m against a timetable. In wars, you declare when you’re leaving after you’ve succeeded. And, by the way, no military adviser recommended to the president that he set a date of the middle of 2011. So it was purely a political decision, not one based on facts on the ground, not based on military strategy or anything. Now…

MR. GREGORY: All–Senator, is that fair? All of his military advisers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Petraeus, General McChrystal, they all signed onto the idea…

SEN. McCAIN: They signed onto it…

MR. GREGORY: …of July. 2011. Well, isn’t it their obligation to say…

SEN. McCAIN: It’s not their idea.

MR. GREGORY: …that this is wrong?

SEN. McCAIN: In my view it is.

MR. GREGORY: Well, they didn’t do that, though.

SEN. McCAIN: In my view it is. They didn’t.

MR. GREGORY: So they were for it.

SEN. McCAIN: They didn’t do it. They didn’t do it, and they should have because they know better.

According to the New York Times, both Admiral Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates signed onto the date of mid-year 2011 to withdraw forces from Afghanistan, though, they both said withdrawal will hinge on “conditions on the ground.” But Gates and Mullen reiterated that mid-year 2011 will mark the date to start the transition of control to Afghan government. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, former commander of the war in Afghanistan, was “absolutely supportive” of the withdrawal date.

To judge whether the withdrawal date was purely political, we looked over Obama’s statements, including focusing on campaign promises to see if he ever mentioned the withdrawal date on the campaign trail. Obama did pledge to send additional brigades to Afghanistan on the campaign trail, but never mentioned a date of withdrawal from Afghanistan. The first mention of the specific withdrawal date was on December 1, 2009, in President Obama’s speech at West Point.

As Mr. Gregory rightfully pointed out, it is unlikely that Sen. McCain’s point could be true when President Obama’s military advisers indicated they supported the timetable. Although, it’s worth acknowledging that it is unlikely that a presidential military adviser would publicly contradict the President, that assumption cannot provide a factual basis for McCain’s statement. In addition, we could find no evidence that the Obama administration determined the withdrawal timetable for political reasons, though, we admit it is obviously impossible to confirm at this time what happened behind closed doors regarding the matter.  We rate Sen. McCain’s statement LIKELY FALSE.

The following fact-check took a combined 2.75 hours..

The following is a fact-check of the June 27, 2010 episode of Meet the Press:

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ)

1) A police chief in Nogales, Arizona said that his police officers are being told they will be murdered by the Mexican drug cartels – TRUE

2) As a result of violence and the influence of the Mexican drug cartels, the government has installed signs in the southern part of Arizona warning people they are in a drug and human smuggling area – TRUE

SEN. McCAIN: Why is it that the police chief in Nogales reported that his police officers are being told they’re going to be murdered by the drug cartels on the other side of the border? The, the rise of violence and the influence of the drug cartels and the human smugglers have made our government put up signs in the southern part of the state of Arizona warning them that they are in a drug smuggling and human smuggling area of this country.

1) According to both CNN and ABC News, police officers from Nogales, Arizona were threatened by a Mexican drug cartel.  Informants told the police department that off-duty officers should ignore illegal drug drug shipments or face retaliation. Although, there is no specific indication that retaliation would include murdering the officers, it is reasonable to assume that that is what the threats were meant to imply. Thus, we rate Sen. McCain’s statement TRUE.

It is worth noting, however, that Sen. McCain made the statement to indicate the increasing danger in the area. While the Senator’s statement is TRUE in and of itself, included in the same CNN story referenced above was this point as well which we feel is relevant to the context of his overall point:

And while the region is a major drug corridor, Nogales has an extremely low crime rate. There has only been one murder in the past three years. By contrast, the police chief says, just across the border there have already been 126 drug-related murders this year.

One thing made clear in both articles, however, is that the violence on the other side of the border is significant, and often especially targets Mexican police officers. And again, there is no question the threatening of US police officers is a sign of escalation.

2) According to the Associated Press, signs have been placed along Interstate 8 in southern Arizona by the federal government to warn visitors to the Sonoran Desert National Monument that drug and human smuggling may be occurring south of the highway. Therefore, we rate Sen. McCain’s statement TRUE.

This sign is one of eight that were recently placed along Interstate 8 in southern Arizona by the federal government.

This fact-check took a combined 2 hours.

The following is a fact-check of the June 27, 2010 episode of Meet the Press:

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ) | Phoenix, Arizona averages the second highest number of kidnappings in the world – FALSE

SEN. McCAIN: Not until we get the borders secure. By the way, on that issue, why is it that Phoenix, Arizona, is the number two kidnapping capital of the world? Does that mean our border’s safe?

Politifact already checked McCain’s assertion that Phoenix, Arizona is the number 2 kidnapping capital in the world. The key part of their check:

Neither the FBI nor the U.S. National Central Bureau of Interpol, an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice that serves as the United States’ representative to Interpol, could confirm that Phoenix has the second-highest frequency of kidnapping cases worldwide.

Phoenix has experienced hundreds of kidnappings over the past few years. However, we couldn’t find reliable around-the-planet evidence to confirm that only Mexico City experiences more of them. In fact, experts advise that such rankings can’t be made based on available information. If they could, they speculate, other cities would prove to have more kidnappings than Arizona’s capital.

After reviewing Politifact’s work, we agree. Therefore, we find Sen. McCain’s statement FALSE.

This fact-check took a combined 30 minutes.

The following is a fact-check from the June 27 2010, episode of Meet the Press:

REP. BARBARA LEE (D-CA) | General Jones said that there are less than 100 members of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan – TRUE

REP. LEE: David, General… MR. GREGORY: Yeah, yeah. REP. LEE: …Jones actually indicated that, I believe, less than 100 members of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

According to ABC, the Washington Times and an interview of General James Jones by Wolf Blitzer, Gen. Jones did say there were fewer than 100 members of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Here is Gen. Jones:

The al Qaeda presence is very diminished. The maximum estimate is less than 100 operating in the country, no bases, no ability to launch attacks on either us or our allies.

Therefore, we will rate Barbara Lee’s statement TRUE.

This fact-check took a combined 20 minutes.

The following are the statements to fact-check from the June 27, 2010 episode of Meet the Press:
VIDEO/TRANSCRIPT

If you can help us research them please either email us or (preferably) post your work in the comments below. (Anonymity is fine) Also let us know how long you spent researching each fact, we will be tracking it. The success of Meet the Facts depends on the crowd-sourcing of people like you, please help if you can!

Statements are listed in chronological order

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ)

1) White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel appeared on Meet the Press on June 20, 2010.

2) Last week White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel reiterated the Obama administration’s plan to begin withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in mid-2011.

3) The president’s spokesperson [Robert Gibbs?] said, regarding the date for the beginning of withdrawal, “It’s etched in stone, and he has the chisel.”

4) US Troops are “in some ways” confused about what the long term strategy is in Afghanistan.

5) A high ranking Taliban prisoner said, “You’ve got the watches, and we’ve got the time.”

SEN. McCAIN: I think that that’s a fairly accurate description of the situation in Afghanistan. I think that it’s pretty obvious that the effort in Marjah did not achieve the elements of success certainly quickly enough. The offensive into Kandahar has been delayed–which, by the way, argues against this setting a date certain for beginning the withdrawal. A lot of the behavior that Karzai is displaying, a lot of the things that are going on right now are a direct result of the president’s commitment to beginning withdrawal–whatever not turn “out the lights” means. That’s an indecipherable statement. Rahm Emanuel on your program last, last Sunday reiterated the commitment to leaving middle of 2011. The president’s spokesperson said, “It’s etched in stone, and he has the chisel.” So people in the region, they can’t leave. They have to adjust and they have to accommodate. And Karzai is doing some of the things he’s doing because he’s not confident that we’re going to stay. The troops on the ground are, are in some ways confused about what the long-term strategy would be. And I guess the best example I can tell you is a high-ranking Taliban prisoner said, “You’ve got the watches, and we’ve got the time.” And that’s what is, is pervading this entire environment, the fact that they think we’re–that we’re going to leave. And if they believe that, then they are going to act very differently.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ) | No military adviser recommended to President Obama that he set a date of mid-2011 for the beginning of withdrawl of coalition forces from Afghanistan.

SEN. McCAIN: Look, I, I’m against a timetable. In wars, you declare when you’re leaving after you’ve succeeded. And, by the way, no military adviser recommended to the president that he set a date of the middle of 2011. So it was purely a political decision, not one based on facts on the ground, not based on military strategy or anything. Now…

MR. GREGORY: All–Senator, is that fair? All of his military advisers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Petraeus, General McChrystal, they all signed onto the idea…

SEN. McCAIN: They signed onto it…

MR. GREGORY: …of July. 2011. Well, isn’t it their obligation to say…

SEN. McCAIN: It’s not their idea.

MR. GREGORY: …that this is wrong?

SEN. McCAIN: In my view it is.

MR. GREGORY: Well, they didn’t do that, though.

SEN. McCAIN: In my view it is. They didn’t.

MR. GREGORY: So they were for it.

SEN. McCAIN: They didn’t do it. They didn’t do it, and they should have because they know better.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ) | The US timetable for withdrawal from Iraq was established after the “surge.” [or “after it was succeeding”]

SEN. McCAIN: We may need more troops. We may need more as we did…

MR. GREGORY: But did we do that in Iraq? Didn’t we set a timetable…

SEN. McCAIN: After.

MR. GREGORY: …after we surged up…

SEN. McCAIN: After we succeeded, after we were succeeding, yes indeed. And we should.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ) | US allies in the war in Afghanistan have not contributed the 10,000 troops as part of the overall 40,000 troop increase.

SEN. McCAIN: I think there should be constant reviews. And that review, by the way, will show that we have not seen the pace of success. And, by the way, we have not seen our allies contribute the 10,000 troops that were part of this overall strategy of 40,000 troops that would be engaged in this surge.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ) | [Not sure this is a check so much as an exchange in need of clarification]

MR. GREGORY: What are the consequences of success? Tom Friedman wrote in his column this week something very poignant, and I’ll put it up on the screen. “What do we win if we win? At least in Iraq, if we eventually produce a decent democratizing government, we will, at enormous cost, have changed the politics in a great Arab capital in the heart of the Arab Muslim world. That can have wide resonance. Change Afghanistan at enormous cost and you’ve changed Afghanistan-period. Afghanistan does not resonate.”

SEN. McCAIN: Well, I have the greatest respect for Tom Ridge, I think both books…

MR. GREGORY: Tom Friedman.

SEN. McCAIN: Excuse me, I’m sorry, Tom Ricks I have the greatest respect for.

MR. GREGORY: Yeah.

SEN. McCAIN: Mr. Friedman was wrong about Iraq. He said we couldn’t succeed in Iraq. He said we’d fail, we had to withdraw. Enough said.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ) | The Afghan Army consists of excellent fighters and is functioning properly.

SEN. McCAIN: It’s, it’s gauge–no, no. It’s, it’s again, like other counterinsurgencies, and this is a counterinsurgency based on the same principles but very different conditions than we had in Iraq. And that means that gradually we will clear, hold, make the people that support the government and against the Taliban, which they already are, an Afghan army–and, by the way, they are very excellent fighters that is functioning, and the corruption is a huge problem.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ) | Elena Kagan showed “steadfast” and “zealous” opposition to military recruiters while at Harvard University.

SEN. McCAIN: I want to look at–watch the hearings. The hearings, I think, are always very important. But I’ll tell you one thing I’m disturbed about was her obvious steadfast and even zealous opposition to military recruiters, to the presence of military on the campus of the most prestigious university, in, in the view of many, in America.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ)

1) Phoenix, AZ averages the second highest numbers of kidnappings in the world.

2) A police chief in Nogales said that the officers are being told they will be murdered by the Mexican drug cartels.

3) As a result of  violence and the influence of the Mexican drug cartels, the Arizona [or US?] government has installed signs in the southern part of Arizona warning people they are in a drug and human smuggling area.

SEN. McCAIN: Not until we get the borders secure. By the way, on that issue, why is it that Phoenix, Arizona, is the number two kidnapping capital of the world? Does that mean our border’s safe? Of course not. Why is it that the police chief in Nogales reported that his police officers are being told they’re going to be murdered by the drug cartels on the other side of the border? The, the rise of violence and the influence of the drug cartels and the human smugglers have made our government put up signs in the southern part of the state of Arizona warning them that they are in a drug smuggling and human smuggling area of this country. That’s not, that’s not how America should…

SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ)

1) The Mexican drug cartel movement across the border has “dramatically” increased.

2) 23,000 thousand people have been killed in Mexico in the last 3 years.

MR. GREGORY: Do you agree with the governor of Arizona who says that most people who come across the border illegally are actually drug mules?

SEN. McCAIN: No. I think that there’s a large number and I think she’s right in that the drug cartels movement has dramatically increased and the violence. Twenty-three thousand people, Mexicans, have been killed in the last three years in Mexico.

GEN. BARRY McCAFFREY (Ret.)

1) There have been 7,000 US casualties from the war in Afghanistan.

2) The war costs $5.4 billion a month.

3) The American public does not support the war.

GEN. McCAFFREY (Ret.): Sure. Look, this is a political dilemma, not a military one. There’s 7,000 killed and wounded, $5.4 billion a month, the American people don’t support the war. We have a goofy, incompetent Afghan government. We’re trying to build an Afghan security force and get it largely done in a very short period of time. None of this is going to work the way we’re going about it. So, again, back to, I think, the congresswoman’s remarks, you either got to pull out in, in a stated time frame with huge negative consequences, potentially, to Pakistan, the Afghans themselves, U.S. foreign policy; or you, you announce that we’re in there until we have achieved a stable political system in Afghanistan.

WES MOORE | During his deployment in Afghanistan, there were 19,000 US troops in the country.

MR. MOORE: Well, I think it’s important to understand that we are going on close to 10 years. But this war has not been a priority for close to 10 years. I mean, in the time when I was over there, we had around–a little over 19,000 troops on the ground to cover a land mass that is 50 percent larger than Iraq.

WES MOORE | There has been a 30% increase in Afghan security force participation.

MR. MOORE: Well, I think the indication that we have right now is that the system that we have in place and the systems that we put in place over the past few years are actually starting to show some results. We have a 30 percent increase in Afghan security force participation. We now are finally seeing complete integration between the civilian side and military side.

SEBASTIAN JUNGER

1) According to the Human Rights Watch organization, 16,000 Afghan civilians have died during the US war in Afghanistan.

2) According to the Human Rights Watch organization, 400,000 Afghan civilians died during the time of Taliban control.

MR. JUNGER: I’ve been reporting from Afghanistan since ’96, for the first 10 years of that, from the perspective of the civilian population. It’s of incredible concern to me. I mean, human–these are human rights watch figures. Since NATO has been there, 16,000 Afghan civilians have died in combat operations. It’s a horrifying number. That ended a period of violence in Afghanistan under the Taliban where 400,000 Afghans were killed.

REP. BARBARA LEE (D-CA) | The American public does not support the war and would like it to end.

REP. LEE: The American people are war weary. This [Afghanstian] is an endless war, and they want it to come to an end.

SEBASTIAN JUNGER | According to polls in early 2002, 90% of Afghans supported the US invasion of Afghanistan.

MR. JUNGER: Let me just jump in. I was in Kabul in ’01 after Kabul fell, after the Taliban were toppled. I was getting hugged by Afghans because I was American, because they hated the Taliban so much. Ninety–I don’t know who does these surveys, 90 percent of Afghans–after 9/11, in early ’02, 90 percent of Afghans supported the U.S. military action that, that destroyed the Taliban. So you really–the word occupation really is not accurate.

REP. BARBARA LEE (D-CA) | General Jones said that there are less than 100 members of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

REP. LEE: David, General…

MR. GREGORY: Yeah, yeah.

REP. LEE: …Jones actually indicated that, I believe, less than 100 members of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

TOM RICKS (Foreign Policy) | Military personnel make up 1% of the US population.

MR. RICKS: Yeah. It reminds me of something Ryan Crocker, the ambassador in Iraq, used to say, “Just because you walk out of a movie doesn’t mean it’s over.” Just because you walk out of Afghanistan doesn’t mean it’s over. We’re all sick of the war in Afghanistan. Nobody’s sicker than the U.S. military. I actually think one reason McChrystal blew up on the launching pad was because he and his guys are tired. They’ve been doing this for years. The U.S. military is 1 percent of this country, and it’s carrying 99 percent of the burden of the war.

Did we miss something? Let us know!

If you can help us research them please either email us or (preferably) post your work in the comments below. Also also let us know how long you spent researching each fact.

THANKS!

Identifying and posting these statements took 3 hours.

POST YOUR RESEARCH HERE