On a Sunday stroll, McCain tells Iraqis he’ll fix the war

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Shots rang out today in Baghdad’s Shorja market, where yesterday U.S. Senator and presidential hopeful John McCain took an hour-long Sunday stroll. Located just three minutes from the Green Zone, McCain used Shorja to make a point that Americans were not getting an accurate picture of the security situation in Baghdad. The security detail for McCain’s visit included more than 100 U.S. troops, three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships.

Today, however, shots were heard in the market, where, on average, one person is killed each day. The security situation in market is so bad, most merchants will not venture into the northern part of the street, which they have dubbed “The Sniper Zone.”

McCain reportedly told merchants to hang in there:

Abu Samir, 31, said McCain bought an Egyptian rug from him and told him through an interpreter: “I want to run for president. And, don’t worry, because I’ll handle the war better than Bush.”