While campaigning in South Carolina on Wednesday, McCain responded to a question about Iran by re-dubbing the Beach Boys song “Barbara Ann” into “Bomb Iran.”

“At a tense moment, when cooler heads in his own party and many retired military leaders are calling on the President to negotiate with Iran, Senator McCain’s outburst isn’t merely inappropriate, it’s dangerous,” said MoveOn.org Political Action Executive Director Eli Pariser in a statement. “This isn’t ‘straight talk,’ it isn’t leadership, it’s just more out-of-control bravado.”

McCain’s campaign shot back, pointing to the group’s political direction and citing past examples of “MoveOn’s record of liberal extremism.”

“It comes as no surprise that America’s most liberal interest group would attack John McCain’s belief that we cannot allow Iran to destroy Israel,” stated campaign spokesman Matt David. “After all, MoveOn.org posted ads comparing President Bush to Hitler during the last presidential election.”

But MoveOn.org was not the only group taking issue with McCain’s comment.

The National Iranian American Council strongly criticized the senator’s remarks.

“To joke about such a matter at a time when war in the Middle East has done so much to weaken America is beyond comprehension,” said the group’s president, Trita Parsi. He added: “It would be better if Senator McCain sought to find solutions to this challenge facing America rather than treating it as a joke.”