McCain Sets Timetable For Getting Out Of Iraq

Senator McCain's speech today gives a timetable for when US troops will leave Iraq if he becomes President. McCain went after former GOP rival Mitt Romney during the Florida primary, claiming his mention of timetables was equivalent to putting defeat into the hands of terrorists. Now the Senator is changing his tune.

Sen. John McCain will pledge today that most American troops will return home from Iraq by 2013 if he is elected president, a position that closely resembles the promises made by both of his potential Democratic rivals.

In a speech here this morning, McCain will say that only a small contingent of troops would remain in Iraq in non-combat roles beyond that date. He predicts that the drawdown will be possible because al Qaeda in Iraq will be defeated and a democratic government will be able to thrive in the war-torn country.

Comments

[calibpatriot]

I don't believe a damn thing that the neocons,Double-talk McBush included, say about anything. They will say anything and everything to advance their dark neofascistic agenda, Iraq being a good example. I don't see one iota's difference between Bush and McCain.

[benalbanach]

What else can the guy say. His position is untenable. The problem is not that he keeps saying these daft things.It'­s that a lot of Americans choose to believe him.

[AnotherToerag]

Pander away Sen. McCain!
I still remember the 100 years comment and I watched the GOP debates (for some reason) where you said a timetable would give the terrorists a schedule as to when the best time for attack would be. Most of the American public knows exactly where you really stand on the issue of Iraq, Iran, and the rest of the Middle East.

While I would not vote for McCain under any circumstance, I respected him for not pandering and for standing by what he believed in with conviction, no matter how unpopular with the voters. That respect is now gone.

[MsLourdes]

McBush is a shell of what he once was. Truly pathetic to witness the complete collap[se of a man and his party.....­.On another note, the GOP are terrified for the tsunamis of defeat in November. My congresswoman, who never, ever, sought necessary to reply to my numerous emails and phone messages reflecting my opposition to the war, support for funding SCHIP, etc, etc,, , is now sending weekily newsletters to her constittuents. Too little, too late.

[Nativson]

Correct me if I'm wrong, didn't Nixon say if he was elected he would end the war in Vietnam? TWhen elected the war did end, just after he was forced to resign, and not on any terms anyone else expected (we lost). Coincidence perhaps? I don't think so either.

[Kmichelle]

What, another pivot from McCain? Did he just take the time to think about the Iraq war and his previous position and decided he needed a new approach. Yep! that's the kind of straight talk and firm conviction we call all believe in.

[iBgood]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH48uuofr60

[MrKINOKO]

And I'll raise you one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o5zipU6r7o&feature=related

[ahornick]

The ONLY thing McCain has going for him is his mantle of "war hero". Being a war hero doesn't qualify anyone to run a country. He didn't even manage an army like General Eisenhower did. He flew an airplane! So give him a medal and send him home.

[Veman]

Correction as to definition of "War Hero" - McCain served honorably and survived a harrowing five years as a POW. A hero is someone who goes above and beyond the call of duty risking life and limb to save the lives of his brother(s) in arms. Since when is being a POW tantamount to being a WAR HERO?

[JamieJay]

SPOT ON! YOU ARE SOOO CORRECT!

[McLaren]

When he risked his life, several times, to save his cell-mate.

[Johnjlws]

I think a mistake is made whenever we desecrate McCain’s service to our country. I know I would have wet myself repeatedly if I’d been held in N. Vietnam for five minutes, much less five years. In my opinion, his tenure at the Hanoi Hilton qualifies him for a really big medal and our unflinching gratitude; it does not, however, qualify him to be President of the United States. This experience, alone actually may exclude him from that position simply because I would think this experience would have to gravely warp one’s paradigm of reality.

[boyleebob]

How many troops are still dying in Korea? Learn to think for yourself!

[Bluesue]

Does McCain actually stand for anything? He has demonstrated he is all about pandering. He no longer has any integrity.

[gorgol]

I think McCain...h­as used up every penny of his "VIETNAM POW" account...­.its fallen by the way side..alon­g with his honor and reputation­...how he's just a creep.

[izAriver]

"He predicts that the drawdown will be possible because al Qaeda in Iraq will be defeated and a democratic government will be able to thrive in the war-torn country."

There's the rub. He's "predicting", like bushit, and cheney and dumsfeld and the rest of their criminal organization.

[hydenorhare]

I was going to say that even you people are not so dumb as to believe that a prediction about winning the war is equivalent to a timetable for withdrawal regardless of the outcome.

I was going to say that but I think it's too close a call whether you are that dumb or just faking it to keep the spittle flying.

[ErnestineBass]

Please define "winning".

[hydenorhare]

Oh God. Not again. What have you been told many times before.

[AnotherToerag]

I thought we "won" when there were no WMDs.
I thought we "won" when Saddam Hussein was removed from power.

Really, nobody wins in this war. Thousands of Americans dead, countless more Iraqis. All to protect "our interests", at $3.85/gal.

[simplify]

No one wins a war. A truce is called and thats how all war ends.

[bygollymissmolly]

Iraq IS NOT a "war". It is an occupation. There is no way to win an occupation.

[Galt907]

Hidenwhore, weren't you the one who earlier sugested that no one without first hand knowledge had anything worthwhile to say? Let us know when your IQ rises into double digits

[cwcrosby42]

I think the point to be considered is that our troops in Germany, Japan and Korea are not, on a regular basis, being shelled, bombed and shot.

Iraq is an artificial country. It was set up after the First Oil War, to reward GB's and France's friends with their own real estate. It actually encompasses at least three cognizable separate areas, each having its own set of priorities and agenda. There was no way that kicking out Saddam Hussein was going to do anything except destabilize Iraq.

The ultimate problem there is that, them moment we leave there will be chaos. Since that will make it impossible to deny how foolish the war was, the war mongers need to prevent that by staying there, thereby bringing about the second problem, as long as we are there we are occupiers, and will be shot at, bombed, etc. So long as that happens, McSame will stay there, but it ain't the same as Japan, Germany and Korea!!

[Gmoney1]

McCain in not in charge of what he is saying - as a matter of fact he probably does not remember what he says from one day to another - wake up republicans - he's too old - he is a walking zoomby whose brain cells are diminishing by the minute -

[JerryinATL]

I agree McCain is too old. This is going to go very badly for the Republicans, just like it did for 'ol Bob Dole. The republicans have a nasty habit of picking the next old guy in line. As far as McCain changing his tune on the war, well, what did you expect from that (wacky) Mavrick.

[undecidee]

You are right. He is the republican puppet. His VP whoever the repub choose will be pulling the strings just like in this administration.

[bygollymissmolly]

I predict that the Republicans have no intention of choosing McCain as their candidate. He is their sacrificial lamb right now but at the convention they are going to say that he's too sick (he does have cancer, even though it is ignored by the press) and then they will pick Romney/Huckabee. Quite clever. Romney will come out fresh and clean two months before the election.

This is why I would like to see Obama and the Democrats running against the Republican party and what it has done to our country, not against McCain. If they do that, they will be ahead of the game in September. If they don't, they will be playing a very hard game of catch up.

[hydenorhare]

"I think the point to be considered is that " it's been over 50 years since those conflicts.

[bygollymissmolly]

No, the point is that we never occupied those countries for 7 years or more.

[MrKINOKO]

Fantastic post ! our policy kinda reminds me of the old anti-cocaine commercial­s..."I do more coke, so I can work harder, so I can make more money, so I can do more coke"...Ye­s, the Ottoman Empire is just that...som­eone elses Empire, which we so kindly cut up with the Europeans for our own benifit 100 years ago. And now we will apparently pay for that profiteering spirit...i­n spades...i­n countless amounts of blood and treasure.

[watererbob]

I'm always a little uneasy whenever the the German / Japan anology is mentioned. I served in Germany - we weren't considered "occupation forces", but in the immediate post WW-2 (when we were) the Germans didn't resist because they knew they had started a War for World conquest - and lost! I'm sure that most of the Japanese felt the same way!
Now the shoe is on the other foot! It's the US that is trying to "Take over the World" - the words of"The Brain".As with Nazis Germany, led by a group of greedy Right -Wingers, enabled by religous nuts (who claim divine destiny) and supported by Corporate interests that plan to make out like bandits!
History isn't kind to Empires. "The glory that was Greece" was extinguised when Athens began to act like an Imperial power! Even mighty Rome fell due to the greed & corruption of it's ruling class!

[JackLivigni]

McCain is a cut and run coward. He is not a patriot. A patriot would never leave Iraq because that is equivalent to surrendering.

His timetable does nothing but embolden our enemies and make America less secure. His flip flopping on the issue just shows that he is not a real Republican. He is a democrat in disguise trying to destroy the right. He has been planning this with John Kerry since 2004.

[izAriver]

You made me laugh. At least you're not voting for mcshame, right?

[wallyinindy]

Why isn't your sorry ass over there getting shot at? Kerry fought in a war and earned purple hearts and McCain's POW card has expired.

[JoeBlough]

Lies...lie­s...lies.

The war profiteers will never let the Republicans turn off the money spigget. They own the Republicans and they alone call the shots. We will withdraw when there are greater profits to be made withdrawing.

[izAriver]

Sadly and horribly true. Defense corporations are running this country.