John McCain Calls Afghanistan Withdrawal Date 'Ill-Advised' (VIDEO)

WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain said Thursday he still thinks it's a mistake to publicly announce a July 2011 date for the start of a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"We cannot succeed with a date certain," the Arizona Republican told ABC's "Good Morning America."

"You cannot tell the enemy when you're leaving, when you're in warfare, and expect your strategy to prevail," said McCain, a former Vietnam era prisoner of war who lost to Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.

McCain also said in the nationally broadcast interview that he has full confidence in Gen. David Petraeus, chosen by President Barack Obama to succeed the ousted Gen. Stanley McChrystal as the Afghan commander. But he also said he thinks more U.S. forces are needed there.

McCain said he considered it "completely understandable" that Obama dismissed McChrystal in the wake of disparaging remarks the general and his aides made about civilian officials in a Rolling Stone magazine interview. He said that in a talk he had with Obama, "I pointed out to the president, we need a new team over there as well, perhaps at the embassy, and other areas." McCain said "the relationship between the civilian and the military is not what it should be."

WATCH: John McCain's appearance on Good Morning America

Comments

[Madelaine]

09:02 AM on 07/18/2010

McCain has certainly lived long enough, most importantly into the last developmental stage. Sadly, his words are partisan, devisive, and self-serving.

What never came out was the REAL truth about his military service. It hovered, just slightly under the radar, but very available for Americans on the net. Just not something anyone wanted to tangle with...a waste of time. In my view, I thought it crucial information....as information details character. That same character, or moral compass, and strong tendency towards opportunism, is displayed consistently by McCain.

[charles116]

11:39 AM on 06/29/2010

I call anything that comes out of McCains yap - ill advised.

[John Corbett]

08:11 PM on 06/28/2010

Ya let's go with the miltary genious's that got you into Iraq and Afganistan in the first place.
Both military blunders of the century, if you exclude Vietnam. You remember Vietnam, Don't you.
Mr. McCain served galantly and sacrificed his freedom for his country I and admire him for that.
However his party and masters had many years under the Bush majority to conduct a military
campaign that was in absolute shambles when Mr. Obama came to office. So how does anyone on the right feel they are in a position to comment on tactics. It's time to cancel
Mr. Mccain's POW card and take your country back from the Military Industrial Complex.

Cher's
J

[BlackTantalus]

02:53 PM on 06/25/2010

If the Manchurian Candidate knew something the Soviets didn't know and the British never learned, why didn't he tell his pal George W. Bush? There is a greater sense of national unity in Antarctica than in Afghanistan.

[CeeLee]

02:46 PM on 06/25/2010

That this cranky, nasty old relic is still yapping in front of a camera is "ill-advised".

[DaBluAce]

02:25 PM on 06/25/2010

how would the crypt keeper know anything about anything? look at his decision making experience..i.e. sara palin

[jcinco]

02:19 PM on 06/25/2010

I thought we made it pretty clear in November 2008 that we really didn't care what you or your grifting sidekick thought about anything.

[azhermit]

01:43 PM on 06/25/2010

grandpa's diapers need changing again... Cindy get in here!

[Enock Zamora]

01:14 PM on 06/25/2010

McCain, I wouln't trust you with the "cat" I wanted to lose. It looks like that imigration [thing]e was 'Ill-Advised also pal.

[MadeandBakedintheUSA]

12:12 PM on 06/25/2010

Maverick doing the DUMB DOWN on the AMERICAN PEOPLE- once again!

McCain is FUELING the LEFT to push for EXIT!

Is that not OBVIOUS to anyone who watched those hearings last week?

Does Mccain listen to the answers to his quesions?

He missed that 'CONDITIONS BASED July 2011' at HEARINGS he attended last week -multiple x's- Petraeus answered and it was on CSPAN?

Very very TRANSPARENT Mr MAVERICK!

[MadeandBakedintheUSA]

12:11 PM on 06/25/2010

McCain is FUELING the LEFT to push for EXIT!

Is that not OBVIOUS to anyone who watched those hearings last week?

Does Mccain listen to the answers to his quesions?

He missed that 'CONDITIONS BASED July 2011' at HEARINGS he attended last week -multiple x's- Petraeus answered and it was on CSPAN?

Very very TRANSPARENT Mr MAVERICK!

[racine111]

11:44 AM on 06/25/2010

Listen, Mccain must not realize that whenever the pullout starts there are newscrews with cameras and laptops to tell the world when the withdrawal happens so it really doesn't matter when the date is made.

[ldcbl]

11:34 AM on 06/25/2010

is mccain still relevant? does anyone still care about his position de jour? does he ever agree with anything that Obama does? as a "military hero" he should be the first to agree that McChrystal had to go.

[Wolfwoman]

11:30 AM on 06/25/2010

McCain, what is so great about a one-hundred year war? Is the war really defending the US from terrorists?

[drummer510]

11:29 AM on 06/25/2010

Senator McCain should "hang it up"! Everytime I see him, he is the same, NEGATIVE. America doesn't need that!! Mr. McCain, do yourself a favor, and retire,