McCain Responds to Maliki's Timetable for Troop Withdrawal from Iraq

By: John Bentley
Topics: John McCain

(CBS)

From CBS News' John Bentley:

(PITTSBURGH) – The U.S. will withdraw its troops from Iraq "with honor, not according to a set timetable," John McCain said today, in response to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki issuing a statement that said the two countries should "put a timetable on their withdrawal."

"We will be able to withdraw with honor, and I am sure that it will be dictated by the situation on the ground," McCain said. "I'm confident that is what Prime Minister Maliki is talking about, since he has told me that for the many meetings we have had."

Barack Obama's campaign criticized McCain earlier today for not placing more of the burden for the war in Iraq on the Iraqi government. "It's time for John McCain to explain why he refuses to ask Iraq's leaders to take responsibility for their own future, and why he has completely changed his own stated position that he would leave Iraq when the Iraqis ask us to," said Susan Rice, Obama's senior foreign policy adviser. "The American people need a strategy for succeeding in Iraq, not just a strategy for staying, and John McCain's stubborn refusal to adjust to events on the ground just shows that he has no plan to end this war."

McCain was also asked about a recent report by the Associated Press indicating U.S. exports to Iran have risen tenfold, with the largest export being cigarettes. Before the reporter could finish the question, McCain jumped in and said, "Maybe that's a way of killing them." He quickly added "I meant that as a joke," and said he was unfamiliar with the report and would have a better answer tomorrow.

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by mattcat25 July 10, 2008 12:45 PM EDT: It actually buttresses the argument that the surge has produced results, and any notion that the new Iraqi government wants us out is GOOD news. For McCain.
Posted by Chuckamok

Well, after the deception that Saddam Hussein had Nuclear and Chemical Weapons of Mass Destruction along with the necessary delivery systems (remember the cartoons General Colin Powelle showed to the UN Security Counsel?) that would could allow an attack on the United States, George Bush implemented an illegitimate and unwarranted Military Invasion and Occupation of a Sovereign Nation Iraq.

There were never enough trained soldiers on the ground to properly secure and control the remaining population. The Bush Administration disbanded (what was left) of the Iraqi Army turning them into unemployed rebel fighters. $Millions of Dollars were pilfered and mismanaged by Bush Operatives in Iraq allowing for the funding of insurgent rebellion against our troops.

The Entire Campaign in Iraq has been a disaster. The People of the United States are now strapped with a fast approaching $1 Trillion Dollar Debt that has gone mostly to the Private War Contractors that have put their profits into tax free accounts in Dubai.

The Maliki request that US Military Forces begin to set a time table for withdrawal is a victory for the American Tax Payers and a defeat for the many Private War Contractors that the Republican Party has sustained and vehemently supported the illicit and immoral occupation.; Reply to this comment


by chuckamok July 9, 2008 9:49 PM EDT: I like Krauthammer''s recent piece on the matter.

Maliki''s position on a troop withdrawal is being spun as confirmation of Obama''s (former) position on same.

It actually buttresses the argument that the surge has produced results, and any notion that the new Iraqi government wants us out is GOOD news. For McCain.; Reply to this comment


by mattcat25 July 9, 2008 2:34 PM EDT: Iraq isn%u2019t even at issue any longer. Bush lied, and a whole lot of (Iraqis) people died. The Privatization of Bush%u2019s War has cost the American People almost one trillion dollars%u2026and, the increased price for crude oil from the Middle East has cost (taxed) the American People an increase in the price for everything!

There is no honor in lying to the American People to make a buck on war, no honor at all%u2026; Reply to this comment


by mattcat25 July 9, 2008 2:28 PM EDT: Americans should be embarressed for not speaking English in America.
Posted by Ariel133

The United States isn''t ENGLAND...(nor Spain for that matter).

Maybe, tous Americains doivent parle en Francais? or with the mortaging of the US to the Peoples Republic of China by the Conservatives we may just find ourselves having to speak Chinese...; Reply to this comment


by ariel133 July 9, 2008 10:04 AM EDT: McCain is absloutely right, we will leave with Honor, and the media may play the information card, but they really don''t know the inside details. Obama, on the other hand, and his remark about how Americans should be embarressed for not speaking French wehen traveling to France is wrong..Americans should be embarressed for not speaking English in America.; Reply to this comment


by ajayvee July 9, 2008 6:56 AM EDT: When will Maliki understand that the conquered do not dictate terms to the conquerers. Our Imperial forces will leave only when we say so; when we are good and ready.; Reply to this comment


by n46130 July 9, 2008 2:36 AM EDT: Senator McCain should be honored for his war service to the country. Let no one take that away from him; however his service as an elected representative leaves much to be desired. His activities in congress has either been a series of flip flops, supporting savings and loan criminals, or worst of all, acting as a President Bush clone.

We need to honor our heroes, but not reward them by giving them political power.

I would rather see General Powell running for president instead of Senator McCain; Reply to this comment


by shingles1 July 9, 2008 1:59 AM EDT: Shorter John McCain:

Who do the Iraqis think they are asking us to leave - a sovereign nation?! Hah! We OWN those punks and we''ll leave when we''re good and ready!; Reply to this comment


by indyvet66 July 9, 2008 12:22 AM EDT: McCain, Cheney and Bush do not want to get the U. S. out of Iraq. They want to keep a continuing American military presence in the Middle East for as long as there is oil there.

Remember, McCain was one of the principal advocates for the war in the first place.

As a leading Republican Senator, John McCain could have impeded the Iraq war. Instead, John McCain and George Bush started an unnecessary war that caused the deaths of more than 4,000 American soldiers and wasted more than $1 Trillion of our money.

Now John McCain opposes the Iraqi Government exercising it''s sovereignity by telling the U.S. when it''s time to leave.

Wake up America! John McCain is a NeoCon Warmonger.; Reply to this comment