Rep. Wilson Suggests McCain Would Like Troops Home "Earlier Than 16 Months"

By: John Bentley
Topics: John McCain

(CBS)

From CBS News' John Bentley:

(EPPING, N.H.) The timetable for pulling troops out of Iraq has become one of the main points of contention between John McCain and Barack Obama, and today one of McCain's supporters, Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.), indicated McCain may be amenable to American troops coming home sooner than many people expect.

"He'd like troops to come home earlier than 16 months, if the conditions allow it," Wilson said on a conference call. "Sen. Obama has said it's a 16-month timeline no matter what. And he's apparently today muddied his position somewhat on this. But we never -- I think the important thing here is -- we never would have gotten to this situation if Sen. Obama had his way, because he would have withdrawn from Iraq and left it in a mess."

McCain did not mention any specific timelines when asked about Wilson's comment today, repeating his assertion that troop withdrawal would be dependent on conditions on the ground.

"The surge has succeeded. It has succeeded. We are winning the war. If we had done what Sen. Obama wanted, we'd have lost," McCain said.

"Apparently Sen. Obama, who does not understand what's happening in Iraq or fails to acknowledge the success in Iraq, would rather lose a war than lose a campaign."

When asked about the hot topic of the week, his vice-presidential pick, McCain declined to answer a question on if this was a good week to announce his choice.

"We have the same answer as we always had," McCain said, chuckling at the question. "When we announce we're ready to announce, we'll announce."

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by kucinich420 July 25, 2008 7:41 PM EDT: Rofl, someone should tell McCain about what policies are popular with American''s BEFORE he publicly announces his position version 1.0.
McCain releases more version updates than IE.
http://www.digitalfuntown.com; Reply to this comment


by kucinich420 July 25, 2008 7:40 PM EDT: Rofl, someone should tell McCain about what policies are popular with American''s BEFORE he publicly announces his position version 1.0.
McCain releases more version updates than IE.
http://www.digitalfuntown.com; Reply to this comment


by kucinich420 July 25, 2008 7:35 PM EDT: Rofl, someone should tell McCain about what policies are popular with American''s BEFORE he publicly announces his position version 1.0.
McCain releases more version updates than IE.
http://www.digitalfuntown.com; Reply to this comment


by postamerican July 23, 2008 1:43 AM EDT: Greetings from Albuquerque New Mexico. I''ve been calling Rep. Heather Wilson''s DC office every week for the last 5 years asking about the hunt for the Nine Eleven Conspirator Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan. I have never, ever gotten any response. I believe that Heather should be "brought to justice".; Reply to this comment


by dnsallday July 23, 2008 12:11 AM EDT: McCain nor CBS has any credibility left on iraq. Keith Olberman revealed that CBS cut in a response to a different question when confronted with the contention that the Sunni Awaking and the Sadr truce was in part responsible for the surge success. In a transcript quoted by Countdown, it was revealed that McCain seriously missed the time line of these events, claiming they emerged after the "surge." Of course, they preceeded the mere notion of a surge by months, yet this actuality was not aired by CBS.

Posted by naborrick at 09:05 PM : Jul 22, 2008
**************************************I think we should all email CBS to ask about this.
This is similar to the NY times not printing McCains''op ed and suggesting ways he could fix it up to make it more coherent.

We have the right to know if the person who is running for president is a little off his rocker! It will only get worse with time and to have a warmonger who isn''t the brightest bulb is ''frightening" to most Americans!; Reply to this comment


by naborrick July 23, 2008 12:10 AM EDT: Here is the transript of the point in question below.

Couric: Senator McCain, Sen. Obama says, while the increased number of U.S. troops contributed to increased security in Iraq, he also credits the Sunni awakening and the Shiite government going after militias. And says that there might have been improved security even without the surge. What''s your response to that?

McCain: I don''t know how you respond to something that is such a false depiction of what actually happened. Colonel McFarlane (phonetic) was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening. I mean, that''s just a matter of history.; Reply to this comment


by naborrick July 23, 2008 12:05 AM EDT: McCain nor CBS has any credibility left on iraq. Keith Olberman revealed that CBS cut in a response to a different question when confronted with the contention that the Sunni Awaking and the Sadr truce was in part responsible for the surge success. In a transcript quoted by Countdown, it was revealed that McCain seriously missed the time line of these events, claiming they emerged after the "surge." Of course, they preceeded the mere notion of a surge by months, yet this actuality was not aired by CBS.; Reply to this comment


by dnsallday July 23, 2008 12:02 AM EDT: Google REp. Wilson to find out just how credible she is. She belongs in a jail cell.
Zero integrity. And I find myself questioning JOhn McCains'' judgement in who he is using for surrogates.; Reply to this comment


by mattcat25 July 22, 2008 9:21 PM EDT: McCain will flip and FLOP as much as amenably possible.; Reply to this comment


by kansas1946 July 22, 2008 9:10 PM EDT: (EPPING, N.H.) The timetable for pulling troops out of Iraq has become one of the main points of contention between John McCain and Barack Obama, and today one of McCain%u2019s supporters, Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.), indicated McCain may be amenable to American troops coming home sooner than many people expect.

%u201CHe''d like troops to come home earlier than 16 months, if the conditions allow it,%u201D Wilson said on a conference call. "Sen. Obama has said it''s a 16-month timeline no matter what. And he''s apparently today muddied his position somewhat on this. But we never -- I think the important thing here is -- we never would have gotten to this situation if Sen. Obama had his way, because he would have withdrawn from Iraq and left it in a mess."
***********************************

Spin...spin...spin....

Spin it however you want to, McCain supporters, but the truth is that McCain has been wrong on Iraq from day one. Now the Bush is looking at a time-line, McBush is just playing follow the leader. Problem is that is like the blind leading the blind.
Obama is the real leader here, and it shows.; Reply to this comment