Transcript Excerpt: Sen. John McCain

Read A Transcript Excerpt Of Scott Pelley's Interview With Sen. McCain

(CBS) 
PELLEY: But the Secretary of Defense is not Commander-in-Chief.

MCCAIN: No. He's not.

PELLEY: What responsibility does the President bear for this?

MCCAIN: I think the President has great responsibility for it. The buck always stops there. But I would give the President credit for supporting a new strategy with new leadership so that maybe we can succeed.

PELLEY: But you seem to give President Bush a pass, even though you're so hard on how this war was managed. You don't seem to criticize the President for that.

MCCAIN: I say that he is responsible, and I'll continue to say that he is responsible. Should I look back in anger, or should I look forward and say, "Let's support this new strategy; let's support this new general; and let's give it everything we can to have it succeed?"

PELLEY: You describe this new strategy. Give me a sense of what you're seeing on the ground now.

MCCAIN: On the ground, we are seeing progress here in Anbar Province, obviously. I mean, the statistics are there. In Baghdad itself, you are seeing some significant improvement. You're also seeing renewed attacks outside Baghdad as they've been driven out. I worry about southern Iraq as the British leave, as to how serious the infiltration of the Iranians are.
In the Kurdish areas, things are generally good. So, it's kind of mixed reviews. But we are seeing signs of progress. And there is no doubt about it. And the American people are not being given a full picture in my view.

PELLEY: We took a walk through a Baghdad market yesterday. But backing up that stroll through the market was ten armored Humvees, soldiers with rifles, and two Apache attack helicopters circling overhead. That doesn't seem like a safe neighborhood.

MCCAIN: I didn't see the helicopters, and nor did I ask for that kind of security. But I understand why they would provide me with that security. But I can tell you, if it had been two months ago and I'd asked to do it, they would have said, "Under no circumstances whatsoever." I walked through very narrow lanes. The Apache helicopters couldn't see me. The armored vehicles were parked out in the street. I'm very pleased that we had the opportunity to go into a neighborhood in Baghdad which I couldn't have before. I view that as a sign of progress. Is it perfect? No. It was long and hard and tough. Am I telling you they're in their last throes? Absolutely not.

PELLEY: Before you came on this trip, you mentioned in an interview that General Petraeus sometimes goes into Baghdad in an unarmored Humvee, and that there were neighborhoods that you could walk throughout without being concerned for your safety.

MCCAIN: There is no unarmored Humvees -- obviously, that's the case. I'm trying to make the point over and over and over again that we are making progress. And there are signs of progress, that it's long, and it's hard and it's tough. To take one sentence of mine out of 1,000 -- you know, life isn't fair. But the fact is, that's my message.

PELLEY: You were a little annoyed with yourself, I think, having said that.

MCCAIN: Oh, sure. But look, as long as you are as open to the media as I am, of course I'm going to misspeak. I have done it on numerous occasions, and I probably will in the future. I regret that when I divert attention to something that I've said from my message. But, you know, that's just life, and I'm happy, frankly, with the way that I operate. Otherwise, it'd be a lot less fun.

PELLEY: Some people took from that statement that you have far too optimistic an attitude about Iraq. Maybe you don't understand what's going on here.

MCCAIN: Well, I've been here many times. But the fact is, I keep saying over and over and over again, it's long and it's hard and it's tough. But again, I believe we are showing signs of progress. There are some good signs. The real question is here, are we going to be able to progress rapidly enough so that we can show the American people that this investment, this incredible sacrifice that's already been made, is worth continuing the effort as over time, I believe, we will be able to withdraw American troops. But I can't say exactly when. And I believe that the Iraqi government can stand on its own over time, and military.

PELLEY: What sort of time?

MCCAIN: I don't know. But we'll see signs fairly soon. Will the Iraqi government, the [Prime Minister Nouri al-] Maliki government, enact the kind of legislation that's necessary? We'll know that pretty soon. Will the streets of Baghdad become safer and safer? Can I say three months from now we'll know? 'Course not, 'course not. And I think it would be foolish to say such a thing.

[tommat2008]

You say that the war was very mismanaged but what do you expect? You have an idiot for a president who lied like hell to get the U.S. into this war and he doesn't give a *** about our soldiers and the thousands he has killed and the thousands he has maimed and the millions of Iraqis he has killed and maimed & you have a terrorist for a Vice President who is arrogant and also stupid who lies like hell so that he could fullfill his promises to capture the Iraqi oil for Exxon,Mobil, Shell, BP Amoco, Chevron, etc. and then they have jackasses like you who are too stupid to know when to shut the hell up! We don't give a *** if these terrorists Bush & Cheney & the Neo-Con Commie Nazi GOP go down the drain, lopse this war which is not to fight terrorism and lose the chance to rob these poor people of their inheritance. All of you should be arrested for this grand theft and all the murders you and those animals have committed ! Impeachment is not enough but watching Bush, Cheney, Gates, Rice, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, & Wolfowicz all hang like Saddam Hussein was hung for killing only 148 Iraqis would give the world the satisfaction they all need in knowing that justice has prevailed!

[toldyouso21]

McCain, do you and your party a favor and demonstrate you are a TRUE CONSERVATIVE: don't waste millions on a failed election bid--you have made yourself un-electable and you have just become a liar second only to Bush and Cheney and co. We were sick of that in 2006..we are not likely to want it in 2008, I loathe Giuliani (adulterer = liar) and Gingrich...but both have a better chance to be President than you. Because you not only lied, you insulted us--NO ONE can talk about safety, while wearing body armor in a place where the locals are protected by nothing--and where you have hundreds as an armed escort.

As for the friendliness of the Iraqis--what did you want them to do in the face of the occupiers? Give the finger? So that the US could put them in Abu Ghraib or have a nice, night raid to their homes? Never talk about how nice someone is to you--if you are holding a gun...consider it might be fake and just to appease you. DUH!!!!