McCain Vows To Find Bin Laden

GOP Presidential Candidate Also Gives Support To Gen. Petraeus' Iraq Recommendations

(CBS/AP)  On the sixth anniversary or the 9/11 attacks, Republican presidential hopeful John McCain vowed to capture Osama bin Laden if he became president.

"He is a symbol, a force, for evil. He recruits. He motivates. He must be brought to justice. I, as president of the United States, will get him," McCain said on CBS News' The Early Show on Tuesday.

When asked to explain how he would do that, the Arizona senator said, "There's lots of ways and I'm confident that I will."

"We cannot allow him to evade justice because of everything that he's done and everything he still effectively does," he added.

In the interview, the Arizona senator also responded to the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker before Congress on Monday.

Petraeus said last winter's buildup in U.S. troops had met its military objectives in large measure. Petraeus also told Congress he envisions the withdrawal of roughly 30,000 U.S. combat troops from Iraq by next summer.

"I think that General Petraeus would not be recommending these reductions, as modest as they may be, unless he thought we were succeeding," McCain told Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm.

While campaigning on Monday, McCain also said he supports Petraeus' recommendation.

"I don't think there is any doubt that it's good news that he feels we will be able to withdraw some troops," he told reporters in Norfolk as he prepared to fly to Washington, D.C., after campaigning in southeast Virginia.

"There's no doubt in my mind that the alternative to this strategy is catastrophe and genocide," McCain said on The Early Show.

Petraeus also said the Iraqi military slowly is gaining competence and taking on more responsibility for security. He cited Anbar province as an example of Iraqis turning against terrorists, adding that officials are seeing similar actions in other locations as well.

McCain said at a campaign stop over the weekend that failure in Iraq eventually would pull America into a wider and more difficult war in the volatile region.

"The consequences would threaten us for years," he told a Republican audience in California. McCain later told reporters, "If we set a date for withdrawal, that's a date for surrender."

Commenting earlier Monday on criticism of Petraeus, McCain said, "There's a lot of people who are armchair generals who reside here in the air-conditioned comfort of Capitol Hill."

While in Virginia, McCain attended a private fundraiser in Norfolk, then met with officers and enlisted men and women at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach. He said he has great affection for Oceana because his first squadron in the Navy after he finished pilot training was at the base.

McCain said he also briefly attended a high school football game; his grandson is a wide receiver at a private school in Norfolk. McCain had to leave shortly after the game started.

[speakinup]

mh4cbs1 - more liberal parrot talk. You can''t even stay on the topic under which you are posting. What has any of this trash talk you are spewing got to do with McCain ?

Nothing - you are JUST another Bush Basher.

[Krazcarl]

tolduso21 the vast majority of military veterns would do anything to prevent a war they KNOW the horror. As president your comander and chief of the militery if you have 0 military experence how do you run it takes more than good business skills thats right lacky advisors.If you need to rely on advisors means you yave no idea not a qualification for the highest post in the land.

[mh4cbs1]

Osama Bin Forgotten...

Why are we in Iraq and Osama is free?

Why did Cheney and Bush deliberately LIE to us about WMDs (while Saddam told the truth!)? Why did they lie about a fake Al Qaeda - Saddam link?

Why did Cheney and Rummy set up the ''Office of Special Plans'' in the DoD, and use it to end-run their fake ''intelligence sources'' around the CIA?

Why did Bush lie about Saddam wanting Niger uranium? Why did Cheney "out" a WDM CIA agent in retaliation for her husband''s proving that Bush Lied?

Why did Rumsfeld write a note saying to take out Saddam, on September 12, 2001, 1 day after 911?

Why is passing the Iraqi Oil Law one of the "benchmarks", why does this law turn over the vast bulk of the Oil Reserves to the multi-national Oil Corporations?

Why are we building huge permanent military bases in Iraq?

Why is Haliburton making BILLIONS in Iraq? Why do mercenary contractors get 3 or 4 times the pay as our troops?

Why have we wasted $500 Billion in Iraq?

Why have over 3,700 US troops died in Iraq? Why are many times this number maimed for life?

Why has the Bush War caused 2 million refugees to leave Iraq?

Why do the filthy rich get huge tax cuts if "we are at war"?

WHY ARE BUSH AND CHENEY NOT IN JAIL ??

[mh4cbs1]

Osama Bin Forgotten...

Why are we in Iraq and Osama is free?

Why did Cheney and Bush deliberately LIE to us about WMDs (while Saddam told the truth!)? Why did they lie about a fake Al Qaeda - Saddam link?

Why did Cheney and Rummy set up the ''Office of Special Plans'' in the DoD, and use it to end-run their fake ''intelligence sources'' around the CIA?

Why did Bush lie about Saddam wanting Niger uranium? Why did Cheney "out" a WDM CIA agent in retaliation for her husband''s proving that Bush Lied?

Why did Rumsfeld write a note saying to take out Saddam, on September 12, 2001, 1 day after 911?

Why is passing the Iraqi Oil Law one of the "benchmarks", why does this law turn over the vast bulk of the Oil Reserves to the multi-national Oil Corporations?

Why are we building huge permanent military bases in Iraq?

Why is Haliburton making BILLIONS in Iraq? Why do mercenary contractors get 3 or 4 times the pay as our troops?

Why have we wasted $500 Billion in Iraq?

Why have over 3,700 US troops died in Iraq? Why are many times this number maimed for life?

Why has the Bush War caused 2 million refugees to leave Iraq?

Why do the filthy rich get huge tax cuts if "we are at war"?

WHY ARE BUSH AND CHENEY NOT IN JAIL ??

[toldyouso21]

The one component that neither McCain nor any other candidate addresses is the real reason for Bush''s failures in Iraq--and one that will plague any other President also--you cannot occupy or pacify or rule a people who do not cooperate. While pretending to go along with our program, the Iraqis do not cooperate. From never getting any done deals or even getting utilities up in running, to our missing money and starting their own private armies, to stealing our weapons and trying to figure out our plans and then ambush--to hiding insurgents or militia and smiling when we walk into IEDS--what we have is a war NOT an occupation and a war that never stopped. This is almost impossible for the American mindset to accept--because we wrote the rules for modern warfare. Somebody forgot to tell us the rules only work when both parties follow them--and people whose lives are at stake often fvck the rules., Still over 80% want us gone--no matter what our puppets say. It was over 80% in 2004--it still is. With that sentiment--we can never win, they don''t have to outright resist us so much as deliberately ineptly not obey us and we can chock it up to them being lazy or stupid or whatever.They are none of those--unless we want to believe, lazy and stupid people have stymied the best military power in the world.

[mh4cbs1]

Osama Bin Forgotten...

Why are we in Iraq and Osama is free?

Why did Cheney and Bush deliberately LIE to us about WMDs (while Saddam told the truth!)? Why did they lie about a fake Al Qaeda - Saddam link?

Why did Cheney and Rummy set up the ''Office of Special Plans'' in the DoD, and use it to end-run their fake ''intelligence sources'' around the CIA?

Why did Bush lie about Saddam wanting Niger uranium? Why did Cheney "out" a WDM CIA agent in retaliation for her husband''s proving that Bush Lied?

Why did Rumsfeld write a note saying to take out Saddam, on September 12, 2001, 1 day after 911?

Why is passing the Iraqi Oil Law one of the "benchmarks", why does this law turn over the vast bulk of the Oil Reserves to the multi-national Oil Corporations?

Why are we building huge permanent military bases in Iraq?

Why is Haliburton making BILLIONS in Iraq? Why do mercenary contractors get 3 or 4 times the pay as our troops?

Why have we wasted $500 Billion in Iraq?

Why have over 3,700 US troops died in Iraq? Why are many times this number maimed for life?

Why has the Bush War caused 2 million refugees to leave Iraq?

Why do the filthy rich get huge tax cuts if "we are at war"?

WHY ARE BUSH AND CHENEY NOT IN JAIL ??

[toldyouso21]

We are at war need a man of military experence not stateside duty not law school exemption not I''''ll stand by my man The rest are cowards and we know it, that''''s right only the poor fight in wars.
Posted by crzmeat at 08:35 PM : Sep 12, 2007


You are mistaken. We are at war--but an ordinary soldier does not being clarity or a plan--if they did, they''d all be generals and not grunts or lower level officers. What a soldier brings is empathy. We don''t need that right now. We need someone with a plan--but before we even do that...the average American like you--needs to grow up and realize that service in the military no more prepares a person to strategize a multibillion dollar war in a strange region, than watching airplane video games would make you a pilot. A soldier can maybe relate to what others are going through--but beyond that, if they are not and were not trained as tactitians or war strategists, if they do not have a grasp of the complexities of Islamic culture and the middle east....they will do no better job for this war than Bush. They may prevent the slashing of benefits to Vets and provide better health care than Bush though.

[Krazcarl]

Ah people that couldn''t get elected town dog catcher throwing stones.Think he''s saying that he''s not afraid to go into Pakastain and get the sorry rascal. I''m a liberal democrat and Mccain is the first republican I would support in 30 years of voting but the immagration and trucking issues have soured me. We are at war need a man of military experence not stateside duty not law school exemption not I''ll stand by my man The rest are cowards and we know it, that''s right only the poor fight in wars.

[speakinup]

"yeah, he vows this just as he vowed to fight communism before this dumbarrrse got himself down in Vietnam and spent the war in the Hanoi Hilton. Also did you all know that it was his A4A bombs that caused the absolute destruction of the US carrier Forrestal which ended up killing over 100 sailors? andrew_693

Gee, thanks andew. You have proven yourself to be an arrogant, ungrateful, first class, liberal liar. While his A-4 Skyhawk''s bombs were the ones that exploded as he waited for take off authorization, it was a F-4 Phantom II''s zuni rocket that caused McCain''s jet''s fuel tanks to rupture. So, just what would you have had McCain do ? Walk thru a JP5 fire, carry several bombs, which undoubtedly weighed in excess of 500 lbs each, from the plane and dump them overboard ?

Oh, excuse me, you are a liberal - so you are allowed to lie aren''t you?

[speakinup]

"I say, give this angry, deluded coward a box-cutter, drop him into Fallujah, and let him chase his ghosts for the rest of his life. -FeelFree1

So freefeel - are you a veteran ? If so, radiob - here''s your vet that badmouthed a soldier. A vet FreeFeel, hasn''t even recognized as having spent several years in an enemy prison, being treated as a ''criminal'' as NV called it, because they wanted to torture. And, we''re NOT talking about misplacing/ mistreating his Quran, or causing him to have no habeas corpus. So Starleto, are you going to speak up for McCain ? I though you wanted to hug them all!

[mudpuppysix]

john mc cain cannot find his *** with both hands. how is he going to find bin laden?

[mudpuppysix]

john mc cain cannot find his *** with both hands. how is he going to find bin laden?

[pepperp1]

ok one of Senator Vitters hookers coming up on MSNBC after the break......lordy LOL......well at leats it can make us laugh sort of...

[ixoye_02]

McCain can''t even find his own political voice...how can McCain find Bin Laden? McCain is just another footnote in politics. Straight talk eventually spun out of control and became more lies.
I certainly won''t give McCain another thought when I go to the voting booth on primary day. And you can bet that this independent is already registered as a republican to vote in the primary.

[pepperp1]

Pitiful....really sad....


On a lighter note, the hooker at home that Senator Vitter visited twice a week at 300.00 dollars per pop is lecturing the country on ethics, seriously I am not kidding she believes it is unethical for politicians like Vitter to lie, and she took a polygraph.


Did you read that when Senator Vitter returned from his two weeks of Sham ahhh shame received a standing ovation for the his Republican Peers.





Oh and Senator Craig won a hearing with a judge to withdrawal his guilty plea.


And is it not amazing that the Republican Party believes that it is they not the citizens of Idaho that have the say on the Senators job. Arrogance beyond belief, it is the voters who should decide not the GOP.




Sleazy......yeah.

[andrew_693]

yeah, he vows this just as he vowed to fight communism before this dumbarrrse got himself down in Vietnam and spent the war in the Hanoi Hilton. Also did you all know that it was his A4A bombs that caused the absolute destruction of the US carrier Forrestal which ended up killing over 100 sailors? meanwhile people like Senator Kerry won purple heart after purple heart fighting the war instead of spending their days in a prison only to be ridiculed by the Republican party for serving his country.

[feelfree1]

Re: "McCain Vows To Find Bin Laden"

I say, give this angry, deluded coward a box-cutter, drop him into Fallujah, and let him chase his ghosts for the rest of his life.

He will not be missed.

[glossypan]

John McCain served in the US military with valor. The other Republican top tier candidates had, like *** Cheney, "other priorites"'' Level the playing field. Allow them to go after bin Laden. We could airdrop them in the mountains of Pakistan with a pallet of Spam and a couple of buckets of grenades. Because of his strong philosophical beliefs, Tom Tancredo, one of the comic relief candidates, would be permitted to join them. He missed Nam with "stress related anxiety" but its easy to see he has his head on straight now. Good luck, guys.

[bill1fj]

If McCain does find bin ladin he''ll just give him amnesty like he wants to do with the 20 million illegal aliens here in the U.S.
Retire NOW Senator, because you don''t represent Arizona
From: A FORMER McCain supporter.

[mcvet]

McCain is the best person for the Job. He is the only Person who has been %100 correct on the war. I would imagine that after spending a few years in the Hanoi Hilton, Bagdad was probably a very nice place.
Posted by cbscrash07 at 02:12 PM : Sep 11, 2007

Which war would that be? The FAKE one in Iraq or the REAL one against the REAL Enemy, Bin Laden. Why should we believe him? Bush told us the Same thing and we''ve been in Iraq creating MORE Terrorist for Bin Laden ever since. You DO know Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 don''t you? Where do you get that he''s been right on EITHER war by the way. The people who were right were the ones who said we need to allow those Inspectors to keep looking. Those folks were REALLY right... just think of the BILLIONS of dollars and the THOUSANDS of lives they would have saved? Sieg Heil Y''all.