COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 15, 2008
McCain: Most Troops Can Be Home By 2013
GOP Candidate Outlines Vision For First Term — Says Iraq War Can Be Won, Osama Bin Laden Dead Or Caught
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McCain: Bin Laden Will Be Dead
"CBS News RAW": Republican presidential candidate John McCain outlined his Iraq war strategy, stating that by 2013 U.S. troops will be leaving Iraq and Osama bin Laden will be captured or dead.
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Eye To Eye: The McCains
Katie Couric speaks with the presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his 96-year-old mother, Roberta Wright McCain, about his campaign journey towards the White House.
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Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., delivers his speech, Thursday, May 15, 2008, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
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John McCain
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Outlining his vision for Iraq, McCain said that "by January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom."
"The Iraq war has been won," McCain said, anticipating a key achievement of his administration. "Iraq is a functioning democracy, although still suffering from the lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension. Violence still occurs, but it is spasmodic and much reduced."
"The United States maintains a military presence there, but a much smaller one, and it does not play a direct combat role," he added.
Speaking to reporters afterward, McCain denied that by saying the war would be won by 2013 he was setting a timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq something he has criticized former rival Mitt Romney for doing.
"It's not a timetable, it's victory, it's victory I've always predicted," McCain said. "I'm not putting a date on it. It could be next month, it could be next year, it could be three years from now."
"McCain’s vision of a victory in Iraq and the return home of most U.S. troops by 2013 is much different than that painted by the Democratic Party for a McCain presidency," notes CBSNews.com senior political editor Vaughn Ververs. "After weeks of being pounded for saying he’d be comfortable with a U.S. presence in Iraq for '100 years,' McCain is clearly trying to adjust those perceptions."
Democrats challenged McCain's comments, led by presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton.
In a statement, the New York senator dismissed McCain and said he "promises more of the same Bush policies that have weakened our military, our national security and our standing in the world." The Barack Obama campaign said that while the candidate agrees with some of McCain's sentiments, "you cannot embrace the destructive policies and divisive political tactics of George Bush and still offer yourself as a candidate of healing and change."
On domestic issues, the Republican presidential contender also envisions April's annual IRS angst replaced by a simpler flat tax; illegal immigrants living humanely under a temporary worker program; and political partisanship stemmed by weekly news conferences and British-style question periods with joint meetings of Congress.
McCain concedes he cannot make the changes alone, but he wants to outline a specific governing style to show the accomplishments it can achieve.
"I'm not interested in partisanship that serves no other purpose than to gain a temporary advantage over our opponents. This mindless, paralyzing rancor must come to an end. We belong to different parties, not different countries," McCain said in the capital city of Ohio, a general election battleground. "There is a time to campaign, and a time to govern. If I'm elected president, the era of the permanent campaign will end; the era of problem solving will begin."
To the disdain of some fellow Republicans, the presumed GOP nominee has worked with Democrats on legislation aimed at overhauling campaign finance regulations, redrafting immigration rules and regulations and implementing government spending controls.
While that has cultivated a maverick image for McCain, the Arizona senator has also been accused of exhibiting a nasty temper - swearing even at fellow lawmakers from his own party - and unabashed partisanship.
In particular, McCain has clashed with the leading Democratic presidential contender, Barack Obama. After tangling with the Illinois senator on lobbying reforms, McCain questioned Obama's integrity in a publicly released 2006 letter.
McCain wrote he had thought Obama's interest in ethics legislation "was genuine and admirable," before adding: "Thank you for disabusing me of such notions." He accused Obama of "partisan posturing."
While calling for Congress to drop mindless partisanship, McCain also chided the media - with whom he has enjoyed a generally positive relationship - for fueling contention with its campaign coverage.
"Campaigns and the media collaborated as architects of the modern presidential campaign, and we deserve equal blame for the regret we feel from time to time over its less-than-inspirational features," he said.
In outlining potential achievements of a first term, the 71-year-old McCain implicitly was suggesting he would seek a second term, an attempt to mute suggestions he would serve only four years after being the oldest president ever to take office for a first term.
He also sees a world in which:
McCain also pledges to halt a Bush administration practice of enacting laws with accompanying signing statements that exempt the president from having to enforce parts he finds objectionable.
"I will respect the responsibilities the Constitution and the American people have granted Congress," the senator said, "and will, as I often have in the past, work with anyone of either party to get things done for our country."
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See all 675 CommentsFirst, he sees violence in Iraq and Afghanistan substantially reduced. His plan is to hand off all the fighting to Blackwater USSA which will exterminate the population of both countries, thus reducing violence!
Here at home, he plans on vetoing any bill that is sent to him by Congress which he thinks is wasteful government spending, which, to him, includes repairing pot holes in roads, repairing bridges, or giving greater medical and financial support to veterans (even though his is supposed to be one himself!).
Finally, he has promised he will either capture or kill Osama Bin Laden by the end of his first term.
So, what is wrong with RIGHT NOW???? Besides, where have we heard all this before????
McCain promises that the country will be stronger and we will all be better off at the end of his first term.
DON''T BET ON IT!!!
SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!
sig heil, DEFINITELY MORE OF THE SAME, McCain!!!!
At the very least the Dems will still have majorities in both houses, so this kind of talk is rather hollow IMO.
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Posted by jack3213 at 09:56 AM : May 15, 2008
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Well IF the war is NECESSARY maybe, this one clearly was NOT! There are 935 LIES online, detailed, documented and specific. We were LIED into the war in Iraq and McSAME was asleep at the wheel while it was going on. NOW, that people are onto the FASCIST way of bashing, belittling and being bullies, suddenly McSame wants to get along?? NOT A CHANCE!! Trash the whole lot of them, the entire party needs to go. They have been controlled by the Religious Reich and Southern Fascist for way to long and aren''t of any benefit to America any more. Sieg Heil Bush
$10 a gallon gas.
10,000 Dead in Iraq.
$6 trillion squandered in Iraq.
Go McCain Go!
94 MORE YEARS, 94 MORE YEARS!
(In Iraq)
Ronald Reagan didn''t worry about looking cowardly when he decided to pull out of Lebanon. Eisenhower didn''t worry about it when he ended the conflict in Korea. Bush, Sr. didn''t worry about it when he ended Desert Storm without marching on Baghdad.
Real men and women make the tough decisions and don''t wring their hands worrying about what people will think or how it will look.
We aren''t making a significant dent against terrorism in Iraq because the leadership of Al Quaeda which gives the marching orders is in Pakastan. The real war on terror involves, first and foremost, preventing Bin Laden''s state sponsers(The taliban) from regaining power in Afghanistan and rooting Al Quaeda out of its caves in Pakastan.
Bush & McCain & Company are on the wrong battlefield and don''t even know who they''re fighting. While they try to figure out the difference between Sunnis & Shiites, the Al Quaeda/Taliban leadership is graduating new Jihadists in Pakastan.
If America is attacked again the trail will not lead back to Iraq, it will lead back to Northwest Pakastan and we will have ourselves to blame for taking our eye off the ball in order to gain control of oil resources in Iraq.
We befriended Iraq and adopted their enemy - Iran.
It is clear that four more years under McCain visions include facing armed hostilities with Iran.
Think Tanks already told us that oil won''t go down and our economy won''t improve until "the killer bees in Iran and Iraq are calm", meaning the Islamic fundamentalists.
It is cheaper to withdraw and accept three to four hundred thousand Iraqi refugees who would otherwise die in a predicted defeat under Iranian-fueled insurgency that eventually defeats democracy in Iraq, just as it was done in Iran in 1979.
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Posted by jamesm12341 at 10:21 AM : May 15, 2008
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WRONG swastika breath!! YOU are so SUPERIOR to everyone aren''t you... ROFLMAO Better watch out swastika breath, there''s an AVALANCHE headed right at you! Ready?? Let the fuhrer know you are out here licking those boots, trying to discourage people from making their opinions known, well unless it''s the "Party" line, and in general being a better than everyone NAZI!! Sing it out now... LOUD!! SIEG HEIL MEIN FUHRER!! Man you must have been first in your class at the Nazi Youth Camp!!
Posted by jamesm12341
Hehe....well we''re not all exactly waiting with bated breath for your latest foaming retarded missive.
Just saying.
There is NO VICTORY for the US there. There never was and won''t be in the future. Under that equally stupid or mentally incompetent shrub, the US invaded and occupied a middle east country that was no threat to us.
He was told by the IAEA, other middle east leaders, middle east diplomats and weapons inspectors that Saddam HAD NO WMD. There was no reason to invade and if he did, it would set off a disasterous string of events that would end up empowering Iran, all of which happened exactly as foretold!!
I do like one policy that Mcbush offered. I like the question and answer sessions with the congress. Although i don''t know whether that would heighten or lessen the partisanship. It would be worth trying
His vision would lead the US to nothing but ruin. He would continue a policy that has proven to be the wrong course and obviously cannot see that. All he would bring the US is more debt, more death, and the loss of what little prestige the US still has. To the middle east he would bring more death, destruction and NO SOLUTION to their problems. His idea of a solution has already been tried and has proven to be WRONG.
No, it is time for him to retire and enjoy his family and let a younger leader with a different vision tackle the problems facing the US and the world.
Posted by Cavs5714 at 10:38 AM : May 15, 2008
Yeah, That''s how Usama is going to unite the country. With hate filled supporters like this, it''s a sure thing. LOL
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Posted by PVperson at 10:42 AM : May 15, 2008
Steady progress as of late. But, your hatred blinds you.
Posted by mbcsmith at 10:39 AM : May 15, 2008
Who exactly are our allies in the Middle East?? Israel?? Saudi Arabia? How does pulling out of Iraq mean surrender to anyone and how does it betray our allies? Looking for some clarification on this one.
PRESIDENT MCCAIN 08
"I''m not interested in partisanship that serves no other purpose than to gain a temporary advantage over our opponents. This mindless, paralyzing rancor must come to an end. We belong to different parties, not different countries," McCain said in remarks prepared for delivery in the capital city of Ohio, a general election battleground. "There is a time to campaign, and a time to govern. If I''m elected president, the era of the permanent campaign will end; the era of problem solving will begin."
Posted by sbbm at 10:44 AM : May 15, 2008
Sure, the Liar-in-Chief!
935 Lies.
4072 Dead Americans because of those lies.
As Harry Powell said, "A liar is an abomination in the eyes of the lord."
George W Bush is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord!
Posted by obama8years at 10:50 AM : May 15, 2008
Blah, blah, blah......come up with some actual arguments for once....versus your right-wing propaganda that is pasted on here every day!!
Responding to this troll will do no good since he is a pure whack job still upset that he cannot get a VISA to the US. Ignore the troll.
In short, Obama saw no problem being lobbied in the past by someone who openly promotes terrorism and discrimination against Jewish-Americans.
Al Awda is commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Nakba (catastrophe of the creation of Israel) this coming May thanks to the willingness of the management of Hilton Hotels to overlook anti-Semitism in its facilities to make a buck. A new petition is in the works to get Hilton to stop this. Al Awda%u2019s scheduled guest of honor will be a PFLP terrorist member named Khalida Jarrar, and their website recently gave an homage to the late PFLP founder George Habash. Al Awda wants convicted Islamic Jihad financier/terrorist Sami al Arian released, a murderer of over 100 people abroad, some of them Americans, from terrorist attacks.
Posted by mbcsmith
McBushes plan is to stay stay stay stay stay die die die die die. I know what you mean by betray in the middle east, It means taht he will bring the oil prices down by de-esculation of the war, thus betraying the middle eastern oil countries windfall profits. It seems like a good betrayal.
Posted by jack3213 at 10:50 AM : May 15, 2008
Who''s scared?
We''re talking about throwing good money after bad!
$12 billion a month!
We ain''t got that kind of cash to burn for 100 years!
Guess why you''re paying $4 a gallon gas.
Because the dollar is worth only 60 cents of what it was before Bush took over!
And why is it so worthless?
Because the neocons have been printing money to finance their war!
Pretty good SCAM - SHE GETS THE INSIDE INFO to use FOR "HER PORTFOLIO" which is by GOP/NEOCON standards "off-limits".
Gotta give the "little woman" her "privacy" now don''t we.
In the meantime my 70 plus year old MOTHER can get STRIPPED SEARCHED IN PUBLIC over a new bra she bought for her flight to visit her grandkids!
THEY OUGHT TO BE TRILLION-AIRES by 2013 using HER SECRET INVESTMENTS.
BET THEY MADE A BUNDLE off that SUDAN INVESTMENT she sold for TWO MILLION DOLLARS yesterday AFTER BEING "caught".
FREAKING DOUBLE STANDARD NEOCON ELITISTS!!!
Responding to this troll will do no good since he is a pure whack job still upset that he cannot get a VISA to the US. Ignore the troll.
Posted by guyfrompa45 at 10:52 AM : May 15, 2008
What do they even want with us?? Our products, nope! Cars? Not really......IPods, nope. If we don''t have a need for oil, we don''t even deal with the Middle East.....and who is to say that neighboring countries don''t have an interest to what will go down there and take care of the problem/regulate it themselves?
Ask yourself this with Obama weak retreating policys , could he break this streak that we have had.
I am afraid Obama will be a step toward more terror attacks in America.
Look at the big picture within Iraq now. The Iranian-backed militias already control the streets in much of south. More importantly, they''ve infiltrated the government, the Police, and the Army. That''s why the Iraqi Army is so slow to take over for our troops.
The reason the government won''t agree to share the oil revenues is because the oil needs to go through the militia-controlled regions of the south to the Port at Basra. The militias are being paid kick-backs on the oil and aren''t particularly interested in sharing.
Iran already controls Iraq and we are keeping the peace(somewhat) for an Iranian-aligned government already.
Drawing down in Iraq doesn''t mean drawing down in the region. We may be divided on Iraq but we have a national concensus to finish the job in Afghanistan and, if possible, to bring Bin Laden to justice and to destroy his infrastructure and capability to carry out further attacks.
Iraq has nothing to do with that.
Then we nuke Iran, Syria, and Mexico! (Mexico, more than once, obviously)
Game Over. America wins!
PRESIDENT MCCAIN 08
"I''''m not interested in partisanship that serves no other purpose than to gain a temporary advantage over our opponents. This mindless, paralyzing rancor must come to an end. We belong to different parties, not different countries," McCain said in remarks prepared for delivery in the capital city of Ohio, a general election battleground. "There is a time to campaign, and a time to govern. If I''''m elected president, the era of the permanent campaign will end; the era of problem solving will begin."
The south and Pennsylvania don''t stink any more than anywhere else.
Your attitude stinks quite a bit.
Posted by tomanyt at 11:00 AM : May 15, 2008
I think you have him confused with Mr. Rosie O''Donnell.
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