CNN (5/08) - "McCain predicts Iraq war over by 2013" - CNN Calls McCain's Goal "Ambitious"

[TomCADem]

I know there is a lot of revisionism and misinformation by folks trying to attack President Obama and romanticize the Republicans. The latest talking point is that President Obama Iraq withdrawal plans are no different than that of the Republicans.

Really?

Here is John McCain back in 2008 boldly predicting that the Iraq war will be done in 2013 and that troop withdrawal can begin by that time. Worse, here is CNN calling the 2013 date "ambitious," which made President Obama's 16 month deadline to begin draw downs appear reckless by comparison. Yet, here we are, following Iraq elections and on target with President Obama's goal to begin drawing down from Iraq.

Oddly, rather than claiming credit, even some liberals are buying into the notion that President Obama's Iraq policy is no different from that of the Republicans. Anyone remember McCain's "ambitious" 2013 goal? Anyone?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/15/mccain.2013/index.html

COLUMBUS, Ohio (CNN) -- Sen. John McCain envisions that by 2013, the Iraq war will be won, but the threat from the Taliban in Afghanistan won't be eliminated, even though Osama bin Laden will have been captured or killed.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee made both statements in a speech in which he envisions the state of affairs at the end of his first term if he is elected president.

"What I want to do today is take a little time to describe what I would hope to have achieved at the end of my first term as president. I cannot guarantee I will have achieved these things," McCain said in Columbus, Ohio.

McCain's speech was unusual -- and somewhat risky -- in that it laid out benchmarks on which he could be judged.

"It certainly was an ambitious speech," said Bill Schneider, a CNN senior political analyst, noting that many of the things McCain mentioned will be "very tough things for a president to accomplish."

The NY Times further noted that McCain was not saying that all American troops would be out by 2013. Just most of them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/us/politics/16mccain.html

McCain Vision Has Most G.I.’s Out of Iraq by 2013

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Senator John McCain declared on Thursday that most American troops would be home from Iraq by 2013 and that the nation would be a functioning democracy with only “spasmodic” episodes of violence. The comments were a striking departure from his usual refusal to set a date for American withdrawal.

In a speech in the heart of Ohio, a major general election battleground, Mr. McCain set forth a sweeping, extraordinarily positive vision of what the world would look like in 2013, when, he said, he would have been in the White House for four years.

The remarks, which offered no proposals for how he would achieve that vision, were an effort by Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, to define himself and the rationale of his candidacy to voters before he has a single Democratic rival who will try to do it for him.

“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,” Mr. McCain said at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. “The Iraq war has been won. 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.”

[AlinPA]

1. The troops should have been out of there years ago. It's taking too long. nt

[TomCADem]

2. If McCain Was President, We Would Have Two Years To Go Before Drawing Down

Also, to correct your post, we should never have been in Iraq in the first place.

That being said, President Obama has done an excellent job in coordinating with the Iraqi government to get out of Iraq without leaving it in a complete state of anarchy.

Now, if John McCain was President, where do you think we would be given that he only grudgingly agreed to a 2013 date?

Oh, and where do you think things would stand with Iran if we had a President McCain and Vice-President Palin?

You know, Palin who advised that President Obama could get his poll numbers up if he invades Iran?

[AlinPA]

3. Going into Iraq was done with a lie and media assistance. It was a crime.

If McCain were in, there would probably be a build-up of troops, the U.S. would probably be shooting with Iran now. I was then, and still now in favor of pulling the troops out immediately.

[Orsino]

4. 2013 was going to be safely after McCain's second inauguration.

Pie-in-the-sky.

[Toots]

5. The "withdrawal" plans Obama is working under were negotiated and passed under Bush*

Obama has not put into place any plans of his own such as "Beginning on Day One"..."One Brigade a Month" .

[TomCADem]

7. Please. Maybe It Had Something To Do With Candidate Obama Calling For A 16 Month Timetable...

...and Maliki then endorsing that timetable as a desirable result while the agreement was being negotiated with Bush. If you recall, this caused Republicans to complain about Candidate Obama's meddling, and it put McCain on the defensive because he had been insisting that the Iraqi people wanted us there.

I posted the May article, here is a July 2008 article after Maliki endorse candidate Obama's timetable, which created a bit of stir, as Maliki tried to remain neutral, while clearly endorsing candidate Obama's timetable in the course of negotiations with the U.S. Yet, you want to give Bush the credit?

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/07/08/mccain_responds_to_malikis_cal.html

Sen. John McCain, who has repeatedly derided anyone who advocated a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, now suddenly finds himself in a political box as the American-backed Iraqi leadership yesterday raised the prospect of exactly that.

For the first time on Monday, Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki said in a statement from his office that the two countries should consider deciding the future of American troops with "a memorandum of understanding to put a timetable on their withdrawal."

McCain was silent on the comments Monday. But today, his top foreign policy adviser declined to criticize Maliki or distance McCain from him. And they sought to portray Maliki's comments as consistent with the Republican nominee's long-standing position.

"Senator McCain has always said that conditions on the ground -- including the security threats posed by extremists and terrorists, and the ability of Iraqi forces to meet those threats -- would be key determinants in U.S. force levels," said adviser Randy Scheunemann, who criticized Sen. Barack Obama's "constantly shifting positions" on Iraq.

But McCain's position on the question of a specific timetable for withdrawal has been shifting as the candidate moved from the Republican primary into the general election.

In speeches, town hall meetings, interviews and campaign commercials, McCain has said a timetable would provide terrorists the knowledge of how long they have to wait until American troops are gone. He has repeatedly said that setting a date for withdrawal would lead to "chaos, genocide and we will be back with greater sacrifice."

His rhetoric has been withering and aimed at both Democrats and Republicans. During the waning days of the GOP primary, he eviscerated former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney for a comment that McCain said amounted to support for a timetable.

Romney disputed that, but the damage to his candidacy was unmistakable. Later, McCain turned his fire on Democrats, including Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, accusing them of endangering Americans by advocating a specific timetable for withdrawal.

"It would be an unconscionable act of betrayal, a stain on our character as a great nation, if we were to walk away from the Iraqi people and consign them to the horrendous violence, ethnic cleansing and possibly genocide that would follow a reckless, irresponsible and premature withdrawal," he said in a California speech.

[no limit]

6. You wanna bet me money we will still have troops in Iraq in 2013?