McCain predicts troops will be out of Iraq by 2013
His victory outlook reverses his stance against suggesting a withdrawal timetable. He also pulls away from Bush in forecasting a presidency marked by better relations with Congress and Democrats.
WASHINGTON -- Republican John McCain, in a speech forecasting what the country would look like after his first term in office, said today that he expects the war in Iraq to be won and most troops to be home by January 2013.
The prediction marks a major departure for McCain, who railed against rival Mitt Romney shortly before the Florida primary for his remark in April 2007 that he thought President Bush and Iraqi leaders should privately discuss a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq. At the time, McCain suggested that the comment would embolden America's foes in Iraq. The Arizona senator leveled the same criticism at Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, stating that their advocacy for withdrawing troops from Iraq amounted to setting a date for "surrender."
In his speech delivered in Columbus, Ohio, today, McCain said that within five years he expects Iraq to be "a functioning democracy" with a "professional and competent" Iraqi Security Force capable of "defending the integrity of its borders."
Predicting the defeat of Al Qaeda in Iraq, McCain also forecast a U.S. military role, "but a much smaller one," that would "not play a direct combat role."
Continuing to distance himself from the Bush White House, McCain also promised not to undercut legislation, as President Bush has done, with signing statements pledging to enforce only certain aspects of the bill.
"I will exercise my veto if I believe legislation passed by Congress is not in the nation's best interests, but I will not subvert the purpose of legislation I have signed by making statements that indicate I will enforce only the parts of it I like," he said. "I will respect the responsibilities the Constitution and the American people have granted Congress, and will, as I often have in the past, work with anyone of either party to get things done for our country."
Renewing his pledge to hold weekly press conferences, McCain today he added some details of how his administration would "set a new standard for transparency and accountability." He urged Congress to grant him a question period, as the House of Commons does in Britain, where the prime minister appears regularly to take questions. And he promised to put Democrats in his administration.
