OK, press corps. Prove your integrity.
Four years ago McCain told the Council on Foreign Relations we would have to honor a call for U.S. withdrawal from an elected Iraqi government. McCain is more than flip-flopping on this one.
He's earning a spot on the Olympic diving team.

McCain doesn't have a problem with timetables as long as Maliki and the rest of Iraq doesn't have a problem with a hundred years.

Now that his own advisers have contradicted his promise to eliminate the deficit in four years, here is John Mcain's chance to prove his own people wrong again. Simply tell Maliki that since we have won, we'll have out boys home by Inauguration day, 2009 and can reuce the deficit all the quicker.

I thought we were supposed to be there at the urging of the Iraqi government and not one day more... OOPS!!! Silly me for taking John at his word last week. I'll get back in line now. 100 years of occupation, after all that same strategy has made Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip bastions of peace since 1948. Yup, I'm sure glad McCain and Obama know what they're doing in Iraq now. And finally have an idea of how to "manage the war on terror"... NOT!!! If they attacked us because we're free, why is the government so anxious to take away our freedoms? Maybe al-Quaeda is a CIA front after all.

How thoughtless of me. If we do not withdraw slowly, all those cigarette machines we have parked along the Iranian border will fall into Islamofacist hands. We know the mullah's, who control Iraq, won't let us sell them beer until we get them hooked on something else first. We have to keep the troops there. It's the economy, stupid.

McCain's goal is to have our troops home by 2013, which would be the end of
his first term, and you will see little if any difference between McCain and Obama in that capacity. If people think under either Obama or McCain the US will have no presence (I'm not talking combat) in Iraq for
quite sometime is just naive and going to be very disappointed in Obama if that's your candidate. Obama's own foreign policy advisor's have said that Obama can't be held to promises he made in 2007,2008 when he gets into office.
As Obama recently made clear, and will make clearer no doubt when he gets back from Iraq, he will be listening to Petreaus before he withdraws any troops.
That is no different then McCain. In fact McCain has listened to the troops from day one and risked his Presidential run supporting the surge and unlike Obama was out there attacking this administration and it's handling of this war. He was attacking an administration of his own party referring to Rumsfeld as "the worst Secretary of Defense in US history".
Obama was in the Senate for almost two years and said peep about Iraq until he threw his hat in the ring for President. Obama is right though, his supporters who will not be happy with what he will ultimately do in regards to Iraq have not listened closely to him or done their homework on him. I'm not an Obama supporter but he's certainly taking a smarter position in regards to Iraq.

McCain's problem is that in spite of now being presented with all the evidence, he still thinks the war was a good idea. That's a judgment problem and a foolish consistency that has been the hallmark of George Bush's tenure.

McCain FLIP FLOP coming in 3......2......1...

Mcsame is right! America cannot withdraw her troops from Iraq without getting the benefit of the billions of dollars invested to raid it. We need Iraq's oil badly now that oil is almost $5.00 a gallon here. Maliki has no idea what he is talking about. Oops, sarcasm.

mccain you are such a flip flopping liar you said in an interview in 2004 if iraq goverment wants us to withdraw then we must consider MCCAIN YOU OLD LYING PIECE OF---

McCain is REALLY like Bush's third term. He wants to stay in Iraq for 100 years.

Obama sides with the American people and the Iraqi government. It's time to get the hell out.

The media needs to call out the McCain. 2004 he said that if the Iraqi government wanted us out he would get us out.

So McCain what is it?

obama was right all along on iraq just like hes right on alot of issuses i think some people need to get over his skin color open their eyes and ears and see he just might be a good president give the guy the benifit of the doubt

I agree, if McCain refuses to honor the Iraqis wishes after having stated that we would, he proves he is a liar. How could ANY government ever trust him?

JR
how can we the people trust him we trusted bush and look where that got us just say no to mccain

McCain just wants his 100 year war and won't take no for an answer. What a hypocrite.

http://johnmccainreport.blogspot.com/

Wow!! This is simply amazing! How in the heck can he dig himself out of this hole? How can a presidential candiate of the United States ignore the sentiments of the Iraqi government for troop withdrawl?

"I don't see how we could stay when our whole emphasis and policy has been based on turning the Iraqi government over to the Iraqi people."--John McCain said to the Council of Foreign Relations in 2004.

The media needs to call out John McCain on this one. Once again, another flip-flop.

Betty Obama has done some backtracking on NAFTA, public financing, FISA, gun control, death penalty, Iran , Jerusulem, abortion
and Iraq all within a matter of weeks.
Where have you been? Even some of the pundits are referring to Obama as sounding more like George W, in particular with his faith based initiatives. He will move even more to the center in regards to Iraq when he actually gets back from going to Iraq.
If one were to read up on Obama's experience in the Illinois and US Senate none of these supposed "flip flops" should come as a surprise. Obama is more of a centrist and he pandered to the far left to win the nomination. At least Clinton was a solid liberal who was sounding more like a populist at the end then a right winger. And McCain's 100 yrs comment, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you know the context in which that was said and just chose not to let it go. If you think though that Obama is going to just pull the troops out of Iraq then you are going to be sorely disappointed.

Am glad the Iraqis are making Mccain look really stupid. Everybody even the Iraqis wants us out of Iraq. For Mccain, this is his biggest flip-flop. Mccain is the head of the flip-flop clan.

There is no back-tracking from Obama. The only flip-flop is the public finance issue and we can now see that he was also right. All his opinions are there in his book. The Audacity of Hope.

.
Looks like George W McCain's campaign is imploding sooner than expected.
.

Although I don't agree with McCain on his approach to the war he is no doubt a man of principle. His mantra should be, across the board, "We Act with Honor Always". I'm not sure how Obama would counter this because I do not see him as acting honorably ever, just twisting whichever way the wind blows. I'd like to see Hillary back in the race myself.
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Obama goes whichever way the wind blows
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READ OBAMAS BOOK and you will see he is no flip flopper actually the great thing i discovered about him in his book he has the ability to look at all side the left the right and the middle now thats the kind of president we need someone who can relate and understand ALL OF US

Doesn't the Iraqi Prime Minister realize that he is an appeaser? He certainly can't be trusted to know what is best for Iraq and Iraqis.

I guess Obama's magical mind-control powers cross oceans.

vuzous First off, no one thinks Mulaki
wants us out of Iraq ASAP or quite yet.
He needs to do his political pandering over there also. Secondly, if Iraq does want us out it will in part be a result of the effects of the surge, which McCain supported and risked his Presidential bid on. If Obama were to win the Presidency he will be a benefactor of the results of the surge in Iraq. You will see Obama move closer then he is even today towards McCain on Iraq after Obama returns from Iraq. He's just laying the groundwork for that right now just like he started dropping hints or justifications for his backing out of public financing before he ever actually announced he was going to. I suppose you're one of those supporters who believe Obama's campaign funds consist only of small donors? The League of Women Voters,
Center for Responsive Politics and other watchdog groups sent a letter to both Obama and McCain recently asking for clarification of where their campaign funds. In the letter to Obama they indicated that something like 51% of his donors gave between $200-$1000, something like 33% gave over $1,000 and those small donors who give less then $200 don't have to be reported to the FEC, but you don't need much in regards to math skills to figure it doesn't add up to 90% small donors under $200. Also, who kept his campaign afloat before all those small donors came on board? Try Exelon, JP Morgan Chase, UBS,
Citigroup, Exxon Mobil and so on. That's all on public record and available to anyone who takes the time to look for it. I thought the point of public financing was to limit the influence of special interests?

McCain flip-flops again: asked in 2004 in testimony before the CFO if he would approve withdrawing our troops if Iraq's government demanded it,

McCain said, quote: "Well, if that scenario evolves than I think it's obvious that we would have to leave because -- if it was an elected government of Iraq, and we've been asked to leave other places in the world. If it were an extremist government then I think we would have other challenges, but I don't see how we could stay when our whole emphasis and policy has been based on turning the Iraqi government over to the Iraqi people."

And he has the GALL to accuse Obama of flip-flopping?

Ross They've both accused each other of flip flopping. Flip flopping is something you'd expect from "old politics" , pandering is something you'd expect from "old politics". Obama is supposed to be about change and new politics. That doesn't excuse any flip flopping on McCain's part but Obama promised a higher standard for himself. We aren't just talking Iraq here though- he's moved more to the center/center right on NAFTA, FISA, Iran, Jerusulem, gun control, death penalty, faith based initiatives, abortion and now Iraq within just a matter of weeks. I actually don't think Obama is flip flopping. I think he pandered to the far left to win the nomination and his supporters are among those who haven't really listened closely to what he's said or done their homework on his past experience in the State and US Senate and have turned Obama into something he never really was. He's a pragmatist, a realist,
not really certain of who he is and what he stands for and what he would stand up for- and this is becoming clearer as this campaign progresses.

Obama won't leave Iraq any sooner either. Faith based initiatives sound pretty George W. By the time Obama comes back from Iraq he'll sound even more McCainish. Gun control, death penalty, NAFTA, FISA- sounds pretty Republican to me. Are you so sure Obama isn't really Bush 3?

Apart from all the goofy nonsense written here by so many McCain bashers, the fact are that,

McCain criticized the execution of war for years.
Called for and supported the surge which is working.
Wants to leave Irag with a stable self sufficient government.
Wants to leave with victory and honor.

So, its a simple question really: Do you want to leave Irag in honor, with a legacy of having left a country that is stable, and self governing?

or do you just want to just "get out" and let who knows who or what take control of the country through bloody conflict, and have the whole middle east for generations blame the USA for creating a horrible outcome?

What to do want to see their? How do you want the middle east and the world to view the USA? We can have the outcome we want.......

WHAT OUTCOME DO YOU WANT?
Like many of you, I didn't think it was a good idea to go to war, but our congrass and president did, they voted to do it. SO, WE NOW HAVE THE POWER TO CHOOSE THE OUTCOME.

I WILL CHOOSE THE RESPONSIBLE POSITION OF LEAVING A STABLE SELF GOVENRNING NATION BEHIND.

THINK ABOUT IT FOLKS! LETS GET THIS ONE RIGHT! LETS BE RESPECTED WORLD WIDE AS THE SUPPORTER OF LIBERTY WITH HONOR, WILLING TO STAND UP FOR IT.

LETS STAND WITH MCCAIN AND GET THIS DONE.

Why are the voters complaining about McCain and Iraq?? Obama has changed his stance a half dozen times on Iraq. He does not have any ratrional plan; he keeps changing a bit day by day. Now he waiting until his Iraq trip for his next proposal. Remember, this was the Bush/Cheney War, not McCains.

Flipper!!!!When are people going to realize that the only reason we went to "war" and continue to be in Iraq is because of the oil in the region.

Kojo tell me what you would do with BUSH then. Typical liberal who wants to give more rights to terrorist leaders than American citizens.

So lets see ... american people want us out of Iraq ... Iraqi people want us out of Iraq ... the democrat presidential candidate of the United States wants us out of Iraq ... yet somehow we're still there.

Perhaps there's a hearing problem ... november is going to cure that.

His statement is, of course, contradictory, but that shouldn't surprise anyone. He is parroting the Bush Administration on yet another issue. According to McCain, the Iraqi government can't tell the U.S. when to end its occupation. I'd still like to hear Senator McCain define his notion of "success." Because many Americans, myself included, think we never should have invaded Iraq in the first place, does success mean just getting out?

beaupritchard: Thats well said Nov. is on the way coming and we will all be judges.

We are uninvited guests in Iraq. The hosts do not want us anymore. We must get out. Staying there by force, will lead into applying dictatorship, and thats what we have always been against!

in 2000. McCain said the U.S. should support toppling governments we don't like through overt and covert support. The problem with that is the new government usually doesn't do what we tell them to do either; for example iraq and iran.

McCain is running for Emperor, not negotiator!

My view on ... has always been that ...
- BoO

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You fill in the blank. There is a phony who considers his subsidiaries all poor, less-educated, and can be fooled conveniently all the time all things. Now he also accuses them cynical for noting his inconsistencies and flip flop on a daily basis, sometimes even hourly basis.

angie -

It's night and day between the ways that the Obamas and Clintons raise their children.

The Clintons made certain their daughter not giving interviews nor being interviewed, and the media, for once, respected their wishes.

The Obamas, not even being nominated officially, pushed their daughters in the spot lights of Hollywood. Enjoy the ride while you can, or you won't get it after November, being dumped in the trash as all other typical losers.

Yeah. Diplomacy worked real good on Adolf didn't it. We went the diplomatic route for 12 years with Saddam and he made a mockery out of the whole world. Now to consider diplomacy, without preconditions is ludicrous, and has been proven as such through out history. I think a lot of people these days need world history classes. They just don't seem to know much about it.

"McCain has regularly contended that though the so-called "surge" of troops is succeeding -– and evidence seems to indicate that is correct..."

Exactly what evidence proves that the surge has accomplished its goals and thus is "succeeding?" This is typical of the MSM these days - the goal of the surge was NOT merely a levelling off of violence. It had very specific benchmark goals, the majority of which have not even come close to being met. This ridiculous idea that the surge worked is patently false, and every time a MSM reporter parrots it as fact, they are doing a giant disservice to the truth, and to their readers and listeners.

Shouldn't we be suspicious of Iraq wanting a withdrawl? Isn't the leader of Irag in bed with Iran?