McCain On Obama's Iraq Plan: "I Think It's A Pretty Good Timetable"

McCain On Obama's Iraq Plan: "I Think It's A Pretty Good Timetable"

www.huffingtonpost.com

In an interview with CNN Friday, John McCain said that he thinks Obama's 16-month timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq is "a "pretty good timetable." ABC's the Note points out that this is quite a reversal from where the candidate was months ago:

Back in January of this year, John McCain pilloried Mitt Romney for encouraging President Bush in April 2007 to develop a private "series of timetables and milestones" for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.


"Timetables was the buzzword for those that wanted to get out," McCain scolded Romney at a Jan. 30 debate at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif.

How the (time)tables have turned.

During a Friday interview with CNN, McCain called a 16-month withdrawal from Iraq "a pretty good timetable."

(visit the link for the full news article)

HMMMM.... I wonder if anyone has told McCain what he said?

I mean he has been trashing Obama over his timeline for withdrawal and here he is all but endorsing it.

Flippyflop flippyflop flippyflop!!!

Either McCain is senile or he just opens his mouth and lets words fall out unchecked.

www.huffingtonpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

John McCain isn't the only one that has changed his mind. George Bush and al Maliki have agreed to a "time horizon" for troop withdrawal.

U.S., Iraq Agree To 'Time Horizon'

I think that everyone is moving more towards the position Obama held a year ago, when he said we should pull troops out of Iraq and send more to Afghanistan. They are even talking of going into Pakistan to go after Al Qaeda, which Obama also proposed.

Obama says he might send troops to Pakistan

Regardless of your political leanings, we should all be pleased that things are finally improving in Iraq so that our troops can start coming home and those that are still over there hopefully get a break from extended tours.

John McCain, 9 days ago!

McCain Rips Obama's Iraq Pullout Timetable

KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 17 (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Thursday ridiculed Democrat Barack Obama's vow to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq in 16 months as a political tactic aimed at getting votes.
*****SKIP*****
McCain said troop withdrawals must be governed by the situation on the ground, "not some artificial, politically inspired" timetable.
*****SKIP*****
On his bus, he said he hoped Obama will listen not only to commanders on the ground in the two war zones but also to the troops.

"They'll tell him they don't want to be defeated," McCain said. "They'll tell him that the surge has succeeded," he said, referring to President George W. Bush's 2007 troop buildup.

"They'll tell him that we're winning this war, will win it, if we don't do what he wants to do, which is to set a date for withdrawal."

I think I might have figured out why McCain SEEMS to forget what he has said in the past and why he contradicts himself so much!

It's not REALLY John McCain!

He has an evil twin brother who is out to ruin his chances at being elected president!

[edit on 7/26/2008 by Keyhole]

Originally posted by Keyhole

It's not REALLY John McCain!

He has an evil twin brother who is out to ruin his chances at being elected president!

[edit on 7/26/2008 by Keyhole]

Anymore they use a lot of doubles for prominent politicians, so maybe your speculations aren't so far off after all.

McCain is totally clueless when it comes to Iraq... there is no winning there to be had, its an occupation and that is all it will ever be. We may surpress the population and keep it under a modricum of control, but we can never win, because it is not ours to win in. AND as long as we are there we do nothing except give fuel Al Qeada and other extremists... it is a lose lose proposition.

Originally posted by Hal9000
John McCain isn't the only one that has changed his mind. [/url]

McCain realized that what he has said means he's now agreeing with Obama, that "16 months DOES sound like a pretty good timetable" for troop withdrawal from Iraq.

So he changed HIS mind again and decided he never said "TIMETABLE"!

He won't allow the public to think that Obama was right and he was wrong, so now he's denying what he said.

McCain Denies He Used ‘The Word Timetable,’

But on the heels Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s embrace of a 16-month timetable for withdrawal, McCain has been forced to change his tune. “I think it’s a pretty good timetable,” McCain told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Friday.

Now, however, McCain is denying his own words. “I didn’t use the word timetable,” he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an interview airing today:

STEPHANOPOULOS: You shouldn’t have used the word timetable.

MCCAIN: I didn’t use the word timetable. That I did — if I did…

STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, it’s a pretty good timetable.

MCCAIN: Oh, well, look. Anything is a good timetable that is dictated by conditions on the ground. Anything is good.

How can he deny he said "TIMETABLE"?

[edit on 7/28/2008 by Keyhole]

It was Iraq's Prime Minister who said "it looks like a good time-table", not John McCain.

Obamatrons and campaign took those words to mean the Iraqi PM agreed with Obama on his plan. The Iraq PM came back and said they weren't agreeing with his stance, just that it sounded good if the conditions were right.

That's what John McCain was saying, if the conditions on the ground indicate an early withdrawl, then so be it. The fact is, it is not indicitive of an early pull-out right now. Iraq still can't defend itself from Iran or internal opposition groups to the democratic government.



[edit on 28-7-2008 by jetxnet]

McCain: "I think it's a pretty good timetable as we should (*garble*) our horizons for withdrawal."

WHAT??? "Our horizons for withdrawal"??? What's that?

Originally posted by Hal9000
Regardless of your political leanings, we should all be pleased that things are finally improving in Iraq so that our troops can start coming home and those that are still over there hopefully get a break from extended tours.

I doubt they'll be home too long before they get re-deployed to Afghanistan. This will happen whether we end up with Obama or McCain. Both will say whatever is politically expedient at the time to secure votes.

Gotta love Grand-Pappy McSame!





[edit on 28-7-2008 by Animal]

reply to post by Hal9000


McCain can now talk about timetable for withdrawal because the McCain surge has worked. If we had listened to Barry's opposition to the surge, the conditions in Iraq would not even warrant a discussion of withdrawal. Barry wanted to surrender and McCain wanted to win. Who do you trust? Congratulations to Senator McCain and the US military. No thanks to Barry, the enemy has been defeated.