Is McCain Poised To 'Refine His Position' On Iraq?

[Hope And Change]

Is McCain Poised To 'Refine His Position' On Iraq?

July 8, 2008 01:50 PM


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Don't look now, national political media, but it looks like Senator John McCain is about to flip-flop "refine his position" on Iraq troop withdrawal!

As you may have heard, Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki came out of the Independence Day holiday weekend feeling every bit as inspired as our own founders, publicly offering the suggestion that it was time for King George and his occupying forces to take it on the arches:

The current trend is to reach an agreement on a memorandum of understanding either for the departure of the forces or a memorandum of understanding to put a timetable on their withdrawal...In all cases, the basis for any agreement will be respect for the full sovereignty of Iraq.

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But! How would a potential John McCain White House address al-Maliki's request for a withdrawal timetable? As it turns out Adam Blickstein at Democracy Arsenal (h/t: Ackerman) has a long memory and a key quote from McCain:

...at the Council of Foreign Relations, the John McCain of 2004 gave us a pretty clear answer:

Question: "What would or should we do if, in the post-June 30th period, a so-called sovereign Iraqi government asks us to leave, even if we are unhappy about the security situation there?"

McCain's Answer: "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."

Well, it would appear that scenario has evolved! We look forward to Straight Talky McCain and His Principles to get right down to the task of "refining his position."

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Read more here...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/08/is-mccain-poised-to-refin_n_111455.html

[NattPang]

1. But will we get a whole Holiday weekend of accusations

by the media
that he is flip flopping?

[nc4bo]

2. was just getting ready to sing the same tune........

Flip-Flop.

Hmm... now i wonder if he will he be called out on his change of position?






i have many edits today....my fingers are typing faster than my brain ;)

[Frustratedlady]

3. He said he would never leave until we won. No exceptions.

Yesterday, I believe.

[Johonny]

4. what again is his position?

We are staying there 100 or 10,000 years, not having a time table, going to win by 2013, balancing the budget by ending the war in his first term... that's just this year.

[Hope And Change]

5. McCain Remains Silent On Maliki's Recent Comments.

July 08, 2008
Categories: Iraq

Pushing back on Iraq

Over the past two days, The Washington Post has been pushing the McCain campaign to respond to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's suggestion that the U.S. establish a timetable for withdrawal. And they're not getting much response:

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.

.....

On Tuesday, McCain's campaign declined to respond directly to the question of whether he now supports the idea of setting a date for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country.(indent)

The Obama campaign piles on, pointing to an April 2004 Council of Foreign Relations event where McCain was asked what would happen if a sovereign Iraqi government emerged and asked America to leave and he responded, "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."


By Avi Zenilman 04:24 PM


http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0708/Pushing_back_on_Iraq.html#comments