McCain believes Iraq war can be won by 2013

[Terri]

By GLEN JOHNSON
Associated Press
May 16, 2008

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Republican John McCain declared for the first time Thursday he believes the Iraq war can be won by 2013, although he rejected suggestions that his talk of a timetable put him on the same side as Democrats clamoring for full-scale troop withdrawals.

The Republican presidential contender, in a mystical speech that also envisioned Osama bin Laden dead or captured, and Americans with the choice of paying a simple flat tax or following their standard 1040 form, said only a small number of troops would remain in Iraq by the end of a prospective first term because al-Qaida will have been defeated and Iraq's government will be functioning on its own.

''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. The Iraq War has been won,'' McCain told an audience of several hundred here in the capital city of a general election battleground state.

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[carver]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Republican John McCain declared for the first time Thursday he believes the Iraq war can be won by 2013

This is a political loser for McCain in so many ways. For those who believe this war should never have been waged at all, 2013 is 4 more years too many. For those who are supportive of the war, 2013 still looks too much like a timetable. If such a timetable has not been met by 2013 it could also cost McCain his 2nd term. (And likely a few more Republican seats in congress) Finally for those instant gratification, quick fix, live for today or simply apathetic people, hearing "2013" will just make their eyes glaze over.

---Carver