John McCain still has a long ways to go to get to the White House. But in a speech this morning, he laid out a vision of what the country and world would look like at the end of his first term in January 2013.
Most US troops back home after winning the war in Iraq. A more stable Afghanistan. No terrorist attacks on US soil. More nuclear security around the world. No more genocide in Darfur. Economic growth at home, and a simpler tax code. Better public schools, and improved health care.
ng to our interests and more hospitable to our values; and that America has again, as she always has, chosen not to hide from history but to make history," he said in Columbus, Ohio.

By Elisabeth Bumiller COLUMBUS, Ohio—Senator John McCain is projecting that most American troops will be home from Iraq by 2013 and that Iraq will be a

Sen. McCain says Iraq war will be "won," most of US troops will return home COLUMBUS, Ohio (CNN) -- Sen. John McCain thinks the Iraq War will be won but the

After months of ridiculing opponents who want to set a timetable for withdrawal in Iraq, today John McCain is setting his own timetable.
In remarks prepared for delivery, he says he envisions that most of the troops now serving will be home by January 2013, when his first term would end.
ere but a much smaller one, and it does not play a direct combat role.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain will say Thursday for the first time that most US troops would be home from Iraq by 2013 after the war would be won under his watch.
The Arizona senator was also due to say in a speech that Osama bin Laden would be captured or killed, and that the threat from the Taliban in Afghanistan would be greatly reduced under his stewardship.
lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension," McCain was to say, according to a copy of the speech.

After yet another crushing special election loss for the GOP, and with Obama's national numbers building strength against his rival, John McCain has realized the need to take a new direction, beginning today with a horrifyingly disingenuous speech.
McCain has consistently opposed even the slightest notion of setting a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. It had been the drumbeat that walked his weak candidacy to the doorstep of the Republican nomination. He has even, to his dismay, suggested that we may stay in Iraq for 100 years, a quote that has made its way into Democratic stump speeches, and DNC commercials.
to keep our troops in Iraq, no matter the loss in life, for

by Carl Cameron John McCain came to Columbus, Ohio to outline his vision of America and the world after four years of his presidency.

By Toby Harnden in Washington John McCain will outline for the first time a specific date for American troops to be out of Iraq: January 2013,

By Michael D. Shear most American troops will return home from Iraq by 2013 if he is elected president, a position that closely resembles the promises made

John McCain has a new campaign ad out today, envisioning the state of the nation and the world at the end of his first term of office. He will give a speech in Columbus, Ohio today to coordinate with the ad, laying out his vision for a McCain presidency, emphasizing themes of national security and economic growth, two key issues for Ohio voters. The ad itself, though, seems rather weak:
John McCain, looking through a crystal ball to 2013 and the end of a prospective first term, sees “spasmodic” but reduced violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden dead or captured and government spending curbed by his ready veto pen.
t for economic growth and a reduced threat of

That's the headline from Sen. McCain's speech today in Columbus, Ohio on his governing style. Call it McCain's FutureWorld: from the excerpts provided to reporters, the speech appears to be a sketch of the hopeful, much-improved condition of the United States as seen from 2013, when McCain begins his second term. (Or Presidents Pawlenty or Clinton begin their first term.)
Attention will be paid to McCain's vision for Iraq.
capable of imposing its authority in every province of Iraq and defending the integrity of its borders. The United States maintains a military presence there, but a much smaller one, and it does not play a direct combat role.

By Caren Bohan COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 15 (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Thursday he believes the Iraq war can be "won" within four years, leaving a functioning democracy there and allowing most U.S. troops to come home.
The Arizona senator's two Democratic rivals for the White House, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, are running on a pledge to begin bringing U.S. troops home right away and have linked McCain's policies on the unpopular war to those of President George W. Bush.
said that although the United States would still have a troop presence in Iraq, those soldiers would not need a "direct combat role" because Iraqi forces would be capable of providing order. Continued...

In a speech he's about to give shortly at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Ohio, Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, will for the first time talk about a specific date for when he envisions direct American military involvement to be over in Iraq.
It's January 2013. By then, he says, American combat involvement will be over and most U.S. troops back home.
odify further, as the general election campaign unfolds, contrasting it with the Democrat's sharper plan for withdrawal.

By Charles Peña More than four years after the decision to invade Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein and impose democracy, nearly 160000 US soldiers remain there