John McCain today said he would withdraw most U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of his first term as president.
Speaking in Columbus, Ohio, McCain laid out an agenda for accomplishments by the end of his first term. Also among them were: the Taliban's resurgence reduced with Pakistan's help; discontinuation of nuclear programs in Russia, China, and North Korea;
John McCain released a web ad today that says he will stabilize the Middle East by 2013, the year in which his first presidential term would end.
McCain, according to the ad, will not only stabilize the Middle East and reduce the "nuclear terror threat," but also strengthen border security, reduce the country's dependence on foreign energy sources, reform the congressional spending process, and give citizens more choice on how they receive and pay for healthcare.
McCain is slated to speak in Columbus, Ohio at 10 a.m. and is expected to lay out his agenda there. See the web ad below:
President Bush has been hesitant to weigh in on any subject concerning the presidential race or the priorities of the next administration. But during an interview with Al Arabia TV, Bush didn't hesitate to offering a word of advice on the Middle East to the next President.
From the White House transcripts:
Take the Middle East seriously because that's the center of -- that's the place where people get so despondent and despair that they're willing to come and take lives of U.S. citizens.
On the other hand, be hopeful because the Middle East is full of really decent, honorable people that want to live in peace. And use our influence to promote peace, whether it would be in Iraq, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, or elsewhere.
John McCain reacted today to a Bush administration briefing on North Korean nuclear proliferation in Syria, saying that the information was "very troubling, but not surprising," and that U.S. diplomacy with North Korea "must be based on more than hope."
Bush administration intelligence officials gave intelligence briefings to Senate and House committees today, showing video evidence that a Syrian facility, which Israel bombed in September, was in fact a nuclear reactor being built with North Korean assistance.
In a statement released through his campaign, McCain went on to say: "Those who say that we only need to meet unconditionally with Kim Jong Il rather than apply meaningful multilateral pressure should explain to the American people how talking unconditionally to dictators like Kim Jong Il in the aftermath of recent disclosures advances American interests. Our diplomacy must be based on more than hope."
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Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) says leaders in the Middle East and South Asia have told him they want the U.S. to engage Iran diplomatically.
"Every person I've talked to in the region recently -- and particularly when I was just in Afghanistan and Pakistan -- thinks we ought to be dealing with Iran," Kerry told reporters today in a conference call. In February Kerry traveled to Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Turkey with Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.).
"We need to negotiate; we need to be engaged with Iran. Not give up any principles, but at least engage in a way that allows us to use Russia and China and the Europeans and others to hopefully find a different path here," Kerry said.
The conference call focused on the upcoming testimony of Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker; the two will appear before Congress tomorrow and Wednesday to report to lawmakers on Iraq.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has recently been making the rounds with some potential VP vetters. Just yesterday she had a closed-door session with Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, a no-holds-barred editorial board meeting on race with the Washington Times and said she didn't know Iraq was going to be "this tough." Rice says running for elected office is the "one thing" she has never seen herself doing.
John McCain said he is a "realistic idealist" who "detest[s] war" in a foreign policy speech today in the Los Angeles. McCain also said he would "build new foundations for a stable and enduring peace." Read the full text of the speech after the jump.
This is the second major speech McCain has delivered this week after addressing the economy yesterday. Today's speech follows the pitch McCain made to European leaders last week where he stressed popular points that break from the Bush Administration while maintaining his support for the Iraq war.
"Those who argue that our goals in Iraq are unachievable are wrong, just as they were wrong a year ago when they declared the war in Iraq already lost," McCain said.
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