Reported on the Huffington Post, quotes from McCain in 2005 speaking of how dangerous it would be to set up shop in Iraq. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
How could we possibly lose to this guy? Come on. Really. He can't keep ANYTHING "straight". I suppose if the DNC came out with an ad with these quotes in it, the Repugs would cry liars the same way they are over the econ ads and the 100 year ads. Seriously, it's not our fault their nominee can't remember what side of an issue he is on on any given day.
Quote over the jump.
when asked specifically if he thought the U.S. military should set up shop in Iraq along the lines of what has been established in post-WWII Germany or Japan -- something McCain has repeatedly advocated during the campaign -- the senator offered nothing short of a categorical "no."
"I would hope that we could bring them all home," he said on MSNBC. "I would hope that we would probably leave some military advisers, as we have in other countries, to help them with their training and equipment and that kind of stuff."
Host Chris Matthews pressed McCain on the issue. "You've heard the ideological argument to keep U.S. forces in the Middle East. I've heard it from the hawks. They say, keep United States military presence in the Middle East, like we have with the 7th Fleet in Asia. We have the German...the South Korean component. Do you think we could get along without it?"
McCain held fast, rejecting the very policy he urges today. "I not only think we could get along without it, but I think one of our big problems has been the fact that many Iraqis resent American military presence," he responded. "And I don't pretend to know exactly Iraqi public opinion. But as soon as we can reduce our visibility as much as possible, the better I think it is going to be."
Somewhere along the way, McCain's position changed. Perhaps twice. As Think Progress reported, in August 2007, as the troops surge was underway, McCain told the Charlie Rose Show that the Korea model was "exactly" the right template for U.S. forces in Iraq. Only three months later, and on the same show, he completely reversed himself.
"Do you think that this - Korea, South Korea is an analogy of where Iraq might be," Rose asked in November 2007.
"I don't think so," replied McCain.
"Even if there are no casualties?" Rose chimed in.
"No," said McCain. "But I can see an American presence for a while. But eventually I think because of the nature of the society in Iraq and the religious aspects of it that America eventually withdraws."