John McCain: Town Hall Meeting 07/22/08

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John McCain Town Hall Rochester, NH - 07/22/08 TRANSCRIPT: QUESTIONER: "Senator, we entered the Iraq war illegally, immorally, and against international law. According to a poll in the Washington Post in May of this year, 81 percent of U.S. voters believe our country's on the wrong track. A majority of Americans prefer a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq and now the Prime Minister of Iraq, in response to pressure from the Iraqi people is also calling for a timeline for withdrawal. Given the $720,000,000 million dollars a day we're spending in Iraq, the fact that neither Americans nor Iraqi's support the occupation, that our presence there is in fact enflaming the Muslim world and creating more terrorists, that our money, our tax dollars, [interrupted by boos] [...] As I said, our tax dollars are needed here for healthcare, for funding education, infrastructure repairs, and real energy alternatives to combat real climate change. Isn't it time to end the occupation Senator? MCCAIN: "[...] When I took the position that we needed to have 30,000 additional troops over there, those numbers were a lot worse than the ones you cite. Because my first obligation is my country not my political ambitions. [inaudible due to applause] [...] And again, I respect your view, and I think I understand it. Because for nearly four years this war was badly mishandled. And we failed. And Americans made great sacrifices as you know. I believed that a change in the strategy and the surge would succeed. And indeed it did. Now Senator Obama said that he wanted us out of Iraq and that the surge would not succeed, and it would fail, and he's still saying that it failed. Now I respect Senator Obama's view, I just think it's wrong. The facts on the ground [inaudible due to applause]. [...] the most important part of my response to you is the future. I think the future is very clear. We have succeeded in Iraq and we are winning this conflict. [...] Let me just say to you what I'm confident of, is that we will reduce Iranian influence in the region. We will have a stable and democratic nation there that's flawed but functioning. We will have a Middle East that does not have the disruptive influences that would have resulted from a failure and defeat in Iraq, which then would have encouraged others to do the same thing. And I'm confident that victory, which we are winning and we have succeeded, will bring about a change, not only there but also in the entire region. And it will all be for the benefit of the people of Iraq and the people of this country. And I understand, as you do, the enormous sacrifice that has been made. QUESTIONER: I believe that you are [inaudible] against international law. The deaths that have happened, those of our dear soldiers there, and Iraqi civilians, are tragedies and may even be criminal because we invaded that country. Now the idea that we might someday have a stable democratic government there is not ours to impose on that country. [...] We need to leave that country, the people of that country are asking us to leave, the Prime Minister of that country is asking us to leave, why do we have the largest embassy in the world there and all kinds of military bases there if we're not there to try to steal their oil. MCCAIN: Thank you very much, first of all, in all due respect I think that is something that's not what American's are fighting for, in all respect. But the fact is that, everybody recognizes, including Prime Minister Maliki, that we have to have conditioned based withdrawal. And we're going to withdrawal. We will withdrawal. The fact is, whether we withdrawal with victory or whether we withdrawal with defeat. And again, you and I have different prisms, we have succeeded. In Sadr City it is safe, Mosul is safe, Basra is safe, the people of Iraq, and I've been there, are now leading normal lives. [inaudible due to applause]. There will be continue to have spectacular attacks. If I thought that al-Qaeda was completely defeated I would say all of should come home right away. They are not completely defeated. They have been set back enormously, but we have to continue what we are doing with this strategy which has succeeded. [...] QUESTIONER: Don't you believe that we are in the inflaming the Muslim world by our presence there? MCCAIN: Thank you. I do not. I believe that if we had been defeated in Iraq that the radical elements in the Muslim world would have been dramatically encouraged. [inaudible due to applause] LABEL: JM NH 07-22 (RAD#3) UE - Clip 12 If you'd like to acquire a high resolution version of this clip, visit: http://issuealliance.box.net/shared/b4w98fh8gk To download this entire event, visit: http://issuealliance.box.net/shared/2ql1auko44

Category: News
Uploaded: July 24th, 2008 @ 8:42 pm
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Tags: iran iraq john mccain oil timelines tracking troops withdrawal

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