Wednesday, November 22, 2006
WASHINGTON (AP) -- As violence grips Iraq, some White House hopefuls want U.S. troops to start coming home now, or at least soon. Others say the United States must win at all costs. One has called for Iraq to be carved up along ethnic lines.
And then there's Sen. John McCain.
"I believe victory is still attainable," the Arizona Republican says. "But without additional combat forces we will not win this war."
In carefully scripted language, McCain then adds: If the country does not have the will to do what it takes to win in Iraq -- send in more forces -- then U.S. troops should not be made to serve more tours of duty.
"As troubling as it is, I can ask a young Marine to go back to Iraq," he said last week. "What I cannot do is ask him to return to Iraq, to risk life and limb, so that we might delay our defeat for a few months or a year. That is more to ask than patriotism requires.
"It would be immoral, and I could not do it," the former Vietnam prisoner of war added.
Nuanced and multifaceted, McCain's position puts him in conflict with President Bush, most fellow Republicans and, so far, with many of his would-be White House rivals should he run for president.
The stance has allowed McCain, a staunch supporter of the war, to distance himself dramatically from how Bush has handled the conflict.
But the position also places the Arizona senator at odds with a majority of the country, which has grown increasingly frustrated with the nearly four-year-old war that has cost more than $350 billion and resulted in the deaths of nearly 2,900 U.S. military personnel.
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