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Supported authorization to use military force against Iraq
Sen. McCain voted for the resolution to authorize the president to use force against Iraq.
-U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes, October 11, 2002
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Question: Senator McCain, arguably, going to war is the most important decision a member of the Senate can make. Did you read the National Intelligence Estimate, which included all the caveats, on whether or not there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?
McCain: I did not read that particular document. I received hundreds of briefings, tens and hundreds of hours of study and background and information on it. And the fact is, that the sanctions were breaking down. The sanctions were not going to hold. We had a multi-billion-dollar scandal in the form of oil-for-food. The fact is that Saddam Hussein had used weapons of mass destruction before on his own people and on his enemies, and if he’d gotten them again, he’d have used them again…The problem was the mismanagement of the conflict.
-John McCain, Republican Presidential Debate, June 5, 2007
Opposes withdrawal deadlines
And it's going to be whether we set a date for withdrawal, which will be a date for surrender, or whether we will let this surge continue and succeed...I want our troops home with honor. Otherwise, we will face catastrophe and genocide in the region.
-John McCain, Republican Presidential Debate, September 5, 2007
Supports a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq
Question: President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years.
McCain: Maybe 100…We’ve been in, we’ve been in South Korea—we’ve been in Japan for 60 years, we’ve been in South Korea for 50 years or so. That’d be fine with me, as long as Americans as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, then it’s fine with me.
Moderator: In November, you go the American people and say, “I’d be all right with having U.S. troops in Iraq for the next 100 years”?
McCain: Most importantly, so would the American people if Americans aren’t dying. We have a base in, in the neighboring country of Kuwait, very large base. We have a base in Turkey. We have a base in Japan, Germany. We’ve had bases there. It’s not American presence that bothers the American people, it’s American casualties. And if Americans are safe wherever they are in the world, Americans—the American people don’t mind that. So what I believe we can achieve is a reduction in casualties to the point where the Iraqis are doing the fighting and dying, we’re supporting them, and, over time, then it’ll be the relation between the two countries…My point was—everybody says, “How long are we going to stay?” My point is, how—when are we going to succeed?
-John McCain, NBC’s Meet the Press, January 6, 2008
Says United States has a “moral responsibility” to stay in Iraq
We have incurred a moral responsibility in Iraq. It would be an unconscionable act of betrayal, a stain on our character as a great nation, if we were to walk away from the Iraqi people and consign them to the horrendous violence, ethnic cleansing, and possibly genocide that would follow a reckless, irresponsible, and premature withdrawal. Our critics say America needs to repair its image in the world. How can they argue at the same time for the morally reprehensible abandonment of our responsibilities in Iraq?
-John McCain, Remarks to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, March 26, 2008
Says withdrawal will cause “chaos in the region”
I am convinced that if we fail and we have to withdraw, they will follow us home…There is no doubt in my mind that this will become a base for terrorism, there will be chaos in the region...presidents don't lose wars, political parties don't lose wars; nations lose wars and nations…have the consequences of failure.
-John McCain, Republican Presidential Debate, June 5, 2007
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