02/26/08

current event
title:McCain: 'The war will be over soon'

who:Republican presidential candidate John McCain

what:Republican presidential candidate John McCain defended his belief that U.S. troops will need to stay in Iraq for decades Monday but said the unpopular war will soon end "for all intents and purposes."McCain said his potential Democratic rivals have distorted his January comment that U.S. forces may need to remain in Iraq for up to 100 years. Speaking at a campaign event in suburban Cleveland, Ohio, he said that referred to a long-term American presence similar to those in South Korea or Kuwait.

when:02/26/08

where:ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (CNN)

why:McCain's campaign was written off for dead last summer. It rebounded after a staff shakeup about the same time that American fortunes in Iraq appeared to turn. But at a town hall meeting before January's New Hampshire primary, McCain told a questioner that the United States could have forces in Iraq for "maybe 100" years.

how:McCain said his potential Democratic rivals are less forthcoming about their own predictions last year that the effort to secure Baghdad and its surrounding provinces "would absolutely fail."
"But all those will be subjects of debate as we move forward.