McCain in 2003: Americans ‘need some straight talk’ about ‘how long we’re going to be’ in Iraq.

Atrios highlights a June 2003 appearance Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) made on CBS’s Face The Nation in which McCain said that the American people “need some straight talk” about how long the U.S. would be involved in Iraq:

McCain, an Armed Services Committee member, faulted the Bush administration for fueling a “growing sense of unease” in the American public.

“They need some straight talk about what the plan is, how long we’re going to be there,” McCain told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Roughly five years later, as he tries to beat back his claim that it is “fine” with him if American troops are in Iraq for “100 years,” McCain is unwilling to provide the “straight talk” he called for in 2003. As Ron Brownstein writes today, “McCain hasn’t said how long he would keep fighting to reach” his “demanding goal” of “success.”