Today on Meet the Press, Sen. John McCain claimed, “Most Americans — when they are asked ‘do you want to set a date for withdraw?’ — they say no.” Watch it:
[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2006/08/mccainwithdrawal.320.240.flv]
McCain is wrong. Most American support a timetable for withdrawal. Here’s the latest CNN Poll:
CNN Poll conducted by Opinion Research Corporation. Aug. 2–3, 2006. N=1,047 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3 (for all adults).
“Which comes closer to your view about U.S. troops in Iraq? The U.S. should set a timetable for withdrawal by announcing that it will remove all of its troops from Iraq by a certain date. The U.S. should keep troops in Iraq as long as necessary without setting any timetable for withdrawal.”
Timetable %No Timetable %Unsure %8/2–3/06574046/14–15/0653416
For a detailed plan on how to execute a phased withdrawal, check out Strategic Redeployment 2.0.
Transcript:
GREGORY: Let me show you something you said about public support for the war back last year in November. Put it on our screen. “If we can’t retain the support of the American people, we will have lost this war as soundly as if our forces were defeated on the battlefield.” As you well know, 60% is against the war. They say the war in Iraq has not been worth it. Has this government lost the people?
MCAIN: I don’t think so. Most Americans — when they are asked “do you want to set a date for withdraw?” — they say no. I’ve expressed my frustrations to you this morning. But they are not ready to face the consequences of failure by setting a date certain for withdraw. And I believe that they largely, although frustrated, recognize the consequences of failure.