John McCain
Town Hall
York, PA 08/12/08
TRANSCRIPT:
QUESTIONER: For those of us who are headed into military service, how will our benefits look for the next four years?
JOHN MCCAIN: Pardon me?
QUESTIONER: For those of us headed into military service . . . how are things going to look for us for the next four years?
MCCAIN: . . . in the end of the next four years we will be largely out of Iraq and we will be out because we have one [cheers] not because of a date for withdrawal. We will have won in Iraq [ovation becomes standing]. But that withdrawal will be based on conditions on the ground, not according to a set date for withdrawal [applause]. That's the important point here. Now, one of the big differences between myself and Sen. Obama is that Sen. Obama said the surge wouldn't work, voted not to fund the men and women who were serving and fighting over there. He said it wouldn't work, couldn't work and incredibly, still fails to acknowledge that the surge succeeded. Remarkable. And, he hadn't been there in over 900 days. And he gave a speech announcing his policy before he left. Before he left. That's hard to believe. [grumbling] So,there is a significant difference between myself and Sen. Obama. He wanted us out by last March, his original plan. The surge has succeeded. Gen David Petraeus is one of the great military leaders in history [applause]. And the men and women, like you sir! [points at questioner] are the bravest, most professional, best trained and best equipped we've ever had in the history of our military and I'm proud of you [applause] and I can't tell you how proud I am to be in your company. And finally, let me say again, we have succeeded. It's not, we are succeeding, we have succeeded and we are winning. And we have other challenges. And my friends, if we had had this conversation two weeks ago, we probably wouldn't have consumed the beginning of our conversation about a little country that most Americans had never heard of. My point is, we live in a dangerous world, we live in a world where we're not sure what's going to happen around in the future and it's hard to see around the corner of history. But, I have been in wars, I know how to win wars, I hate war, no one hates war more than the veteran because no one feels more keenly the loss of a comrade than the veteran. So I will, at the end of four years, bring the peace. Bring the peace to America. Thank you.
LABEL: JM PA 08-12 (JR#65) CK - ClipD - LS
