Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., acknowledges supporters, Thursday, May 15, 2008, in Columbus, Ohio. Kiichiro Sato -- AP Photo Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio, Thursday, May 15, 2008. Jeff Chiu -- AP Photo Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio, Thursday, May 15, 2008. Jeff Chiu -- AP Photo Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., acknowledges supporters, Thursday, May 15, 2008, in Columbus, Ohio. Kiichiro Sato -- AP Photo

Copyright © 2008 Associated Press

McClatchy Newspaper Endorsements

More election coverage from McClatchy's D.C. bureau
McClatchy's Hot off the Trail blog
2008 Election Calendar
Who are the Democratic superdelegates?
See where the candidates stand on the issues at Charlotte.com
Primaries and caucus map
Political booklist
Horserace political game
McCain outlines vision of Iraq victory
Senator John McCain predicts victory in Iraq in the next 5 years.

By GLEN JOHNSON -- Associated Press Writer

COLUMBUS, Ohio (May 16, 2008 01:48 AM EDT) Republican John McCain declared for the first time Thursday he believes the Iraq war can be won by 2013, although he rejected suggestions that his talk of a timetable put him on the same side as Democrats clamoring for full-scale troop withdrawals.

The Republican presidential contender, in a mystical speech that also envisioned Osama bin Laden dead or captured, and Americans with the choice of paying a simple flat tax or following their standard 1040 form, said only a small number of troops would remain in Iraq by the end of a prospective first term because al-Qaida will have been defeated and Iraq's government will be functioning on its own.

"By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom. The Iraq War has been won," McCain told an audience of several hundred here in the capital city of a general election battleground state.

[Read More]