Politics | Iraq McCain Sees Troops out of Iraq by 2013 Senator envisions winning war in first term in text of speech By Kevin Spak Posted May 15, 2008 7:40 AM CDT Copied Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks at Vestas Wind Energy Training Facility Monday, May 12, 2008, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) John McCain thinks he can end the Iraq war and bring most troops home within his first term as president, he says in the text of a speech, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, to be delivered this morning. McCain’s doesn't acknowledge a policy change, but includes a list of what he expects to accomplish in his first term: “By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly." He also envisions that the Iraq war has been won, civil war prevented, al-Qaeda in Iraq defeated, militias disbanded, and Iraq as a functioning democracy. McCain once pounced on Mitt Romney for even suggesting a timetable for ending the US combat role in Iraq, but now he seems eager to show America a light at the end of the tunnel, and deflect Democrat attacks that he is a Bush rerun. In the new speech, he envisions American troops maintaining a small, non-combat presence in Iraq. Read These Next Mid That 'buy now, pay later' loan may soon hit your credit score. Cops: Arizona 5th graders drew up plot to 'end' a classmate. The Bezos-Sanchez wedding: guest list, cost, the dress, and more. Report an error