THE TIMES & POST REPORT ON "MISTAKE" McCAIN

It's nice to see that 2 of our major papers are giving Sen. Blunder's latest some coverage.

McCain's Day of Contrasts
Senator Assails Rival's Iraq Policies, Then Praises Dalai Lama

By Robert Barnes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 26, 2008; Page A04

But McCain seemed to acknowledge Obama's idea that U.S. combat forces could be withdrawn with 16 months. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said he regards that plan favorably, and in a CNN interview McCain called it "a pretty good timetable, as we should have horizons for withdrawal, but they have to be based on conditions on the ground."

Ever since Maliki seemed to endorse Obama's schedule, McCain has looked for another way to critique his rival's position on Iraq.

Is "contrasts" a euphemism for "flip-flop"?

McCain Gives Qualified Endorsement to Iraq Timetable
By MICHAEL COOPER
Published: July 26, 2008
NY Times

First the Iraqi government gave Senator Barack Obama a boost by seeming to embrace his proposal for a 16-month timetable for withdrawing American troops from Iraq. Now could Senator John McCain, who built his candidacy in large part on his opposition to such a schedule, possibly be following suit?

“I think it’s a pretty good timetable,” Mr. McCain said Friday in an interview on “The Situation Room” on CNN, before adding that it should be based “on the conditions on the ground.”

For months Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has strongly opposed setting a timetable for withdrawal and has criticized Mr. Obama, his Democratic rival, for suggesting one. But the debate has shifted in recent days as Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, moved closer to Mr. Obama’s position.