McCain says he regrets ‘wasted’ lives comment

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Obama, for his part, gave the Republican a pass when asked about McCain’s comments at a Senate news conference on an unrelated matter.

‘Upset with myself’
“As somebody who had the same phrase in a speech, I think nobody would question Senator McCain’s dedication to our veterans,” said Obama, the Illinois Democrat. “We have a duty to make sure that we are honoring their sacrifice by giving them missions in which they can succeed ... I’m positive that was the intent in which he meant it. It was the same intent I had when I made my statement.”

In February in Iowa, Obama said: “We ended up launching a war that should have never been authorized, and should have never been waged, and on which we’ve now spent $400 billion, and have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted.”

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Later, he told a reporter: “I was actually upset with myself when I said that, because I never use that term.”

“Their sacrifices are never wasted,” he said.

A four-term senator, McCain unsuccessfully ran for president in 2000 against Bush and has been laying the groundwork for a second run for more than a year. There had been little doubt that he would become a full-fledged White House candidate. He had been expected to make his candidacy official in the spring.

A former Navy pilot, he has emerged as the Senate’s go-to guy on Iraq. In recent months, McCain has become Bush’s most outspoken supporter of sending in another 21,500 troops to Iraq — even though he for years has leveled strong criticism about how Bush has handled the war.

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