‘Meet the Press’ transcript for Jan. 6, 2008

(Videotape)

Unidentified Man #1:  President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years.

SEN. McCAIN:  Maybe 100.

Man:  Is, is that...

SEN. McCAIN:  How long...

Man:  Is that...

SEN. McCAIN:  We’ve been in, we’ve been in South Korea—we’ve been in Japan for 60 years, we’ve been in South Korea for 50 years or so.  That’d be fine with me, as long as Americans...

Man:  So that’s your policy?

SEN. McCAIN:  ...as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, then it’s fine with me.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT:  In November, you go the American people...

SEN. McCAIN:  Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT:  ...and say, “I’d be all right with having U.S. troops in Iraq for the next 100 years”?

SEN. McCAIN:  Most importantly, so would the American people if Americans aren’t dying.  We have a base in, in the neighboring country of Kuwait, very large base.  We have a base in Turkey.  We have a base in Japan, Germany. We’ve had bases there.  It’s not American presence that bothers the American people, it’s American casualties.  And if Americans are safe wherever they are in the world, Americans—the American people don’t mind that.  So what I believe we can achieve is a reduction in casualties to the point where the Iraqis are doing the fighting and dying, we’re supporting them, and, over time, then it’ll be the relation between the two countries.  With Kuwait, they want us there and they want us there for a long time, so we’re glad to be there.  The Saudis?  They didn’t want us there for various reasons, so we left.  That’s going to depend on relations between the United States government and the Iraqi government.  My point was—everybody says, “How long are we going to stay?” My point is, how—when are we going to succeed?  Which we are succeeding now so that the Iraqi government is functioning, and we have stability in the region.  Instability in Iraq means instability...

MR. RUSSERT:  What kind of troop levels for the next 10, 20 years?

SEN. McCAIN:  I—you know, that’s very hard to say.  But they—but the troops would be out of harm’s way.  That’s the key to it.  And...

MR. RUSSERT:  Would you have permanent bases?

SEN. McCAIN:  If, if that seems to be necessary, in some respects.  It depends on the threat.  I mean, look, what if, what if Jordan falls?  What if there’s another war with Israel?  What, what if Egypt, that, that there’s tremendous upheaval?  This is a very unstable part of the world as we just found out in Pakistan.  So it depends on our national security threats and the needs to meet them.  But right now I just want to look you in the eye and tell you that al-Qaeda is on the run and they are not defeated.  But we are succeeding, and many, many experts said that the surge would not succeed and said that I was wrong.  And, my friend, I was right.

MR. RUSSERT:  Looking back at the beginning of the war, back in March of 2003...

SEN. McCAIN:  Yep.

MR. RUSSERT:  ...if you had known then, if the intelligence came out and said, “We know that Saddam Hussein does not have biological...”

SEN. McCAIN:  Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT:  ...”or, or chemical or a nuclear program...”

SEN. McCAIN:  Mm-hmm.  Mm-hmm.  Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT:  ...would you still have voted to authorize the war?

SEN. McCAIN:  Well, obviously, given information that we have changes your decision-making process.  But Saddam Hussein was still a threat.  The sanctions were breaking down.  There was a multibillion dollar Oil for Food scandal in the United Nations.  The—every day American airplanes were being shot at.  Saddam Hussein had used and acquired weapons of mass destruction in the past, and there was no doubt there was going to be in the future.  The problem in Iraq, my friend, was not whether we went in or not, it’s the way it was mishandled after the initial invasion.

MR. RUSSERT:  Yeah, but, Senator, it’s an important question because President Bush...

SEN. McCAIN:  It’s an important...

MR. RUSSERT:  President Bush has said...

SEN. McCAIN:  Yeah.

MR. RUSSERT:  ...”Even if I knew he did not have biological, chemical or nuclear program...”

SEN. McCAIN:  Yeah.  Yeah.  Yeah.  Yeah.

MR. RUSSERT:  ...”I still would go into Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein.” Would you have?

SEN. McCAIN:  I—yes, but the point is that if we had done it right, it’s been well chronicled in many, in many books, you and I wouldn’t be even discussing that now.  The mishandling after the war.  Look, I met with a high-ranking former al-Qaeda operative in Iraq recently.  And I asked him, “How did you succeed?” He said, “The lawlessness after the initial invasion and Abu Ghraib.” And so they were able to recruit people because of the disorder and the mishandling.  So you would not be asking me if it hadn’t been mishandled, you would’ve said because we succeeded in an established and stable Iraq, you would’ve said, “Aren’t you glad we went in?  Because Saddam Hussein, one of the most brutal, most terrible dictators in history, who fought in several wars, used weapons of mass destruction, invaded his neighbor, is now gone from the world scene.” That’s what you’d be saying.

MR. RUSSERT:  But I think there’d be a real debate with the, with the—amongst the American people if we were told he did not have biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.

SEN. McCAIN:  If frogs had wings—look, Tim, we can talk about lots of hypotheticals.  Would we have, would we have stopped Saddam Hussein from going into Kuwait back in ‘91 when, when he went in?  Would we have, would we have said that the Chinese aren’t going to cross—would we have known—if we had known that the Chinese were going to cross the Yalu in the Korean War, would we have done it differently?  I’d love to get into thousands of historical hypotheticals with us, but what we knew at the time and the information we had at the time that every single intelligence agency in the world believed he had weapons of mass destruction.  So...

MR. RUSSERT:  So bottom line, the war was not a mistake?

SEN. McCAIN:  The war, the invasion was not a mistake.  The handling of the war was a terrible mistake.

MR. RUSSERT:  Let me show you an ad that, and our viewers, that you have on the Web...

SEN. McCAIN:  Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT:  ...about Mitt Romney.

SEN. McCAIN:  Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT:  Let’s watch.

(Videotape of McCain advertisement)

Announcer:  Mitt Romney says the next president doesn’t need foreign policy experience.  John McCain for president.

SEN. McCAIN:  I’m John McCain, and I approve this message.

(End videotape)

SEN. McCAIN:  Pretty good, eh?

MR. RUSSERT:  Not over the top?

SEN. McCAIN:  Of course not.  That—those clips are from the evening news. My friend, those are what Americans see every evening about what’s going on in the world.

MR. RUSSERT:  Are you suggesting that Mitt Romney couldn’t handle that situation?

SEN. McCAIN:  I am suggesting, in fact strongly recommending, my candidacy because I have the experience and the knowledge and the background and the judgment.  I’m the only one that’s running that said “Rumsfeld’s strategy is going to fail, and I have no confidence in him, and we’ve got to change the strategy.” That’s why I’m running, because of the transcendent challenge of the 21^st century of radical Islamic extremism, of which Iraq is the central battleground, as we speak.

MR. RUSSERT:  Governor Bush...

SEN. McCAIN:  Yes.

MR. RUSSERT:  ...Governor Clinton, Governor Reagan, Governor Carter all ran for president with no foreign policy experience.

SEN. McCAIN:  And...

MR. RUSSERT:  They were all able to conduct American foreign policy.

SEN. McCAIN:  Mm-hmm.  Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT:  Why would you suggest that Governor Romney would not be capable?  He has executive experience.

SEN. McCAIN:  Well, I’m not saying, first of all, he wouldn’t be capable.  I am saying that I am the one with the background and the knowledge, experience and judgment.  Well, look, Ronald Reagan fought against communism for 30 years.  Ronald Reagan had visited 60 countries as the president’s special emissary in other ways before he ran for president of the United States.  It’s just a misnomer to say that Ronald Reagan did not have foreign policy experience.  And some of the others...

MR. RUSSERT:  What about Governor Bush?

SEN. McCAIN:  ...well, some of the others—well, I think mistakes have been made, and obviously that in the year 2000 we were not at war.  In the year 2000 when I ran we were not in two wars and a conflict with radical Islamic extremism.  Now we are, and we know the threat that we face.

MR. RUSSERT:  New Hampshire, must win for John McCain?

SEN. McCAIN:  We will win.

MR. RUSSERT:  But you—if you don’t win it’s over.

SEN. McCAIN:  Oh, I don’t know about “being over” or not, because it’s based on expectations and all that.  But, look, we’re doing fine.  And we’re happy and it’s wonderful at this particular time in the campaign.

MR. RUSSERT:  So if you win here, where do you go?

SEN. McCAIN:  Obviously the next primary...

MR. RUSSERT:  Michigan.

SEN. McCAIN:  ...Michigan, South Carolina, etc.  But we’re having a great ride.  And, look, I will look back on this campaign as I—win or lose—as I did in 2000.  We conducted an honorable campaign, and I’m proud and I’m grateful for so many wonderful people who have been in support of us, and, and we love them dearly.

MR. RUSSERT:  But straight talk, this is make or break.

SEN. McCAIN:  I—it’s—I will win.  I will win.  But, of course, it’s vital. But it depends on the expectations.

MR. RUSSERT:  Senator John McCain, as always, we thank you for sharing your views.  Be safe on the campaign trail, and we’ll see you at those town meetings.

SEN. McCAIN:  Thank you, Tim.

MR. RUSSERT:  Coming next, the strategies, the issues, the debate last night, we will put it all in perspective with two political strategists:  Democrat Steve McMahon, he worked for Howard Dean and Richard Gephardt; Republican Mike Murphy, he worked for John McCain and Mitt Romney.  They are both coming up right here only on MEET THE PRESS.

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