WASHINGTON – Republican John McCain predicted Thursday that if he's elected president, U.S. troops in Iraq would return home in victory by the end of his first term.

KIICHIRO SATO/The Associated Press

John McCain said in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday that if he is elected, the threat of the Taliban in Afghanistan would be 'greatly reduced' by the end of his first term.

"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," Mr. McCain said in a speech in Columbus, Ohio, that outlined what he hoped to accomplish in his first four years.

The comments by the certain GOP nominee quickly drew widespread condemnation from Democrats and questions about whether he was actually setting a timetable for withdrawal, something he has strenuously criticized.

"It's not a timetable; it's victory. It's victory, which I have always predicted," Mr. McCain told reporters. "I know from experience, you set a day for surrender – which is basically what you do when you say you are withdrawing – and you will pay a much a heavier price later on."

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, who favors a withdrawal, said Mr. McCain offered no concrete proposals to back up his goal.

"This is not the first time Sen. McCain has predicted victory in Iraq," she said. "He promises more of the same Bush policies that have weakened our military, our national security and our standing in the world. Our country cannot afford more empty promises on Iraq."

Barack Obama's campaign said that while the candidate agrees with some of Mr. McCain's sentiments, "you cannot embrace the destructive policies and divisive political tactics of George Bush and still offer yourself as a candidate of healing and change."

Mr. McCain also predicted in his speech that the threat from the Taliban in Afghanistan would be "greatly reduced but not eliminated" and that Osama bin Laden would be killed or captured.

Other promises and goals Mr. McCain laid out in his speech included:

• Halting a Bush administration practice of enacting laws with accompanying signing statements that exempt the president from having to enforce parts he finds objectionable.

• Appointing Democrats to serve in his administration.

• Holding weekly news conferences to respond to questions about what the government is doing.

• Asking Congress to let him come before both houses to take questions and address criticism, much the same as the British prime minister appears regularly before the House of Commons.

"If I'm elected president, the era of the permanent campaign will end; the era of problem-solving will begin," he said.

From wire reports

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