Flashback

Tim Russert asked, "Senator McCain, realistically, how long will American troops be in Iraq, and how much is it going to cost us?" John McCain replied:

I don't know the answer to that, but I'm telling you what the question is, and the critical aspect of this is: What happens in the next few months? Time is not on our side. People in 125-degree heat with no electricity and no fuel are going to become angry in a big hurry. The sophistication of the attacks on U.S. and allied troops have increased. And what we do in the next several months will determine whether we're in a very difficult situation or not, and there's still time, but we've got to act quickly.

That happened four and a half years ago on August 24, 2003. But what the country needs is strategic patience.