BLITZER: Why do you think
said that 16 months is basically a pretty good timetable?
MCCAIN: He said it's a pretty good timetable based on conditions on the ground. I think it's a pretty good timetable, as we should -- or horizons for withdrawal. But they have to be based on conditions on the ground. This success is very fragile. It's incredibly impressive, but very fragile. So we know, those of us who have been involved in it for many years, know that if we reverse this, by setting a date for withdrawal, all of the hard-won victory can be reversed.
We're not ready to do that. Too many brave young Americans and their families have sacrificed too much. But we will be out and the difference is we'll be out with victory and honor and not defeat. Senator Obama has said there is a possibility under his plan we may have to go back. I guarantee you, after they withdraw under what we are doing, we'll never have to go back.