McCain backs away from Iraq statement

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) backed away Wednesday from a statement issued on his behalf criticizing the Bush administration for not putting more pressure on the Iraqi government to secure its country.

A statement attributed to McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich., and quoted Tuesday by The Associated Press said, "America supplying more troops while Iraqi leaders simply supply more promises is not a recipe for success in Iraq."

The statement was issued by the office of Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

McCain spokeswoman Eileen McMenamin and Levin spokeswoman Tara Andringa said Wednesday that the statement had been erroneously signed off on by a staffer who works for McCain on the Armed Services Committee.

It is unusual for a senator to pull back a statement issued on his behalf. McMenamin said McCain had not seen the statement and did not endorse it.

McCain, the Armed Services Committee's top Republican, supports Bush's plans to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq to secure Baghdad and the volatile western Anbar province. But he also has been a critic of the Bush administration's handling of the war and is drafting a resolution that would identify benchmarks for the Iraqi government.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070131/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq_benchmarks [link]