McCain Spends Holiday With U.S. Troops

From the Washington Post & the Deseret Morning News....

Saturday, November 24, 2007

McCain Spends Holiday With U.S. Troops

Since the question of how to wage the war in Iraq has dominated John McCain's presidential campaign, it seems only fitting that the Republican senator from Arizona spent Thanksgiving with U.S. troops in Anbar and Baghdad. McCain, along with Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) arrived in Iraq on Thanksgiving Day and continued touring the country yesterday.

The delegation, which is scheduled to return to Washington, D.C., on Saturday, met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki and Prime Minister President Adel Abdulmahdi today. They also talked with members of the Iraqi police and the Iraqi security forces in Kirkuk, located 156 miles north of Baghdad. The city is home to a U.S. Air Foce base, an Army logistical hub and 70 percent of Iraq's oil fields.

McCain, who is running for the U.S. presidency, has not issued a formal statement about the trip but told ABC News on Thursday evening that he believes that "winning is what we're doing," and "we have a long way to go."

This week marks McCain's seventh trip to Iraq in the past year: He and other senators spent Thanksgiving with troops in Anbar and Baghdad eating turkey, white bread and lobster, according to his spokeswoman Melissa Shuffield

The group of lawmakers met yesterday with Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker for a briefing on "new developments and progress in the region," she added, and today they are meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Vice President Adel Abdulmahdi -- along with Iraqi police, Iraqi security forces and constituents -- in Kirkuk.

The Arizona senator returns home today and will appear as a guest on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" tomorrow.