Alex Spillius at The Telegraph interviewed John McCain aboard The Straight Talk Express:

While adopting a more conciliatory tone to US allies than George W Bush, the man he hopes to succeed in the White House, the Arizona senator will take his uncompromising message on the war to London, Paris and the Middle East next week. ...

"My aspiration is that if we show success in Iraq that our European allies will come in and help out in the myriad of ways necessary to rebuild that tragic, war torn country," he said, making it clear that he was determined to keep US troops in Iraq.

"One of the debates of this election will be if the American people want a candidate who wants to get out [of Iraq] as quickly as possible.

"If we do that then al-Qa'eda wins, we have chaos and genocide throughout the region and they will follow us home. That's been my position - forever," said Mr McCain, who will battle either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama for the Democrats in November's presidential election. ...

For all his campaign trail rhetoric about "chasing Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell", he confessed that an earlier visit Pakistan's tribal areas brought home the challenges of
tracking the al-Qa'eda leader.

"I went to Waziristan once and it gave me a much better understanding of how difficult it is to get Osama bin Laden. When you see the terrain and the people that have controlled it for 1,000, 2,000 years...I really learn from these trips."

Days since Mission Accomplished: 1780

Percentage of respondents, according to the Pew Research Center poll, who know how many Americans in uniform have died in Iraq since the invasion: 28%.

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