McCain: "I Was The Greatest Critic" of the Iraq War's First Four Years

"It’s entertaining, in that I was the greatest critic of the initial four years [of the Iraq War], three and a half years. I came back from my first trip to Iraq and said, This is going to fail. We’ve got to change the strategy to the one we’re using now. "
- Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), yesterday on CNN.

Compare that with other quotes the war's Greatest Critic made in the past four years:

"But I believe, Katie, that the Iraqi people will greet us as liberators." [NBC, 3/20/03]

"It’s clear that the end is very much in sight." [ABC, 4/9/03]

"There’s not a history of clashes that are violent between Sunnis and Shiahs. So I think they can probably get along." [MSNBC, 4/23/03]

"This is a mission accomplished. They know how much influence Saddam Hussein had on the Iraqi people, how much more difficult it made to get their cooperation." [This Week, ABC, 12/14/03]

"I’m confident we’re on the right course." [ABC News, 3/7/04]

"I think the initial phases of it were so spectacularly successful that it took us all by surprise." [CBS, 10/31/04]

"I do think that progress is being made in a lot of Iraq. Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course. If I thought we weren’t making progress, I’d be despondent." [The Hill, 12/8/05]

(via Think Progress)