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McCain's pledge

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain told voters yesterday that if he becomes commander in chief he will brief the public biweekly from the Oval Office on developments in the Iraq war.

"I would tell them exactly what the battlefield scenario is," Mr. McCain told about 450 people packed into a VFW post in Murrells Inlet, S.C., a town south of Myrtle Beach.

The Arizona senator emphasized that he wasn't guaranteeing victory in Iraq, the Associated Press reports.

"Am I telling you we're going to succeed? No. But I'm telling you I think we've got a good chance of succeeding," he said.

Mr. McCain decried the idea of a timeline for U.S. withdrawal from the country, saying it would spawn chaos, and committed to a long-term fight on terrorism. "We're going to win. We will. We will never surrender," Mr. McCain said.

When asked by an audience member whether he'd do a better job than President Bush in communicating regularly with the public, Mr. McCain said he would give updates about the war on national television every two weeks, a map of Iraq at the ready.

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