White House fires back at McCain's comment on Iraq; Says Bush never called war easy.(NATION)

0 Comments | Washington Times, The, August, 2006

Byline: Stephen Dinan, THE WASHINGTON TIMES The White House yesterday fought back against Sen. John McCain's assertion that the administration wrongly led the nation into thinking the Iraq war would be easy, even as a new poll suggests that for the first time since it began a majority of Americans don't think the war is part of the fight against terrorism.

"It is difficult, and the president has said it is going to be difficult from the beginning," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, who called it "puzzling to me" that Mr. McCain's comments were gaining attention because, she said, he had made similar criticisms before. Mr. McCain, who has been a staunch defender of the war, said while campaigning in Ohio for Sen. Mike DeWine that the public had been...