THE TENSION: McCain Apologizes for Troops Wasted Remark, Obama Defends

McCain announces then apologizes.
Open thread:

The Associated Press reports Republican Sen. John McCain announced his candidacy for president during CBS'"Late Show With David Letterman," and then announced he will announce his candidacy again next month.

McCain told Letterman: "The last time we were on this program, I'm sure you remember everything very clearly that we say, but you asked me if I would come back on this show if I was going to announce. ... I am announcing that I will be a candidate for president of the United States."

Discussing the war with Letterman, McCain repeated his assertion that U.S. troops must remain in Iraq rather than withdrawing early even though the war has been mismanaged.

"Americans are very frustrated, and they have every right to be," McCain said. "We've wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives."

In February, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama described the lives of troops in Iraq as having been "wasted" but then apologized a day later for making what he called "a slip of the tongue" that he said was not meant to diminish their sacrifice.

McCain, facing criticism from Democrats, on Thursday said he regretted using the word "wasted" to describe the lives lost in the Iraq war, reports The Associated Press.

"I should have used the word 'sacrificed' as I have in the past. No one appreciates and honors more than I do the selfless patriotism of American servicemen and women in the Iraq War," said McCain, reports AFP.

Having said the same thing, Obama defended McCain.
However, ABC News reports at the Senate today presidential candidate Barak Obama defended McCain, surmising that McCain was trying to say what he had been trying to: that the troops deserved better planning and preparation than the Bush administration had given them.

Karen Finney, communications director for the Democratic National Committee criticized McCain while defending Obama's use of the same term.