http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/Story?id=4359635&page=2<snip>
He said "if we do what Senator Clinton and Senator Obama want — which is declare a date for withdrawal — then al Qaeda will tell the world that they defeated the United States of America and we will be fighting again in that region and in the rest of the world and they will follow us home."
Pushing back on any idea he's fear-mongering, McCain said his charge that al Qaeda would follow Americans home is based on al Qaeda rhetoric. "That's not my idea, that's theirs, if you read what (Osama) bin Laden… (Ayman) Zawahiri and all the others are saying," he said. "There's a lot at stake here, my friends."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060905-4.htmlFor Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 5, 2006
President Discusses Global War on Terror
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We know what the terrorists intend to do because they've told us -- and we need to take their words seriously. So today I'm going to describe -- in the terrorists' own words, what they believe… what they hope to accomplish, and how they intend to accomplish it. I'll discuss how the enemy has adapted in the wake of our sustained offensive against them, and the threat posed by different strains of violent Islamic radicalism. I'll explain the strategy we're pursuing to protect America, by defeating the terrorists on the battlefield, and defeating their hateful ideology in the battle of ideas.
...
The terrorists who attacked us on September the 11th, 2001, are men without conscience -- but they're not madmen. They kill in the name of a clear and focused ideology, a set of beliefs that are evil, but not insane. These al Qaeda terrorists and those who share their ideology are violent Sunni extremists. They're driven by a radical and perverted vision of Islam that rejects tolerance, crushes all dissent, and justifies the murder of innocent men, women and children in the pursuit of political power. They hope to establish a violent political utopia across the Middle East, which they call a "Caliphate" -- where all would be ruled according to their hateful ideology. Osama bin Laden has called the 9/11 attacks -- in his words -- "a great step towards the unity of Muslims and establishing the Righteous… (Caliphate)."