McCain: While Troop Return ‘Not Too Important,’ Casualties Are

John McCain again defended his call for continued U.S. involvement in Iraq on the “Today Show” Wednesday.

Host Matt Lauer asked McCain whether he had a better estimate of when American forces could return from Iraq.

“No, but that’s not too important,” McCain said. “What’s important is the casualties in Iraq. Americans are in South Korea. Americans are in Japan. American troops are in Germany. That’s all fine. American casualties and the ability to withdraw.”

McCain went on: “We will be able to withdraw. Gen. Petraeus is going to tell us in July when he thinks we are. But the key to it is we don’t want any more Americans in harm’s way. And that way they will be safe, and serve our country, and come home with honor and victory — not in defeat, which is what Sen. Obama’s proposal would have done.”

When asked about high gas prices, McCain again called for a gas tax holiday, a proposal that he and Clinton pushed despite skepticism over its impact from Obama and economists.

“I think, clearly, we could give [drivers] a bit of a break for this summer,” McCain said. “Sen. Obama, as you noted, calls it a gimmick. I ran into a guy recently that owns three trucks, paying 24.5 cents a gallon for every gallon of diesel. He said, ‘Senator, that would help me a lot to make it through the summer.'”

McCain added that “the real key” to lowering gas prices is using nuclear power and other alternative energy sources to achieve energy independence.

“We have to embark on a national mission,” he said.