US presidential hopeful John McCain said on Thursday the Iraq War remains the key issue in the race for the White House, urging voters to back a continued US presence in the country five years after the 2003 invasion.
Visiting Britain as part of a weeklong tour of Middle East and Europe, McCain held his first meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown -- a 45-minute discussion that covered Iraq, Afghanistan, the economy and climate change.
McCain, who has enough delegates to clinch the Republican Party's nomination, praised the bravery of British and US soldiers.
Although he has criticized his Democratic rivals for suggesting troop withdrawals, he refrained from calling publicly for Britain to slow the pace of its troop withdrawal from southern Iraq.
In October, Brown promised to cut the number of British troops in Iraq to 2,500 -- half the level at the time -- beginning this spring. Officials said then that the cut would be completed by the middle of this year.
But in the last few days, defense officials have said that may not be possible. They have said they hope to reduce troop numbers "over the coming months," but gave no figure and no timetable.
McCain has said pulling out of Iraq quickly would be a mistake that would boost Iran and al-Qaeda. He told reporters in London it could also define the US election.
Democratic presidential contender Senator Barack Obama has pledged to pull US forces out of Iraq within 16 months of taking office. Obama's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton has suggested a phased withdrawal beginning as soon as possible.
"That will be, frankly, a very big issue for the country, whether we withdraw and have al-Qaeda win and announce to the world they have won and have things collapse there, or whether we see this strategy through to success," McCain said.
But he insisted his warnings about the dangers of a precipitous withdrawal from Iraq were about US forces only. Britain's decision "is made by the British government and people," he said.
Brown has stressed that British troops would be withdrawn only on the advice of defense chiefs. Some officials suggest fragile security in Basra could force the UK to delay its pullout.
MISTAKES
McCain was traveling as part of a US congressional delegation -- including senators Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham -- that already has visited Iraq, Jordan and Israel.
"Having just come from Iraq, I can tell you unequivocally that the situation has improved dramatically over the last year," McCain said. "Al-Qaeda is on the run. They are not defeated."
But he acknowledged some mistakes had been made in postwar planning.
"It was mishandled after the initial success. That caused great frustration, sacrifice and sorrow on the part of the American people and our allies," he said.
McCain also defended himself over a gaffe in Jordan on Tuesday, when he mistakenly said Iran was allowing al-Qaeda fighters into the country to be trained and returned to Iraq.
Iran is a predominantly Shiite Muslim country and has been at pains to close its borders to al-Qaeda fighters of the rival Sunni sect.
"We all misspeak from time to time and I immediately corrected it," McCain said.
NO RED CARPET
McCain also met on Thursday with Britain's opposition Conservative party leader David Cameron at the Houses of Parliament, where a host of Conservative lawmakers lined a courtyard beneath Big Ben to meet the senator.
In contrast, Brown did not greet McCain at his doorstep as protocol dictates that he only officially receive other world leaders. Officials rolled out a red carpet shortly after McCain's sedan left Downing Street, as they prepared for a visit by the King of Bahrain.
McCain left Downing Street clutching a signed copy of British historian Martin Gilbert's renowned History of the Twentieth Century that the author had left for the senator during a meeting with Brown on Wednesday.
The senator also attended a US$1,000-a-plate fundraising lunch on Thursday at London's Spencer House and planned to return to the British capital for a sightseeing trip over the weekend.
McCain campaign spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker said the US Treasury would be reimbursed an appropriate amount as the senator had broken from his congressional delegation for the event.
On Friday, McCain planned to meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who he called a leader with "pro-American tendencies."
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