On the April 6 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace noted that when Sen. John McCain said that American troops might be in Iraq for "[m]aybe a hundred" years at an event in Derry, New Hampshire, McCain “was talking about” South Korea as a “model.” In response, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) contrasted McCain's New Hampshire statement on whether American occupation of Iraq would be like the American presence in South Korea with what McCain said “on the Charlie Rose show about four months ago.” On the November 27, 2007, edition of PBS' Charlie Rose, McCain said, “I don't think so” when asked if South Korea “is an analogy of where Iraq might be ... in terms of an American presence over the next, say, 20, 25 years, that we will have a significant amount of troops there.” But rather than acknowledge the inconsistency, host Chris Wallace said to Kerry: “I think you're conflating two different interviews. When he talked about the 100 years, he was talking specifically at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire, where he said -- they said, you know, we might be here 50 years, he said, maybe 100 years.”

During a January 3 New Hampshire town hall meeting, a participant said to McCain: “President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years -- ” and McCain interjected: “Maybe a hundred. We've been in South Korea; we've been in Japan for 60 years. We've been in South Korea for 50 years or so. That'd be fine with me as long as Americans -- as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, then it's fine with me. I hope it would be fine with you if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where Al Qaeda is training, recruiting, and equipping, and motivating people every single day.”

By contrast, as Media Matters for America noted, on the November 27, 2007, edition of Charlie Rose, McCain dismissed the idea of Korea being an analogy for a future U.S. troop presence in Iraq. McCain was asked by Rose if South Korea “is an analogy of where Iraq might be ... in terms of an American presence over the next, say, 20, 25 years, that we will have a significant amount of troops there.” McCain replied, “I don't think so.” Rose then asked: “Even if there are no casualties?” McCain replied, “No. But I can see an American presence for a while. But eventually I think because of the nature of the society in Iraq and the religious aspects of it that America eventually withdraws.”

On Fox News Sunday, minutes after Wallace suggested Kerry was “conflating” McCain's statements, Kerry returned to the issue: "[L]et's be very clear about this hundred years. Again, the model in Japan and in Korea is a model where they have adopted a full democracy and where they have none of the insurgency, Al Qaeda, jihadist, religious extremism that you have in Iraq. John McCain himself, four months ago -- please go back and read the interview -- said in answer to Charlie Rose, 'No, I don't envision it being possible to stay that period of time in Iraq, and we will withdraw,' he said, 'because of the religious and cultural component.' So you have a different John McCain today when he talks about 100 years or a million years."

From the April 6 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday:

WALLACE: Forgetting -- putting aside your difference on issues -- straight talk -- is Barack Obama qualified to be president?

McCAIN: Ye -- if the voters decide that, of America, absolutely. I believe that my talent and my background and my experience, which has led to my judgment, is -- I think qualifies me more, obviously, or I wouldn't be seeking the presidency. Let me just say again that was in response, when I said he was “inexperienced” and does not “have the background,” to the charge of this, quote, “hundred years in Iraq.” And it was obvious when you read the whole quote, and I hope that at some point we could see that where I was in an exchange with a voter in New Hampshire, town hall meeting, the kind of exchanges that I enjoy most. He said, “How long you gonna be there?” I said, “It could be a hundred years, but it's a matter of U.S. casualties, and we have presence in countries like South Korea, Japan, etc. etc.” So it's very clear and Senator Obama and anyone who reds that -- reads that knows that I didn't think we were in a hundred-year war.

WALLACE: But -- but I want to go back to the bigger issue --

McCAIN: Sure.

WALLACE: -- which is that you said Obama doesn't understand national security, has no experience, no background in national security.

[...]

KERRY: I mean, John McCain, I just listened to him -- John McCain has been wrong. He said that he said it would be long and tough in Iraq. In fact, in '03 John McCain said the war would be brief and the oil would pay for it. He was wrong. Last month, he said that Muqtada al-Sadr was losing his influence. He was wrong. In January he said Basra is not a problem. He was wrong. In fact, on the 100 years war issue, John McCain is being disingenuous because what he said in that interview was “as long as there is no violence,” which indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of Iraq itself. Our own national intelligence people tell us it is the American presence that is attracting jihadists and creating violence, so if he is talking about being there 40 years, 100 years, he's talking about attracting more and more terrorists, and not paying attention to the larger challenge.

WALLACE: Wait -- wait a minute, Senator Kerry. I mean -- I mean, on the question of the 100 years -- and you campaigned for president in 2004. I never heard you saying, “Let's get all of our troops out of South Korea,” where they've been for half a century --

KERRY: Well, absolutely not, but --

WALLACE: -- [unintelligible] I never heard you say, “Let's get our troops out of Germany where they've been for more than half a century.” That was the model he was talking about there, not a hundred years of war.

KERRY: Absolutely -- I disagree, Chris. And if you go back and look at what he said on the Charlie Rose show about four months ago, he was asked by Charlie Rose, well, what -- he put it in the context of no casualties. And he said, “Well, do you think you can do that in Iraq?” John McCain said, “No. You can't do it in Iraq because of the culture and the religion.” He got it right then. He's getting it wrong now. The point is that -- that you have a, you know, a John McCain who really has shown, I think, a misunderstanding of where the real center of the war on terror is. He has adopted the Bush policy with respect to the war on terror, which is a mistake with respect to how we're prosecuting it in Iraq. And -- and -- and he has ignored what we need to be doing in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as has the Bush administration.

WALLACE: Senator, if -- if I may, I think you're conflating two different interviews. When he talked about the 100 years, he was talking specifically at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire, where he said -- they said, you know, we might be here 50 years, he said, maybe 100 years.

KERRY: Chris --

WALLACE: If I may -- and then specifically talked about the South Korea model and the German model.

KERRY: Yes, I know that, Chris.

WALLACE: But let me ask you if may --

KERRY: But no, no, no. Don't walk -- Chris -- Chris --

WALLACE: Let me ask you, then you can answer any question you want. Back in 2004, you spoke very differently about John McCain.

[...]

WALLACE: But on the war in Iraq, sir, there wasn't a very different John McCain. And in 2004 --

KERRY: There was not a John McCain --

WALLACE: He -- he -- If I may -- he had been supporting the Iraq war. He was one of the biggest supporters. Of course, you had voted for it as well. And you were talking about him being a member of a Kerry administration.

KERRY: No, I -- I went -- we -- we had a conversation about whether or not to explore the issue. We never got to the full exploration, Chris, number one. Number two: let's be very clear about this hundred years. Again, the model in Japan and in Korea is a model where they have adopted a full democracy and where they have none of the insurgency, Al Qaeda, jihadist, religious extremism that you have in Iraq. John McCain himself, four months ago -- please go back and read the interview -- said in answer to Charlie Rose, “No, I don't envision it being possible to stay that period of time in Iraq, and we will withdraw,” he said, “because of the religious and cultural component.” So you have a different John McCain today when he talks about 100 years or a million years. Now, the bigger issue -- and this is where Barack Obama has shown the judgment to be president, juxtaposed to John McCain -- Barack Obama understands that the policies of John McCain and George Bush are not making America safer. The fact is that Iran is more powerful. Iraq is -- is in -- is in chaos, fundamentally a dysfunctional government. You have Afghanistan where the Taliban is resurging. You have Pakistan, which is fragile. You haven't yet succeeded in dealing with the nuclear weapons of North Korea. You still have Al Qaeda reconstituted --

WALLACE: Senator --

KERRY: -- Hamas more powerful. Hezbollah --

WALLACE: Senator, can I get back -- can I get back to one of my questions?

KERRY: Yeah, but Chris -- but Chris, this is your question.

WALLACE: Well, no, no, it really -- it really is -- I think we've gone off the track at this point.