It has been reported that U. S. Sen. John McCain on Sunday sharply questioned President Barack Obama's decision to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan by July 2011.

McCain, R-Ariz., said on NBC's "Meet the Press", "I'm against a timetable. In wars you declare when you're leaving after you've succeeded."

No military adviser recommended Obama set the date for the start of the drawdown.

It has been reported that U. S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Monday used a hearing on the gulf oil disaster to press Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on border protection.

During the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing on efforts to manage the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, McCain instead turned to his longstanding request that the Coast Guard be sent to help better secure the U. S.-Mexico border in his state.

The United States should impose "significant sanctions" against Iran to keep it from producing a nuclear weapon, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said on Sunday.

He wasn't surprised by a report in The New York Times on Sunday about a secret memo in which Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned the White House the United States lacked an effective, long-term U. S. policy to deal with Iran's nuclear program, McCain said on "Fox News Sunday."

It has been indicated by a poll that U. S. Sen. John McCain, seeking a fifth term, holds a comfortable lead over his challenger in Arizona's GOP primary, former Rep. J. D. Hayworth.

According to the reports of Politico, a Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll released Friday showed McCain favored by 52 percent of likely Republican voters to 37 percent for Hayworth.

The Washington publication further said that the 15-point advantage was up from 7 percentage points in a Rasmussen poll last month.

Attari, Jan 9 : At least four rockets were lobbed from Pakistani side in the fields near Attari, situated close to India-Pakistan border in Punjab at 12.40 am on Saturday.

No casualty has been reported so far.

According to eyewitnesses, two of the rocket shells landed at the Border Security Force (BSF) post situated at Khangarh, nearly two kilometres from the international India-Pakistan Border, while other two landed in a field.

Kabul, Jan. 8 : US Senator John McCain has insisted that drone strikes against insurgents in Pakistan’s tribal areas is an effective part of the US ant-terrorism strategy, and it should continue.

“The drone strikes are part of an overall set of tactics which make up the strategy for victory and they have been very effective,” The Dawn quoted McCain, as saying during a brief trip to Afghanistan.

Washington, Dec. 21 : Senator John McCain has smelled a leftist conspiracy in the row over his former running mate''s visor, saying that furore over Sarah Palin''s vacation attire were a "hysterical attacks" from the left.

The former Alaska governor was photographed wearing a "McCain-Palin" visor with McCain''s name blacked out while she was on vacation in Hawaii.

She claimed she was just trying to go "incognito," but the ruckus forced her to cut the vacation short.

Washington, Dec. 7 : Republican Senator John McCain has said that President Barack Obama needs to clarify his July 2011 deadline for a US departure from Afghanistan, adding that there is huge confusion on this issue.

He said a lack of clarity could dilute Pakistan''s commitment to fighting the Taliban and the Afghan war effort.

The Daily Telegraph quoted McCain as saying that the mixed signals showed both the President and senior administration officials in poor light as far as explaining the timeline for the beginning of a US troop withdrawal.

Washington, Nov. 25 : A Phoenix-based talk radio show host may prove to be a tough competition for Senator John McCain as he gears up for his Senate re-election bid next year, a new poll has revealed.

According to a new Rasmussen poll, former Rep. J. D. Hayworth is running neck to neck with Sen. McCain, even as the incumbent senator holds a slight edge, with the support of 45 percent of poll respondents, compared to 43 percent for Hayworth.

Washington, Nov. 23 : Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain has said that he liked reading former running mate and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s autobiography -- "Going Rogue" on the sidelines of a security forum in Halifax, Politico reports.

"I enjoyed the book and she and I are dear friends. I talked to her on the phone yesterday. We got along fine," said McCain....

Washington, Nov. 23 : Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain has said that he liked reading former running mate and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s autobiography -- "Going Rogue" on the sidelines of a security forum in Halifax, Politico reports.

"I enjoyed the book and she and I are dear friends. I talked to her on the phone yesterday. We got along fine," said McCain....

Washington, Nov. 14 : Senator John McCain’s aides have slammed Sarah Palin for criticizing the press strategy of the former presidential nominee’s campaign in her upcoming book.

In her book, Palin charges that the staffers assigned to her by McCain’s team blocked her from speaking to the press aboard the campaign plane.

Washington  - US Senator John McCain, who lost his presidential bid last year, said Americans should be happy that his campaign rival President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize.

"I think Americans are always pleased when their presidents are recognized by something on this order," McCain said Friday in broadcast remarks.

"We're proud when our president receives an award of that calibre," he said.

Washington, July 17 : Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain's daughter, Meghan, has railed against "Joe the Plumber", the man her father's presidential campaign touted as an American everyman and made a showpiece of the weeks before the election.

"Joe the Plumber -- you can quote me -- is a dumbass. He should stick to plumbing," Politico quoted her, as saying.

Megahn's remarks come more than five months after Joe visited the Gaza Strip as a war correspondent.

New York, Apr 21 : John McCain's daughter Meghan has revealed that she is not happy that her Twitter feed is being followed by former President George Bush''s political guru, Karl Rove.

Meghan, 24, who came into the limelight in 2007 for her blog, McCain Blogette, wrote on The Daily Beast website, that Rove is the Internet stalker, who has been stalking her.

"Karl Rove follows me on Twitter. That''s creepy," the New York Daily News quoted her as having written on the website.

Washington, Apr. 18 : A former top adviser to former Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Steve Schmidt, has warned the Grand Old Party (GOP) against becoming a `religious party'.

Schmidt told a Washington, D. C., convention for the Log Cabin Republicans -- a grassroots group for gay and lesbian Republicans, that the GOP must shift their views on gay marriage.

New York, Apr. 15 : Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain seems convinced that his former running mate Sarah Palin is not in a list of dynamic governors in the country.

On Monday''s "Tonight Show," Jay Leno asked the Arizona Senator to name the new guiding lights of the Republican Party, and McCain was quick to rattle off a list of "young, dynamic" governors around the country. Palin wasn''t one of them.

McCain singled out Louisana Governor Bobby Jindal, Florida Governor Charlie Christ, Minnesota''s Tim Pawlenty, and Mitt Romney.

Hanoi - The United States "would like to increase military- to-military relations" with its former adversary Vietnam, said US Senator and former presidential candidate John McCain at a press conference in Hanoi Tuesday.

McCain, a former Navy fighter pilot who spent five years as a prisoner of war (POW) in Hanoi during the Vietnam War, said such ties might include the training of Vietnamese officers at US defence institutions.

Washington, Mar. 30 : Former Republican presidential candidate and Arizona Senator John McCain has said that he would like to see Alaska Governor Sarah Palin compete in the 2012 presidential elections, but chose to avoid making a comment on whether he would support her or not.

When NBC's Meet the Press anchor David Gregory asked McCain if he would like to see Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin become president, he was quoted by Politico as saying: "I'd like to see her compete. I think we got some very good candidates."

Washington, Mar.30 : Former Republican presidential candidate and Arizona Senator John McCain has welcomed President Barack Obama's strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"I think the outlines of this proposal are good. The best way to get out of Afghanistan fast is people to think we're staying," Politico quoted McCain, as saying.