McCain Says He Regrets Iraq Comment

Republican presidential contender John McCain, facing criticism from Democrats, on Thursday said he regretted using the word "wasted" to describe the more than 3,100 U.S. lives lost in the Iraq war.

"I should have used the word, sacrificed, as I have in the past," the Arizona senator said after Democrats demanded he apologize as Sen. Barack Obama did when the White House hopeful recently made the same observation.

"No one appreciates and honors more than I do the selfless patriotism of American servicemen and women in the Iraq War," McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, said in a statement.

On Wednesday night, McCain said on CBS'"Late Show With David Letterman": "Americans are very frustrated, and they have every right to be. We've wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives."

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