But on the heels Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s embrace of a 16-month timetable for withdrawal, McCain has been forced to change his tune. “I think it’s a pretty good timetable,” McCain told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Friday.

Now, however, McCain is denying his own words. “I didn’t use the word timetable,” he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an interview airing today:

STEPHANOPOULOS: You shouldn’t have used the word timetable.

MCCAIN: I didn’t use the word timetable. That I did — if I did…

STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, it’s a pretty good timetable.

MCCAIN: Oh, well, look. Anything is a good timetable that is dictated by conditions on the ground. Anything is good.