McCAIN BLAMES CHENEY FOR WAR WOES

Watching his poll ratings sag as the death toll in Iraq mounts, Arizona Sen. John McCain appears to be trying to distance himself a bit from his support of the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq.

McCain told The Politico he blames Vice President Cheney for what McCain called the "witch's brew" of a "terribly mishandled" war.



McCain also told the new on-line politicial news site that Donald Rumsfeld will rank in history among the worst of the country's defense secretaries.

The GOP presidential hopeful also said the U.S. could be on the "verge" of defeat in Iraq and that he is not at all sure the so-called troop surge will be large enough to make a difference.

McCain also, for the first time, said the U.S. might have to consider redeploying its troops to Iraq's borders to keep outsiders from making the situation in Iraq worse.