Sen. John McCain said Thursday that most American troops would be home from Iraq by 2013 and that Osama bin Laden would be captured.

“By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom. The Iraq War has been won,” Mc Cain told an audience of several hundred in Columbus, Ohio. A smaller core of US troops in noncombat roles would remain in Iraq, he added.

He predicted that the threat represented by the Taliban in Afghanistan would be “greatly reduced but nor eliminated.”

The Republican presidential contender said in his visionary speech that Osama bin Laden would be killed or captured.

On the other hand, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., said this was not the first time when Mc Cain predicted a victory in Iraq, adding that the country “cannot afford more empty promises on Iraq.”

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, admitted he liked “John’s dream,” adding he hasn’t heard how McCain would make this dream come true.

“I know from experience, you set a day for surrender — which is basically what you do when you say you are withdrawing — and you will pay a much a heavier price later on,” McCain said. He promised an “era of problem-solving” and predicted the end of the era of the permanent campaign, saying that the time to govern has come.

Some voices coming from the anti-war group suggested that the senators is only offering the voters “double talk,” predicting the victory, but ignoring any plan to get there.