U.S. candidates ponder Iraq strategy

By Tim Gaynor

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Monday that the United States should stay the course in Iraq even though he was "sick at heart" at mistakes made in the conflict.

As he sought to distance himself from President George W. Bush and his handling of the unpopular Iraq war, now in its sixth year, McCain's two Democratic challengers repeated calls for a quick exit.

"As we all know, the American people have grown sick and tired of the war in Iraq," McCain told hundreds of veterans and families at a ceremony honouring U.S. service members killed in battle. "I understand that, of course.

"I, too, have been made sick at heart by the many mistakes made by civilian and military commanders and the terrible price we have paid for them."

Meanwhile, Democratic front-runner Barack Obama and his challenger for the party's nomination, Hillary Clinton, used Memorial Day speeches to reiterate pledges to end the war. The Democratic nominee will face McCain in the November election.

"My intention is to bring this war in Iraq to a close, and to start bringing our troops home in an orderly fashion," Obama told veterans in Las Cruces, New Mexico, a state that both parties have a chance of winning in the general election.

Wrapping up three days of campaigning in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which holds its primary on Sunday, Clinton participated in a Memorial Day salute to fallen American soldiers, including many from Puerto Rico.

She also used the ceremony in San Juan to renew her call to allow residents of the island to vote in the U.S. presidential election.