"How long our troops stay in Iraq isn't important"

The title quote is McCain's latest manifestation of the raging "foot-in-mouth" disease from which he seems to be suffering.

He went on to say that what IS important are the casualties we're taking...more proof perhaps that he REALLY doesn't know about economics.

McCain has always supported the war, although he had serious reservations about the way the Rumsfeld/Cheney/Bush Team was conducting it. This presumably means that he supports the other aspects of the Bush Doctrine (e.g. democratizing the world, pre-emptive war if necessary to get the job done, war with Iran if necessary to stop their nuclear development, etc., etc.).

He has made it clear that the War on Terror, in his mind, refers to radical Islamic fundamentalists and that the struggle is similar to fighting fascism or communism. Along these same lines, he points to our troop presence in Germany since WWII, our presence in Korea, Japan, etc.

One suspects that McCain sees Iraq as some twisted way to undo the mistakes of Vietnam. He needs to be called on this by the media, with a few pointed questions:

1) Do you feel we should have remained in Vietnam and continued to fight?

2) What would you do, as President, if the Iraqi government demanded we leave, although such a departure would be against our own military and intelligence estimates?

3) What terrorist organizations, other than Al Qaeda, pose a direct and imminent threat to the United States?

4) Do you believe that your 5 years as a POW and service as a naval aviation squadron commander, prior to entering politics, qualify you, above all others, to make national security policy for the United States?

5) Do you believe that honesty and decisiveness puts your policies above reproach? Can't you be both and be wrong?

6) What are the limits of Presidential power in the role of Commander-in-Chief?