Perpetual War would be McCain's legacy

By now we all know that the Petraeus interview in the Washington Post last week apparently didn't set too well with John "Four More Years! Four More Wars!" McCain. No indeed, it did not set well at all. In fact, he dropped everything and got the band back together (Lieberman and Graham) and they jetted off to Iraq just as fast as a congressional junket could get them there on our dime so they can get the spin machine cranking and the damage control underway.

BAGHDAD - Sen. John McCain, the Republican Party's presumptive nominee for president who has linked his political future to U.S. success in Iraq, was in Baghdad on Sunday for meetings with Iraqi and U.S. diplomatic and military officials, a U.S. government official said.

Details of McCain's visit were not being released for security reasons, the U.S. Embassy said.

McCain's visit was not announced and he was believed to have been in the country for several hours before reporters were able to confirm his arrival. It was unclear who he met with; no media opportunities or news conferences were planned.

McCain, a strong supporter of the U.S. military mission in Iraq, is believed to be staying in the country for about 24 hours.

"Senator McCain is in Iraq and will be meeting with Iraqi and U.S. officials," said Mirembe Nantongo, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

This is the senator's eighth visit to Iraq. He's accompanied by Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Before leaving, McCain said the trip to the Middle East and Europe was a fact-finding venture, not a campaign photo opportunity.

Touching, isn't it? If they put just half the effort into ending this clusterfuck that they put into propping it up, we could maybe find our way out of the quagmire that is breaking our military and destroying our standing in the world.