All thoughtful and excellent points, as usual Bitt. The biggest issue for me is the war, which I opposed. Every Democrat candidate seems to think that the war being a bad idea in the first place means that it's the right decision to leave now. That's not a logical argument. I believe there will be an terrible tragedy along the lines of Cambodia, Bosnia or Rwanda if the US leaves Iraq now. What little rule of law exists in Iraq now is held together by the presence of the US Army; remove it and it will be a bloodbath. Look at what happened in Afghanistan and how the removal of American support led directly to the rise of the Taliban.

You make some great points about McCain, and I'll need to hold my nose to support him, if I do. He's definitely a politician. His straight talk advertising is almost certainly BS, but the Democrat's rallying cry of "out of Iraq NOW" is silly, emotional, superficial nonsense that will result in much human misery.

People see "Leave Iraq" as a way to express their disapproval of the war. Approval or disapproval of the war is not the point -- that ship has sailed. What do we do about the mess is the right discussion, and leaving it for them to sort out, after destroying their country and what little rule of law they had is short-sighted, callous, and cruel.