McCain's Bulldog

John McCain's speech today at the Virginia Military Institute left no doubt about his belief that American needs to persist and prevail in Iraq, and that the Democratic candidates' "reckless" withdrawal plans would make for an unacceptable and catastrophic defeat. "Our defeat in Iraq would constitute a defeat in the war against terror and extremism and would make the world a much more dangerous place," said McCain. But McCain's speech was a slap on the wrist to the Democrats compared with the lashing his chief Iraq advisor, Randy Scheunemann, offered last week. Describing many of the Democratic candidates' post-combat troop withdrawal strategy -- leaving behind a reduced military presence or horizon force to fight al Qaeda, prevent genocide in Iraq and avoid the conflagration of a wider regional war - Scheunemann said, "It's ludicrous. Because the idea that we will be able to better prevent sectarian violence and fight al Qaeda better from Kuwait than how we are doing it now is laughable." -- Jason Horowitz