McCain is exhausting his one "strong" suit.

Yes, by all means, Johnny -- invite Barack along next time you have hundreds of troops protect your visit to an Iraqi market, so he can get a sense of what the place is really like...

Uh oh. Grandpa found Cindy's percodin stash.

McCain's put Sen. Obama in a bit of a sticky wicket here. Recently, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff called reiterated that all active military should remain apolitical. In fact, existing guidelines to that regard have been extended to reservists and otherwise strengthened. I don't see how Obama could travel to Iraq on a mission that was entirely apolitical.

That said, I'm not sure that he shouldn't go. Quick trip, listen to troops, shake hands.

I'll leave it to the pros (Axelrod, et. al.), but I think he should go sometime between now and November.

Obama should hold a rally in Sadr City.

Do they drink kool aid in Iraq?

Didn't think so.

Well, shit... a black man would probably be safer in the Sunni Triangle than in Appalachia. Especially since Hillary blew her dog whistle.

I'm not sure if he should go because if Hillary is thinking of his assassination HERE, what will happen there?

Oh! Wait! The streets of Baghdad are safe, as long as you have a bunch of troops and helicopters protecting you AND are wearing a flack jacket and helmet.

Can McCain begin to sound more angry? no i dont think so. fine, sir, confirm for the american people your unhinged zeal for the military, as that's the only institution that matters when it comes to public service. the military is fantastic but perhaps it's not the only way to work for the common and public good. i swear i see spittle coming out of your mouth as you trip over yourself to slam obama about his lack of this and that. calm down, sir, as you may have a coronary (as you're more likely to do as you're older). oh, sorry, did i say that. oh well, you are older and that's a fact so don't fault me for stating the obvious. but, yes, he should visit iraq and maybe he'll see the successes and maybe not. you really are scary,sir, and i know you really mean to stay in iraq for 100 years and potentially to bomb or invade iran. sorry, sir, that's how you come across. we don't need your unpredictability and old man emotion. you are so close to pushing the button i can feel it.

I see this in the same vein as attempts to goad an opponent into a debate. It's an attempt to trap the other candidate - if they agree, they seem like they're deferring to you and if they don't, they seem cowardly. At least that's the plan...didn't work too well with regards to the debates.

McSame is digging himself deeper and deeper into the pit that is the public opinion of the Iraq war.

Can't he just visit Dayton, Ohio (that's the city some guy said Iraq was just like, right)?

Come to think of I, I'd prefer any part of Iraq to West Virginia and Kentucky, and I'm Jewish.

McCain is exhausting his one "strong" suit.

I agree. Pulling out his strongest weapon so early seems like a sign of weakness to me.

Hopefully when Obama goes he will remember the difference between the Sunnis and Shiites. McCain looked like an old uninformed fool when he was there.

McCain is one dimensional--war, war, war.

Not only is McCain's challenge absurdly bombastic, it doesn't even make sense.

Obama has been fairly mild in his remarks about Iraq, especially compared to the Democratic base. It's not as if Obama has been gaming the issue.

McCain has seen so much success in Iraq he believes that the troops should have to stay there for 5 more years.

Simply by traveling to a place does not make one knowledgeable to solve its problems. McCain has spent most of his life in America, and he does not have a clue when it comes to successful domestic policy.

Obama should call McCain out on his jingoism - "to McCain, you can't be president unless you've been in the military and walked the streets of a country we've illegally invaded."

Then schedule a trip to Afghanistan where are real focus should be. Underscore McCain's misplaced priorities. Then swing by Iraq as a show of support for the troops.

He doesn't need to see more of what was a disaster from the beginning - just a bunch of cheap lipstick on the worst fricking military, economic, and moral disaster in this country's history.

does mcsame really wanna go there ???

why conjure images of mcsame wandering arounf in a flak jacket, protected by 100 soldiers and 5 choppers, and then telling us how much he enjoyed walking alone in baghdad

Wait a minute... McCain wants Obama to go there to see the successes?! The successes?! Riiiiiight. McCain did his part to shoehorn us into this mess, stands by it staunchly, asks for more (100 years - er, no, make it 5) and then continues to showcase it as a success?

Obama could start his response with some numbers -- 85,000 civilian deaths; 4,083 American casualties; $523 billion and rising. He could then pivot to the destabilization of the Middle East - and by extension world - as burgeoning, ancillary costs of the Iraq war.

If this is what John McCain calls success I'd hate to see what he considers a problem. This is the man who is a cauldron of boiling bellicosity, foaming at the mouth for a shot at Iran. This is the man who was, until this election cycle, considered too unhinged by the GOP to hold executive office.

Honestly, McCain is a one trick pony. He has not met (or dreamt up) a war he didn't like, nor hesitated to sell it for political expedience.

I completely retract all the blatantly idiotic, pathetic things I've said over the last few months.

I should know - I am the real Gotalife.

McSame has accused Obama of wanting to surrender in Iraq on previous occasions, too.
This is a bogus argument, of course. We're there
trying to keep Shiites and Sunnis from killing each other, also warring factions of Shiites from killing other Shiites. Just who the hell would we be surrendering to?
Al Qaeda is going to claim victory whenever we leave, whether it's 2009 or 2059. That doesn't make it true. I'm sick and tired of this administration being manipulated by the proclamations of terrorists. Idiots.

this is the important piece:

...."and he has wanted to surrender for a long time"...he's slipping in those ideas...brainwashing feeble-minded people....

Obama should say, "sure, i'll go to Iraq...you and me..together..."

kiva

Yeah, shore, I'd go to Iraq with McCain. And then he could learn me all about what Iraq is REALLY about. Mighty nice of the ol' man to make the invite. It was kinda bumpy on that ol' turnip truck anyway.

Wotta dumb gambit.

hey mcsame, you forgot to mention that Barack Obama could buy some really nice rugs

sheap too

just ask lindsey graham, he'll back up your story

As if you have to go there in person to know everything has been a huge failure there? Hey McCain, you want to bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran, when is the last time you have been there?

Do you want to crack down on North Korea? When is the last time you went there in person?

McCain took the same tone with Romeny in the debates. At the time he had Rudy, Fred, and Ron to join him in ganging up on Mitt.

I imagine that he has to be fairly panicked considering that Obama has been polling right at 45% in the general against him while dealing with a 2 prong attack.

This, from the man who doesn't know the difference between Sunni and Shiah?

When you're that slow, you need the repeat trips.

Perhaps McCain should ask Obama to give him some basic tutoring in how to get along with people in foreign countries. For instance, they tend to hate you if you move in without a good reason, bomb the double H out of your country, build some fortress looking stuff, and tell the world they plan to stay a hundred years or more. Oh and there's the part where they're responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of your men, women and children. I think I'll trail along with Obama. John McCain would be wiser if he took some lessons too.

I think it would be great fun...they could play hide 'n seak, or hopscotch. It's that safe over there, right? Isn't that what the old man says?

As Jim Webb has pointed out, VIPs going to Iraq are treated to a "dog and pony show". It is true that senators and other elected officials do need to go to Iraq from time to time to thank the troops from their state for their service. But a VIP Tour of Iraq is not a way to learn what is happening there. A careful reading of statistics, hearing from the troops themselves (stateside or in letters), and an analysis of the political situation there is FAR MORE helpful to learn what is going on. Of course, if John McCain did that, he wouldn't be able to act like his position on the war is a realistic one.

Does this offer include a personally guided trip through the Hanoi Red Light District? If not, it ought to. At least John might be talking about something he has some experience with: plinking whores in a barrel. As for the rest of the trip; skip it, we already know how bad it is over there. Just stop by a VA hospital, take a good look around, then realize that 80% of the people who ought to be there getting treated are home being denied services by their privatized government. Bread & Circus McCain; Bullshit, BullShit and MORE BULLSHIT! . . .

"He really has no experience or knowledge or judgment about the issue of Iraq and he has wanted to surrender for a long time..."

Obama's judgment on Iraq: opposed the war from the start and understands that Iraq was a distraction from the war in Afganistan.

McCain's judgment on Iraq: favored sending our troops needlessly into harm's way and lacks the mental acuity to understand what a mistake the war was.

From Think Progress, April 1, 2007:

McCain recently claimed that there “are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods, today.” In a press conference after his Baghdad tour, McCain told a reporter that his visit to the market today was proof that you could indeed “walk freely” in some areas of Baghdad.
...
He was accompanied by “100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead.” Still photographs provided by the military to NBC News seemed to show McCain wearing a bulletproof vest during his visit.

Replying to NoVa Dem