General Talk

John McCain on Barack Obama:

"I note that he is speaking today about his plans for Iraq and Afghanistan before he has even left, before he has talked to General Petraeus, before he has seen the progress in Iraq and before he has set foot in Afghanistan for the first time," McCain said, adding that "fact-finding missions usually work best the other way around: First you assess the facts on the ground, then you present a new strategy."

That's fine, John, if you're plotting military strategy. It's always good to talk to generals about plans and operations. Barack Obama (I hope) plans to end the war in Iraq, if not the occupation. He doesn't need a general to tell him that. He just needs to listen to the American people.

Obama can talk to the generals about operations and the military consequences of policy choices but in the end disengagement is a political, not military, decision. Generals are supposed to serve the national policy established by civilian political leaders, not vice-versa. By training and experience they tend toward violence, never a good first policy option and best used judiciously.

Barack Obama will travel to Iraq. I hope he learns more than John McCain did during his famous stroll through a Baghdad market.