Time to Change the Pipe Tobacco

I respect John McCain, folks. And, yes, I've defended him against what I thought were scurrilous accusations. But, I'm telling you here, this whole "victory in Iraq" thing is really starting to gnaw at me................................................I mean, what is he basically saying here - that we're not going to be able to leave that country until it becomes what he, John McCain, wants it to become; a stable, pro-Western, pro-Israeli, democracy? I don't know, me-buckos, that, in spite of all of this success on the ground, still sounds like a pipe-dream to me...............................................For one thing, the Shiite-dominated central government over there is seemingly leaning closer to Iran than it currently is to us (talk about a catastrophic outcome, huh?). We've STRENGTHENED the Iranian hand, in other words. And, secondly, those Sunni allies of ours (yes, those same Sunni allies that we were able to convince to turn on Al Qaeda) are now being strong-armed by that same Iran-leaning central government that WE, as an external force, helped to create. Yikes, huh?...................................................I don't know, folks, it doesn't sound to me as if a "victory" is anywhere near around the corner. In fact, it almost seems as if it were as dicey as ever over there; the various competing parties in that country still frigging hating each other, etc.. Not that I'm convinced Obama's going to be any better, mind you, but, I'm saying.