"The man was tortured. Few souls recover from that. It's no wonder he has deep-seated rage in him. This disqualifies him from the presidency."

That's a bit harsh. While I do not believe that McCain's unfortunate experience automatically makes him an expert on international affairs, neither do I think he's automatically wrong just because of some pop-psych theory that no one who has undegone torture is any longer capable of rational thought.

My main misgiving about McCain, and his vulnerability to the influence of his past experience, is that, in some sense, he's still trying to "win" the conflict in Vietnam, this time in Iraq.

While there is certainly room for serious debate about how to remove ourselves from Iraq responsibly, with the least possible further damage to our national honor and international standing, it is flat-out delusional to speak of "winning" that mess. We can't even identify who we might be trying to "beat." Al-Quida? They weren't there at all when we invaded, and while they have certainly been able to move in and recruit new members in the wake of our misguided adventure, their leadership and their greatest strength is elsewhere.

With the benefit of hindsight, we should all realize by now that there was never any possibility of winning another country's civil war in one corner of southern Asia a generation ago, and we should be able to apply that lesson today in a newer context.