Democrat lite

A hundred years or sixteen months, what's the difference?

What does John McCain really believe? Who knows?

He is trying the typical Republican CYA tactic of leaving the decision to the military. Look, in America, we have a civilian President and a civilian Secretary of Defense and a civilian Congress to reflect the will of the people. The input of the generals is important, but they are lower in the chain of command and unelected.

As we've seen with Duhbya, Republican politicians hide behind their generals' skirts when politically convenient and fire anyone who won't provide that cover. So it could be that McCain's plan is to sound like a half-hearted Democrat but then to report with fake ruefulness that sixteen months needs to stretch to sixteen years.

In any case, what is clear is that you can't rely on any policy position that comes out of McCain's mouth. He'll just change his mind tomorrow.