In “McCain Agonistes,” Victor, you write that McCain is “rock solid on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.” To what level of detail?

McCain certainly possesses the will to win—even before the surge proved successful, McCain supported it, saying “I’d rather lose an election than a war”*—and that, of course, is hugely important in itself. But what about McCain’s specific policy prescriptions? His calls for far more troops, his attacks on Rumsfeld, and so on? McCain implies, in effect, that if he had been commander-in-chief during these last seven years instead of George W. Bush, the war would have gone a lot better, a lot sooner.

Is he right?

I ask, by the way, without a trace of guile or tendentiousness. Cross my heart. I’d simply like to learn your thinking.

*McCain no doubt made this statement lots of places, but the one instance I know about for certain was an interview with me.**

**Thanks to Mark Steyn for introducing the Corner to asterisks. The little splotches come in handy.