By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom. The Iraq War has been won. Iraq is a functioning democracy, although still suffering from the lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension. Violence still occurs, but it is spasmodic and much reduced. Civil war has been prevented; militias disbanded; the Iraqi Security Force is professional and competent; al Qaeda in Iraq has been defeated; and the Government of Iraq is capable of imposing its authority in every province of Iraq and defending the integrity of its borders. The United States maintains a military presence there, but a much smaller one, and it does not play a direct combat role.

The threat from a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan has been greatly reduced but not eliminated. U.S. and NATO forces remain there to help finish the job, and continue operations against the remnants of al Qaeda. The Government of Pakistan has cooperated with the U.S. in successfully adapting the counterinsurgency tactics that worked so well in Iraq and Afghanistan to its lawless tribal areas where al Qaeda fighters are based. The increase in actionable intelligence that the counterinsurgency produced led to the capture or death of Osama bin Laden, and his chief lieutenants. There is no longer any place in the world al Qaeda can consider a safe haven.

Is Miss Arizona on his policy advisory team? Did he really just stake his foreign policy credentials on a hope for…World Peace?

This is nothing short of a catastrophic miscalculation of the American people by John McCain. Thanks to Bush's consistent lies, voters have had enough of politicians who tell them one thing, and do another. We heard Bush promise every year in his State of the Union address that he would aggressively deal with global warming issues. We were told that we were going to war in Iraq because of al Qaeda, then weapons of mass destruction, and now, Iran.

What John McCain misses–besides the obvious desire that most Americans have to get out of Iraq quickly–is a plan to tell us 1) why he wants to stay in Iraq in the first place, and 2) how, exactly, he plans to achieve the things that he promises. Instead, he stands up with great poise, smiles, waves, crosses his fingers, and hopes it will all be over in 4 years.

A reporter suggested that McCain might be handing out tickets to a "magic carpet ride." Not so, the candidate said. “I don’t think it has anything to do with fantasy, I think it has everything to do with setting goals and achieving.’’ I appreciate that roll-up-the-sleeves approach as much as the next person. But I think Alladin just signed on with the McCain campaign.

Ian is a Political Analyst living in Washington, DC. He is also Director of the grassroots Blue Catapult PAC which supports Democratic congressional candidates challenging GOP held seats. Ian has been attending the Sundance Film Festival since 1998.