Desperate for campaign news, CNN is hyping John McCain's speech as a huge step for McCain on Iraq, as "for the first time it lays out benchmarks on which he could be judged." The LA Times agrees, saying that the senator "for the first time talk[s] about a specific date for when he envisions direct American military involvement to be over in Iraq." But, as Robert pointed out, a cursory reading of the speech shows it has absolutely no substance. A single paragraph is devoted to Iraq and its just a fantasy of what the country will look like in five years. In McCain's world, five years from now most US troops will be home; Iraq will be stable and democratic; civil war will have been been averted; and violence will be down sharply. There is no explanation of how McCain is going to magically transform the country. Also in the speech, McCain envisions the Taliban being nearly defeated, Osama bin Laden being captured or killed, Iran and North Korea giving up their nuclear weapons programs, Sudan allowing a multinational peacekeeping force to stop the genocide, improved public schools, "robust" economic growth in the US and a host of other dreams. It's not a speech, it's a wish list, but even Santa would have trouble delivering on it. --Jordan Michael Smith
