While John McCain was excoriating the press in Baghdad yesterday for not presenting the “full story” about how swell things are in Iraq he neglected to mention the pre-visit security sweep that made that neighborhood stroll so safe. I am sure you have already heard about the 100 soldiers, the three Blackhawk helicopters and two Apache gunships that accompanied his entourage, but did you hear about the soldiers who swept the area before the American legislators and their security team showed up? Who cares about those mooks? They are expendable.

John McCain and Lindsey Graham put American soldiers’ lives at risk just so they could have a photo op. That’s the bottomline. Why didn’t they do a ride along on a real patrol? Perhaps they could have joined the U.S. team that responded to an ambush of an American patrol yesterday? Of course a total of six U.S. soldiers died in that operation. Shit! You can’t take real risks. No sir. Instead, U.S. military resources are devoted to making propaganda. U.S. soldiers were ordered into harms way just to ensure a congressional delegation could walk around, look serious, and perpetuate the lie that more U.S. soldiers must come to Iraq and die. That was a propaganda event and fucking General Petraeus ought to be ashamed.

U.S. soldiers entered the neighborhood before the delegation arrived for its stroll. They searched for explosives, sent informants into the crowd, set up a perimeter, and secured the area before the Senators showed up with their 100 armed guards. And for what? To keep McCain, Graham and others safe. What happened to the Iraqi utopia John McCain so confidently insisted was there for eveyone to see? If the “true” picutre of Iraq was simply a matter of getting the news cameras pointed in the right direction then why did he need a security detail? If the peace and prosperity the Iraqi people are celebrating in safe neighborhoods is genuine then why wear body armor?

You know why? Because John McCain is completely full of shit. He may be delusional but his survival instinct is still intact. When he goes into a war zone he wants to be protected. And U.S. soldiers carried out that mission yesterday so John McCain could try to hoodwink the American people into backing the surge and sending more troops into harms way. I don’t know about you, but that pisses me off.