this post reminded me of something i was thinking about this morning on the train. to recap the latest stupid campaign story: mccain invited obama to go on a joint trip to iraq with him. obama rejected the invitation, saying that he didn't want to turn iraq into a "political stunt" but then his campaign acknowledged that it was considering a solo iraq visit at some point this summer.
it's hard to see how any visit by any presidential candidate, whether solo or in packs, would be anything but a political stunt. because of the security bubble that would necessarily accompany any such visit, the chances of getting a real view of the situation there are pretty much zero. the candidate would be surrounded by heavily armed military forces and any area he visits would be completely locked down. you know, just like mccain's famous visit to the shorja market, which remains the paradigm case of politicians using a war zone to score cheap political points. (maybe "cheap" is the wrong word given how expensive those trips are).
