How much of a millstone is Iraq to John McCain, as he strives to become America's next president Although the Republican candidate strenuously tries to avoid the charge that his presidency will amount to nothing more than a third term for George Bush, his support for the war is the single clearest policy difference between him and Barack Obama. Mr Obama's supporters are never likely to cease trumpeting that, back in 2002, from his perch in the Illinois Senate, he denounced the prospect as a “dumb” adventure which would lead to “a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences.”

That proved remarkably prescient. And the polls suggest most Americans agree with Mr Obama. A recent poll for CBS shows 62% of Americans believing that the war is going badly, and 61% thinking that Iraq will “never” become a stable democracy.

在麦凯恩努力争取成为美国下一届总统时，伊拉克问题究竟有多大分量呢？尽管这位共和党候选人力图避免被指担任总统只不过相当于乔治·布什的第三个任期，但是他和巴拉克·奥巴马在政策上最鲜明的区别是他对战争的支持。奥巴马先生的支持者绝不可能停止宣传：2002年在伊利诺州参议员的位置上，奥巴马把战争的前景谴责为“无声”的冒险行动，它将导致一场“不确定时间、不确定费用、不确定后果”的占领。

这一点被证实非常具有预见性。民意调查显示，大多数美国人赞同奥巴马。最近哥伦比亚广播公司的民调显示，62%的美国人相信战争进行得很糟糕；61%的人认为伊拉克“永远不会”成为一个稳定的民主国家。