John McCain Being Held Back By Wussy U.S. Generals

Wow, I'd missed this:

Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain said he would have taken his tour of an Iraqi market last week even if he had not been accompanied by heavily armed U.S. soldiers.

McCain said he would have walked through a central Baghdad market without the military protection, but the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, had recommended the armed escort.

"I'm not notorious for being nervous about going anywhere," said McCain. "I'll gladly go almost anywhere in the world, under any circumstances, but I did respond and do what Gen. Petraeus asked me to do."

Other things John McCain wanted to do, but that wuss General Petraeus stopped him from trying:

1. Defeat entire Iraq insurgency, armed only with a bolo knife

2. Walk naked through Baghdad, wearing Arabic sign reading, "Dear kidnappers: My family is incredibly wealthy and loves to pay ransoms"

3. Die and be reincarnated as an Iraqi

AND:

McCain said he talked to many Iraqis in the market who told him that, while they still worried about a sniper operating there, they felt as though things were getting better.

I'm pleased to see McCain understands human nature so well. If there's one thing we know about people, it's that if you ask them questions when you're surrounded by 100 heavily armed men with Apache gunships hovering overhead, they will always tell you the unvarnished truth.