Barack Obama doesn’t like the idea of joining John McCain on an Iraq trip. He hasn’t been to Iraq in two years. He doesn’t need fact finding trips. They are a waste of time, you see, like hearings or briefings: he knows what he knows and doesn’t need any more information. When you have years of military service and foreign policy experience under your belt you really don’t need . . . oh, wait, that’s the other candidate.

It is odd that on the most important foreign policy issue of the campaign (and of the next presidency) Obama can’t bestir himself to run down all the facts, get all the viewpoints, look Iraqi and U.S. officials in the eye, and demonstrate to the public he can operate confidently with a wide array of military and diplomatic officials.