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Ever since Nouri al-Maliki endorsed Barack Obama's plan to withdraw most US troops from Iraq within about 16months, John McCain has been agitatedly trying to find a cloud in the silver lining. He's opted to belittle Obama'sjudgment for opposing the "surge" - implying somehow that the US has won the sectarian civil war by placing more troops in the middle of it. What we won is left unclear, but whatever it is McCain is keen to take the credit.

Speaking to Hispanic vets on Friday in Colorado, however, McCain moved beyond mere vaunting to full mouth frothing. In situations like these the temptation is always to rebut McCain point by point. But sometimes you have to resist the easy route. Sometimes, tactically, it's more effective to force yourself just to stand back and report the Berserk as you happen to find it.

Without further ado, then, McCain's insights on the Iraqi civil war:

McCain, a Vietnam War veteran, said if Obama had succeeded in his effort to prevent last year's boost in U.S. troop levels in Iraq, American forces would have had to retreat under fire, the Iraqi army would have collapsed and al Qaeda would have found a safe haven..."We rejected the audacity of hopelessness, and we were right," the Arizona senator added

Because drawing fire is more hopeful than evading it.

"We face another choice today. We can withdraw when we have secured the peace and the gains we have sacrificed so much to achieve are safe," McCain said. "Or we can follow Senator Obama's unconditional withdrawal and risk losing the peace even if that results in spreading violence and a third Iraq war."

'Unconditional withdrawal' - a cute turn of phrase. Makes you wonder whether McCain would prefer, say, negotiated violence.

"Senator Obama and I ... faced a decision, which amounted to a real-time test for a future commander in chief," McCain said. "America passed that test. I believe my judgment passed that test. And I believe that Senator Obama's failed."

McCain doesn't grade on a curve, America! And just look how Obama even failed at his attempts to fail.

"Senator Obama made a different choice. He not only opposed the new strategy, but actually tried to prevent us from implementing it. He didn't just advocate defeat, he tried to legislate it. When his efforts failed, he continued to predict the failure of our troops."

Boy is he lousy at predicting things.

"As our soldiers and Marines prepared to move into Baghdad neighborhoods and ... villages, Senator Obama predicted that their efforts would make the sectarian violence in Iraq worse - worse! - not better."...

In retrospect, given the opportunity to choose between failure and success, he chose failure," McCain said. "I cannot conceive of a commander in chief making that choice."

Is John McCain trying to convince us that he's the smart one, or the angry one?