The speech John McCain must give

Using Charles Krauthammer's counsel:

The choice could not be more clearly drawn. The Democrats' one objective in Iraq is withdrawal. McCain's one objective is victory.

McCain's case is not hard to make. Iraq is a three-front war -- against Sunni al-Qaida, against Shiite militias and against Iranian hegemony -- and we are winning on every front:

-- We did not go into Iraq to fight al-Qaida. The war had other purposes. But al-Qaida chose to turn it into the central front in its war against America. That choice turned into an al-Qaida fiasco: al-Qaida in Iraq is on the run and in the midst of humiliating defeat.

-- As for the Shiite extremists, the Mahdi Army is isolated and at its weakest point in years.

-- Its sponsor, Iran, has suffered major setbacks, not just in Basra, but in Iraqi public opinion, which has rallied to the Maliki government and against Iranian interference through its Sadrist proxy.

Even the most expansive objective -- establishing a representative government that is an ally against jihadists, both Sunni and Shiite -- is within sight.

Obama and the Democrats would forfeit every one of these successes to a declared policy of fixed and unconditional withdrawal. If McCain cannot take to the American people the case for the folly of that policy, he will not be President. Nor should he be.

Give the speech, senator. Give it now.

It might go something like this.

Wedded to a policy of defeat, my opponent has refused to visit Iraq for over two years.

He talks about "change". But, for him, it's just an empty phrase. Just another campaign slogan.

Because nothing embodies change better than Iraq since the Surge.

Its government: strengthened; its army: victorious; and unification: imminent.

Best of all, thanks to the outstanding work of our U.S. military, led by Gen. Petraeus, Al Qaeda has been smashed.

A central goal has been achieved as Al Qaeda made Iraq the battlefield on which it decided to fight... and die.

But Obama is stuck in the policies of the past.

He won't listen to Gen. Petraeus. And he won't admit the hard-fought victory of our troops.

Worst of all, he won't... change.

Ironic, eh?

I'll forego any royalties, Senator McCain. Feel free to rip the speech off.