Sen John McCain, whose service we all honor (have you noticed how that phrase almost always follows any mention of his name by a Democrat) appears to be totally disconnected from reality and living in W World, where Rotary Club optimism rules and there are no problems, only opportunities for improvement. Here are 2 stories running in Monday morning newspapers. One of them must be reporting from our world, the other from the parallel universe:

Story 1 

April 7, 2008

U.S. and Iraqis Battle Militias to End Attacks
By ERICA GOODE and MICHAEL R. GORDON

BAGHDAD — Sharp fighting broke out in the Sadr City district of Baghdad on Sunday as American and Iraqi troops sought to control neighborhoods used by Shiite militias to fire rockets and mortars into the nearby Green Zone.

But the operation failed to stop the attacks on the heavily fortified zone, headquarters for Iraq’s central government and the American Embassy here. By day’s end, at least two American soldiers had been killed and 17 wounded in the zone, one of the worst daily tolls for the American military in the most heavily protected part of Baghdad. Altogether, at least three American soldiers were killed and 31 wounded in attacks in Baghdad on Sunday, and at least 20 Iraqis were killed, mostly in Sadr City.

The heightened violence came on the eve of Congressional testimony in Washington by Gen. David H. Petraeus, the senior American commander in Iraq, and Ryan C. Crocker, the American ambassador here, to defend their strategy for political reconciliation and improved security in the country.

The Green Zone attacks were, symbolically at least, a sign that forces hostile to the United States are still able to strike at the American nerve center and seat of government power in the capital of Iraq.

The attacks were sure to feature prominently in the scheduled hearings, giving ammunition to Democratic critics who argue that Iraq is not making progress, as well as Republicans who say it would be foolish to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq quickly.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/world/middleeast/07iraq.html?ref=todayspaper

Story 2

McCain insists Iraq buildup is working

By LIBBY QUAID, Associated Press Writer 53 minutes ago

Republican John McCain insists last year's U.S. troop buildup in Iraq brought a glimmer of "something approaching normal" there, despite a recent outbreak of heavy fighting and an American death toll that has surpassed 4,000.

"We are no longer staring into the abyss of defeat, and we can now look ahead to the genuine prospect of success," McCain said in a speech prepared for delivery Monday.

The presidential nominee-in-waiting is closely tied to the unpopular, 5-year-old war. McCain was a vocal advocate of the troop increase strategy eventually adopted by President Bush, and is seeking to convince people the strategy is working.

In either Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama, McCain will face a Democratic rival who disputes the claims of success and seeks a swift withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Debate will intensify this week as Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker testify to Congress. Clouding their testimony is fighting that erupted late last month as U.S.-trained Iraqi forces attempted to oust Shiite militias from Basra in southern Iraq.

McCain planned to highlight a sharp drop in violence in recent months in his speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars at the National World War I Museum. From June 2007 until last month, when McCain visited Iraq, violence, he said, fell by 90 percent, and deaths of civilians and coalition forces fell by 70 percent.

"The dramatic reduction in violence has opened the way for a return to something approaching normal political and economic life for the average Iraqi," McCain said.

Despite the positive numbers he cited, 2007 — the year of the troop buildup — was the deadliest yet.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080407/ap_on_el_pr/mccain