There's some truth to this, but surely one of the first things Obama will do after wrapping up the nomination is make a trip to Iraq to meet with the commanders on the ground there. The question then will be whether he takes anything they say to heart. If Petraeus and Maliki plead with Obama to press on with the mission, will he dismiss their counsel on the campaign trail and continue to push for a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces? Or will the magical strike force reemerge as the answer to all our Iraq problems?