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as developments on the ground warrant. The common thread in the McCain campaign's logic is the premise that Iran is where the infection lies, that the boil of terrorism must be lanced first there, and that in order to win, the brand of terrorism on which we need focus most is Shi'ite in nature, not Sunni; Persian, not Pakistani.

This view contrasts sharply with Barack Obama's position. Perhaps the unspoken quote in their long-running debate is one of them just out and out saying, "I'm for getting the Sunnis, and he's for getting the Shiites," or vice versa. Retired Air Force General Merrill "Tony" McPeak, national co-chairman of Obama's campaign, declared: "Afghanistan should've been our fight." The downing of the Twin Towers in New York on 9/11 was from Al-Qaeda, the Sunni brand of Islam. They are the ones who exported fears of a global "fundamentalist" holy war to America's shores, they say, and they are the ones who are getting stronger every day in Afghanistan, as evidenced by record casualties recently and a daring prison break that freed hundreds of captured Taliban members a few weeks ago. Viewed objectively, Obama may have a slight advantage at this moment. As events in Afghanistan deteriorate and the Taliban again grows stronger, it not Iraq moves to the center of the presidential campaign, making Obama look almost as clairvoyant on the issue as he now does in hindsight with his opposition to the Iraq war.

In terms of foreign policy then, the most dramatic difference between a President John McCain and a President Barack Obama would be which brand of Islam they would pay the most attention to. Our attention, our resources, or military capability these would be primarily focused on either one or the other with one of these men as President.

Learn more about this author, Jeffrey Jason Hill.
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