You almost have to feel sorry for Republicans. As presidential nominee of their party, they could have chosen Rudy Giuliani, or Mitt Romney, or Mike Huckabee.

Instead, they got stuck with John McCain. And McCain's already starting to show signs of losing it. Especially on Iraq.

His first slipup, made while visiting Iraq, was accusing Shiite Iranian forces of training Sunni al-Qaida terrorists. Only after Joe Lieberman, standing by his side, whispered in his ear did McCain correct himself. Still, after eight visits to Iraq, you'd think he'd know Shiite from Sunni.

Then McCain volunteered that it would be OK with him if American troops remained in Iraq for 100 years. He wasn't talking about combat troops, he hastened to add, but simply forces stationed long-term in Iraq, much like American troops now serving in Germany or South Korea. But surely the former chairman, and now ranking member, of the Senate Armed Services Committee should recognize the folly of attempting the permanent occupation of a foreign land. Didn't we learn anything from the mistakes of the Russians in Afghanistan or the French in Indo-China?

Sowing further confusion, McCain next suggested we might be able to start bringing some troops home, but not until 2013 – as if we could afford, or endure, five more years in Iraq. He also goofed in claiming that George Bush's surge had allowed us to reduce the number of troops in Iraq to pre-surge levels when, in fact, the exact opposite is true.

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And now McCain has stepped in it again, asserting that it really doesn't matter whether we disengage from Iraq or not. Appearing on NBC's "Today," he was asked about consequences of the surge by Matt Lauer: "If it's now working, Senator, do you now have a better estimate of when American forces can come home from Iraq?"

Get this. "No," replied McCain, "but that's not too important. What's important is the casualties in Iraq. Americans are in South Korea. Americans are in Japan. American troops are in Germany. That's all fine."

Oh, yeah? Does he really believe that the question of when American forces start coming home from Iraq is "not too important"? Try telling that to the families of 140,000 Americans still serving in Iraq, many of them on their second or third tour of duty. At worst, McCain's response suggests a callous disregard for the dangers still facing American troops every day. At best, it reflects a man who, in the words of Sen. John Kerry, is "unbelievably out of touch" with reality in the Middle East – if not with life in general.

McCain's conflicting statements on America's continuing presence in Iraq are especially troublesome because the U.N. mandate allowing the presence of American troops in Iraq expires at the end of the year. Because of that deadline, the United States and Iraq are now in the middle of negotiating a new Status of Forces Agreement, under which the Iraqi government has authority to decide when American forces must leave the country. How can the Iraqis trust any deal offered by the Bush administration when the would-be next president says we'll stay in Iraq as long as we damn well please?

For John McCain, it has been one misstep after another on Iraq. And, remember, after George W. Bush, he's the war's biggest defender. McCain has made Iraq his No. 1 issue. It's too late for him to change his focus now to the economy. After all, in December 2007, McCain admitted to reporters: "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should."

Given McCain's increasingly embarrassing public statements on the war, it's small wonder that so many Republican members of Congress have distanced themselves from him. In a survey conducted by The Hill newspaper, 14 GOP senators and congressmen refused to endorse John McCain. Another 17 simply declined to comment.

Yes, you almost have to feel sorry for Republicans. It's still two months before the convention, but already they're starting to experience buyers' remorse. They've got to wonder whether John McCain is really up for the job. Ron Paul, anyone?

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