In fact, the hero of the last Gulf War sounds surprisingly like the man on the street when he discusses his ambivalence about the Bush administration's hawkish stance on ousting Saddam Hussein. He worries about the Iraqi leader, but would like to see some persuasive evidence of Iraq's alleged weapons programs.

"The thought of Saddam Hussein with a sophisticated nuclear capability is a frightening thought, okay?" he says. "Now, having said that, I don't know what intelligence the U.S. government has. And before I can just stand up and say, 'Beyond a shadow of a doubt, we need to invade Iraq,' I guess I would like to have better information."

He hasn't seen that yet, and so — in sharp contrast to the Bush administration — he supports letting the U.N. weapons inspectors drive the timetable.

So while McCain was fiercely championing the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Schwarzkopf was prudently (and presciently) warning against the endeavor. Nevertheless—water under the bridge and all that—Schwarzkopf now claims McCain possesses the right judgment to be commander-in-chief. The two have obviously agreed to disagree on that little matter of the Iraq War.